[lbo-talk] Wanted: A Major Division in the US Power Elite and Ruling Class (was Curiosity)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

On 10/1/06, Marvin Gandall <marvgandall at videotron.ca> wrote:
> Jim Farmelant writes:
>
> > As Doug has already pointed out that was an editorial.
> > While NY Times editorials do carry some weight, the
> > newspaper's real power is manifested in its ability
> > to dictate what events are worth reporting about,
> > and how are they to be covered. When the NY Times
> > decides that some event is worth covering, its lead
> > is quickly followed up by most of the rest of the
> > US media.Those events that the NY Times deems to be not worth
> > covering, tend not to get covered by most other
> > media outlets in the US. That's real power IMO.
> ============================
> The NYT, along with the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, are
> probably the three papers which most influence politicians, policymakers,
> and senior corporate officials, ie. the ruling class - and not only in the
> US. Ruling class opinion is far more important than mass opinion when there
> is little organized mass unrest, and is at least as important when the
> status quo is being threatened. These publications are an essential mirror
> on the strategic choices confronting the American political and economic
> leadership on the entire range of issues, and the divisions which they
> produce. Yoshie and Carrol represent that part of the left, however, which
> thinks these differences are largely insignificant and should be of little
> concern to the mass of the American population because, despite these
> internal differences, the ruling class as a whole, liberals as well as
> conservatives, is committed to the preservation of the system.

I happen to think that a major division in the US power elite will be
very significant, *if* one emerges.  For instance, both the Iranian
and Sandinista Revolutions happened in part because of Jimmy Carter's
wavering foreign policy, which reflected real confusion among the US
power elite and ruling class, in the wake of the Vietnam War and its
impacts on the home front.

That kind of major division, however, does not exist among the US
power elite and ruling class yet, for there has been no negative
impact on profits -- there has been a positive one! -- and no
uprisings at home.
-- 
Yoshie
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