Control Of The Ruling Class

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Recommended: American dream in today's society

As Gore Vidal once said: “The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return” (Vidal, N/A). In our society, the ruling ideas are easily believed and taken as “true.” Advertisements sell ideas and lifestyles rather than objects; people consent to the ruling ideas which in turn make them less of an individual. Although we may live in a culture industry that controls what people believe is right or wrong, there is always a struggle for power. According to C. Wright Mills and Nina Eliasoph, in order to create a struggle and challenge the ruling ideas, developing a “sociological imagination” is crucial. The ruling ideas work by creating notions of our culture and giving one false needs which in turn help maintain the status quo.
Contrary to what people may believe we do not actually have autonomy in the choices that we make; without knowing or realizing it we are all following orders. One may not know exactly how much their thoughts have been "fixed" so they ultimately consent to the ruling ideas. In our society, one example of a "ruling idea" that is accepted and thought of as "true" is that of the "American dream." Anyone who does not choose the option of wealth and success is labeled as crazy, wealth equals happiness. Under the American dream, being successful is defined as having a car, owning a house with a white picket fence, going to college, getting a job, and having a family with kids. Aesthetic display is of the utmost importance. The American dream sells a specific type of lifestyle rather than just objects hence creating what Karl Marx would call commodity fetishism: "pe...

... middle of paper ...

...y the ruling class. Creating a struggle for the ruling class is possible if the ruling ideas are questioned.

Works Cited

Cloward, Jeremy. "The State, Class, and False Consciousness Within the American Working Class." Project Censored. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2014. .

Eliasoph, Nina. 1998. Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life.
Cambridge University Press, 1-22.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1845/2001. “The ruling class and the ruling ideas.” In
Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Douglas M. Kellner, eds. Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks.
Malden, MA: Blackwell, 39-42.

Vidal, Gore. "Quote: The Genius of the Ruling Class." Gore Vidal. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 2014. .

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