>The more I think about this, the more I agree with Mills that the
>term "ruling class" is not very useful.
Its not very useful if we insist on equating rule with political rule. The capitalist ruling class rule economically, not politically.
Capitalists don't have a monopoly on political power, despite the foolish things people on the left seem to think. Its just that, in a capitalist economic system, there are serious economic constraints on political power. In practical terms, political government simply has no choice but to pander to the capitalist class. Unless it is willing to destroy the economy.
But even aside from that, the nature of capitalist rule is quite a bit more direct than mere political rule. On a day to day basis, workers get their marching orders directly from their bosses, not from the government. They have some 'freedom' to choose which member of the ruling class from which to take orders, but not the freedom to refuse to take orders at all.
The capitalist class is a ruling class because it has a monopoly on this economic power, not because it has a monopoly on political power. Unfortunately a lot of people on the left refuse to see this. Wedded as they are to Leninist doctrines of "the (political) dictatorship of the proletariat", they are blind to how the ruling class actually rule.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas