Limited Opportunities in America

An old letter of mine published in the city paper, back in 2004 when I was in the USA...

In case you cannot read the photo here is the copy pasted wording:

Class Consciousness & the Power Elite

Writing in the 1950s, sociologist C. Wright Mills suggested that the Power Elite in America possesses a specific and clear ‘class consciousness’. Class consciousness entails that they consider themselves separate (and superior) to the rest of society, whose needs they purport to present as their own, which is highly unlikely given such class separation. Similarly, in their world-view they consider Iraqis and other Arabs ‘aliens’ and expendable (as their actions reveal), yet they presented the invasion of Iraq as something carried out by them as a sacrifice “for the Iraqi people”.
This ‘class consciousness’ was clearly evident in the Democratic and Republican conventions held recently. The Power Elite, which transcends both parties, tried to actively manipulate public opinion by pretending to cut across class lines, trying to appeal to the public that they were ‘like them’. John Kerry “reported for duty”, even though he fails to “report” for duty to his senate sessions, while Bush tried to convince people that he would protect them even though his policies have ensured that over 45 million Americans remain at risk of severe harm because of no health insurance, while over 34 million are undernourished- numbers literally tens of millions of times greater than the people that will ever be harmed by terrorism (past or future). We are never allowed to forget about terror threats yet millions of impoverished people and their misery is effectively hidden from view. Similarly, Arnold Schwarzeneggar tried to convince immigrants that if they would ‘play by the rules’ and work hard (in fast food restaurants) that someday they would make governor of California. In this recent struggle to manipulate the masses, the Republicans succeeded (as the Bush poll numbers reveal), while the Democrats failed.
The social profile of American elites shows that most of them come from privileged backgrounds and the very few among them that do not, only succeeded in the system because they got “socially cloned” in the image of those who do come from privilege. They were picked not because of ‘equal opportunity’ but rather to ensure the survival of the current class-system. As the concentration of wealth towards the very top in America proceeds unabated, so that one percent at the top now owns over 40 percent of wealth, the members of this elite gets narrower and narrower, due to their competition amongst themselves. As such, a few replacements from the lower levels have to be allowed to maintain a critical mass of power. However, for statistical aggregates i.e. groups as a whole, there is no mobility. Strict reproduction of privilege is expected in a highly bureaucratized, capitalist society. People in such societies are never “self made” they are system molded. Opportunity allocation in the so-called “land of opportunity” has never been “fair and balanced”.

M. Asadi
Published in the ________ City Paper- September 16th, 2004.

Click on the thumbnails

add to my favorite galleries flag objectionable content