The ruling class

I was talking to a friend at work and he was telling me about the "ruling class".It is a group of billionaires/millionaires that basically run the United States.Has anyone ever heard of this or should I tell him what a nut he is?

money rule the world, they make the world spin, so I assume to some extent your friend is right. If you have money, you have power.

Aparantley, their is a large group of very rich people [billionares as you said] who run countries. Most of the billionares that might do this kind of thing aren't known to many people. Opinion in the end.

Perhaps he is referring to the Bilderberg group?

Your friend probably wasn't talking about a club called The Ruling Class, but rather he's refereing to the existence of classes of people in the US, (poor, middle class, upper class, etc), and stating that the super-rich are the ones who are rich enough to influence everything.

The bilderbergers btw don't run anything. The group apparently started after wwii, the founders wanted for some officials and businessmen to have a venue where they can get together out of the limelight of the press and discuss issues like policy and economics. It has no binding authority, its just a convention.

It is a mistake to equate the ruling class with the moneyed class.

Not all rich people are in control, and some of those at the forefront of societal evolution are not actually rich.

For example, "deadheads," the followers and fans of "The Greatful Dead" rock group, have had a huge impact on pop-art, from the logos on VH-1, to the fashions that pre-teens wear to school. As a rule, many true deadheads were not rich, but they certainly ruled in some fashion circles.

Another example is the religious right. If you ignore the media hype, the people who are behind the American political force are not primarily driven by money. Sure, there are some TV-Preachers that CNN and Larry King lift up for you to throw rocks at. But if you look at the rank-&-file lobbyists for the RR in Washington, most of them are working for peanuts. Often, young lobbyists for that group make in the low 60K area. But contrast that with lobbyists for the lumber industry, many of whom pull down 150k a year in annual salary.

The anti-religious right forces try to link the lobby with wealthy supporters and powerful politicians. But the fact is that the power-wielders are following the religious right rather than vice versa. And not because the superrich agree with the conservative agenda, but merely because that's where the votes are in this decade.


Sociologists use a term like "the ruling class" to refer to the decision-makers in government, to distinguish them from "the rich." The fact is, a lot of US politicians are independently wealthy, and have taken a pay cut in order to hold office: they have to put their investments in a blind trust, which isn't nearly as lucrative as investing the money themselves.

Originally posted by Nygdan
The bilderbergers btw don't run anything. The group apparently started after wwii, the founders wanted for some officials and businessmen to have a venue where they can get together out of the limelight of the press and discuss issues like policy and economics. It has no binding authority, its just a convention.

I know, but there's a lot of folks that think that they do.

Throughout history, there have certainly been ruling classes. One of the scariest things about this class in our day and age is their absolute ability to remain secretive. Money certainly is the medium of power and influence. It buys governments, controls resources, influences opinion, and facilitates political and economic policies designed to advance the agendas of the monied elite. Look at the obscene manipulation of oil prices in the wake of Katrina and Rita. Mobil doesn't even rely on Gulf refineries and were one of the first to jack up their prices. The DeLay indictment is another example of the economic elite exerting their control. How he managed to get caught is beyond me, actually.

In an age of consumerism, power has little to do with ideology, little to do with fealty, almost nothing to do with nationalism. It has a lot to do with manipulation of the masses. I tell my civics students that the most important class they will ever take is mine - I am trying to teach them to understand the way government works - or should work - to make sure that they are not being played for fools.

Dr. Stangecraft's observations on the deadhead "counter-culture" and the religious right was a great comment. I tie this with my belief by saying that these are consumer-based social influencers that either steer a large number of people to support an agenda or - more maliciously - to divert the masses from important issues. As a teacher, I can tell you what MTV has done to a generation. They don't read, they have the attention that is frighteningly short, and are likely to believe what they see on TV. Kind of reminds me of 'bread and circuses'...

thanks for sticking with me here....