In “The Power Elite”, Mill describes how society was led by elites from the economic, political and military bases. The elites manipulated churches and schools to meet their own ends. The book was written in the year 1956 during the World War two and it depicted on the issues that America was facing at that time. The notion of an existence of an elite population in the communities we live in is an undeniable fact. The elite individuals make major decisions in the world and whose authority is unquestionable.
In the “The Power Elite” Mills claimed that in the world there exists some elite population that constantly makes make major decisions in the society. According to him, the three sources of power are concentrated on the economic, political and military arenas. Additionally, he asserted that economic power was the most powerful of the three. Consequently, in the book Mills insists that the elite population attends some popular schools such as Harvard and these people are related by the fact that they often intermarry (Mill, 289). The book also indicates that there exists the masses far below the elites and that the masses are often lacking information therefore leaving them confused. In the middle, Mill identified a force that was neither inclined towards the elites nor to the masses (Mill, 285). The middle force did not also challenge the decisions of the elites who controlled everything.
I strongly agree with Mill’s idea of an existence of an elite group in the society because even in the world today, the global leaders are often people who have acquired education from prestigious schools around the world or people who are from rich backgrounds. These elite individuals often make decisions that are never questioned by the masses or even the middle force that usually exist in form of debaters who in real sense have no impact (Mill, 285). The masses on the other hand are usually manipulated by the elite in the society.
The concept of a group of people who manipulate the masses and resources for their own gain (Mill, 284) is a phenomenon that is seen all over the world. Additionally, leaders even in America are mostly from the three groups mentioned by Mill: military, economic or political backgrounds. For instance, the current president of America Donald Trump was and still is a major influence economically because he was a renowned business man before his rise to power. Moreover, the decisions he has been making since he got into power seem unquestionable despite the fact that they are against human rights. Consequently, the elite population in the world is the one that owns most of the wealth in the world and as such, they control everything for their gain.
In summary, “The Power Elite” is a book written by Wright Mills in the year 1956. The book mainly discusses the elite population in the society and how they are often from the military, economic and political arenas. According to Mill, the elite are often attending similar schools and kindergartens and manipulate the masses. The people are usually below the hierarchy characterized by lack of information and confusion. There also exists a middle force that only analyzes situations but cannot change anything. The book is still applicable in the world today because the elite population still governs the world and owns most of the wealth.