CHOMSKY Members:
Comments?
Be sure to include (CC:) Mike Powell <[log in to unmask]> in your replies.
F. Leon
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 09:57:24 +0100
From: Mike <[log in to unmask]>
I would like to submit a revised version of an article (the last five
paragraphs will be of most interest) I sent to you regarding Capitalism
and the Ruling Class, and ask if you would like to include the article in
your next publication. I require no fee, but do ask that if you wish to
use the article that it remain unedited and in it's entirety as it appears
below, and also that I am named as the author of the article. Thank you.
Mike Powell
P.S. I am forwarding this article to as many major, local and socialist
newspapers as possible and would be very grateful if it would be possible
for you to forward to any you may know. Hopefully, if we all work
together, we can free ourselves from Governmental oppression. Thanks.
Who are the Ruling Class ruling for?
If we were to take a look back into history we would find that for
centuries a comparatively small ruling class has controlled the majority
of the rest of the population across the globe. Britain in particular has
a pretty ruthless and cutthroat history in this respect, with Kings and
Queens giving orders and deciding the way in which the majority should
live making their own laws to suit themselves e.g. King Henry VIII and his
infamous wives. These days royalty doesn't do much more than show their
faces at public meetings from time to time, and attract tourists to
Britains capital. So it cannot be said that a monarchical society exists
today. However the Queen may not make the decisions, but political
decisions are things which still must and do go on. Today, and for roughly
the last two to three centuries, political decisions for the rest of the
country have laid with people who call themselves the government, or
Members of Parliament . These people largely consist of members of
aristocratic families or those of the upper classes, and have come to be
termed by some sociologists as "the elite".
Two nineteenth century Italians by the name of Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano
Mosca are the founders of a theoretical construct which is known as "elite
theory". Their construct claims a ruler to exist as the front man for a
"ruling class", dictating what political changes are to occur. The rulers
position ensures the ruling class members maintain the higher positions
within society. Elite theorists advocate this system as the most efficient
way of running a country as they claim the members of the ruling class to
have "superior organization" skills. However elite theorists also believe
that any rulers position will only last for as long as their way of ruling
is consistent with the belief and value system of the society that they
are ruling over. Marx claimed that the ruling class, or "bourgeoises",
created the values and beliefs anyway, this he called "ideology", so in
theory if the ruler were to alter the belief and value system to please
the majority of society they could maintain their position for as long as
they wish. Karl Marx took this a step further by introducing the
superstructure and infrastructure i.e. the political system
(superstructure), and the economic system (infrastructure). Marx claimed
that the political system is run in parallel with the economic system so
that the economic situation can be at it's best level. Therefore all
political decisions are made with the economy in mind. So whoever is in
power has the ability to stay in power and as long as they please the
majority can manipulate the system to suit their preferred economic
situation.
The Industrial Revolution saw Capitalism really come into the forefront,
and saw the separations between classes becoming even more distinct than
in previous years. This made it clear for Marx to see plainly the
structures he called super and infra during his time, because for
Capitalism to work the economy must be at a very high level, for this to
be possible, in a Capitalist society, there must be people working for
more or less slave labour so that high profits can be made. When
Capitalism is in it's prime, the ruling class are at their strongest and
the other classes at their weakest. Or simply put, keeping the rich rich,
and the poor poor. However elite theorists claim that the "elite" running
the country would be replaced by another set of "elite" who would rule in
a way more in parallel with the existing set of values and
beliefs(Marshall, 1998, p187), bearing in mind that these are set by those
in power anyway these could be changed whenever desired by the ruling
classes simply by shifting media attention to other topics. Does
media/political attention focus on specific topics because those topics
have come to attention or been brought to attention? If this is the case
then this is exactly what Marx would have called "ideology". People in
society today might be able to relate to this as political power has
changed quite recently from Conservative "elite" to Labour "elite".
Although there have been some changes (such as the minimum wage) to change
the lives of all for the better, we are still in a society that keeps the
rich rich and the poor poor.
So how can elite theorists claim that the ruling class in a Capitalist
social structure are governing for all when the main value, or goal, set
by themselves, for everyone within a Capitalist society, is to make as
much money as possible? The set goal is made impossible for the majority
to achieve anyway by the way in which the country is being run. Obviously
the Ruling Class are not ruling well enough. But why is there a ruling
class ruling in a Democratic society in the first place? Doesn't Democracy
mean that the people are supposed to be having the say on what decisions
are being made about the country that they live in? Surely it's not that
the majority in a Capitalist society are being lied to by being told that
they are living in a Democracy when really they are being ruled, and when
in actual fact the values and beliefs that are being layed down are really
somewhere along the lines of, "You're not good enough, your going to
struggle for the rest of your lives and we don't care because we only
worry about how much money WE can make!"? But if the truth were to be told
in that manner, surely the majority would become a little unhappy and
maybe even cause a riot or two? Just like one that occurred on one
particular Sunday maybe? The truth is that we are being lied to and being
GOVERNED by a Ruling Class in a Capitalist society whilst being told that
we are living in a Democracy and that we are making our own decisions. For
a capitalist society to work it would mean that there would have to be a
lot of slave labour! Third world countries are being taught by first world
countries how to develop. But if they are being taught the style of
political leadership that is currently going on in first world countries,
then aren't their governments being taught how to lie also. And who
exactly uses the third world companies for cheap labour so that they can
make as much profit as possible? First world companies! So slave labour is
not a thing of the past, it is just hidden better in this day and age!
It's just a question of time before enough people see the truth, stop
buying into the lie and realise that we are all being duped into accepting
the values of a minority and supporting them, not ourselves! Capitalism,
the ruling class and a democratic society, when put together create a
contradictory social structure! It is a logical impossibility for a
contradiction to create anything other than a contradiction. A little like
two trains on the same track going in opposite directions, sooner or
later, unless someone stops them, their going to crash!
If all the people in society were the ones that had the final say on
decisions affecting them i.e. if they were living in a Democracy, there
wouldn't be any need for a ruling class, a ruler, an imbalance of power,
or for a long and lengthy process which only results in a social structure
which contradicts itself and creates a dysfunctional society that cannot
possibly work at it's most efficient level and highest potential, and is
full of resentment and hate for a government that only treads on those
that it is supposed to be working for! Not only does Capitalism contradict
itself but elite theorists also contradict themselves and add insult to
injury by claiming that the "masses" do not have the capacity to govern
themselves! Are they claiming that unless you are a member of the ruling
class you cannot think for yourself?! I'd like to remind them that some
main MP's, in the present and past, have started from underclass (students
for example), working or middle class roots and worked their way into the
ruling class to claim the positions that they have. So how can these
theorists claim that members of society who are not in the ruling class,
do not have the capacity to govern themselves. Surely the man or woman on
the street who is underclass, working or middle class is far more aware of
the truth of their predicament than any MP who earns £40,000 a year and
sips on champagne, eats caviar, lives in a luxury house, drives a luxury
car, and spends his money on prostitutes that his or her wife/husband
doesn't know about!
The truth is that Capitalism and the way the ruling class rule is a lie
which tricks us into believing that we are free and equal and living in a
Democracy, when in actual fact we are just slaves to the rich, and the
manipulative government that control us. While we stress our brains, worry
about money, and physically exhaust ourselves, the upper classes have an
easy life and make fun of us while we make them rich.
Tory Capitalist previously claimed that "What every Tory should want is
not classlessness but equality of opportunity". If this is the case and
the mind learns best when young, then why is there such an unequal
education system? From primary school, we are split into groups and told
either, "you can go far", or, "you haven't got a hope" We are then told
this for the rest of our lives. And while as children if we need extra
help with our work we get none and become labelled as problem children or
delinquents, the ones who can do the work on their own get as much support
and help as they want. A little like our current political, social and
economic system?! It seems that we are taught from a young age how we are
to be treated in a dysfunctional and unequal society and are "put in our
place". The ruling class would like to believe that their aristocratic
life styles, their dining habits and "airs and graces" make them better
people than the under, working or middle classes, when in actual fact it
makes them ignorant and selfish.
So it seems that the ruling class are people who think about themselves
and no-one else. The society that they create is one that they create for
themselves and no-one else. Capitalism and the ruling class only create an
unequal and dysfunctional society where Capitalists can rule for
themselves to benefit themselves, so they can maintain themselves in
positions of power to use for their own needs. And finally that when we
are being told we are living in a democracy we are being lied to.
Capitalism is killing society and is a big factor in making our world a
dangerous place to live, we only have to sit and think for a moment to
realise this. The sooner we take that moment and decide to do something
about it will be the moment our society and world will become a safer and
better place to live. If a true Democracy were to come into existence it
would result in a much happier society as it would be the people making
the choices, and a society that is much more in touch with the government
and world wide affairs than we are at present. Basically, an altogether
better world to live in! We should be asking ourselves and our
"government" exactly what does a democratic society mean? If we are denied
we are denied what we are promised and are lied to then we should be
getting the liars out! We can and given the chance will change things for
the better for ourselves, for the benefit of all! In elite theorist terms
the lions will rise and the sly foxes will cower away!
Mike Powell 12/5/00
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