John Cox

Ron Paul and The Power Elite

I tend to shy away from speaking or writing of politics in my blog for several reasons. First, I believe there are many that are much better informed than myself, and thus when you don't have much to add, it's better to listen. I also view politics for more the entertainment value rather than expecting immediate change. A republic system is very, very slow to change. More importantly though, I have always viewed C. Wright Mills The Power Elite as a pretty good explanation as to why much of the direction of my country isn't really in the public domain as we were taught in our civics classes.

If I can't really affect or influence change, then why should I really bother worrying of the consequences? I tend to not really focus on things that I have little control over, which makes my life a bit easier and my demeanor a bit nicer at the end of the day. Thus, it's entertainment for me (quality entertainment at times) more than something that I should spend time losing sleep over.

That said, I can't help but think that the Ron Paul run is possibly the most apt example that proves the hypothesis that C. Wright Mills put forward fifty years ago. It's almost poetic in the way his candidacy still has legs even going against the all of the powers that be. Perhaps good ideas (and some really bad) can't be contained in the information age. Anything is possible, right?