Elite Power and Visibility: Rising Gas Prices and American Frustration

Mills focuses on the sense of an elite that is held by the American public and how that elite relates to historical and political phenomena. Mills looks at the strength of that elite’s power, the visibility of the elite, and how these together create a theory of change and the elite’s place as a historical actor. 

Currently issues of inflation are a focus of political discourse and American consumers have been affected by the rising price of gas. A sticker placed next to the price of gas at a pump in Sissonville, West Virginia reads, “That’s all me. I did that.” with a picture of President Biden pointing at the price of gas. There is a clear economic and political problem resonant with individuals who want to understand why the phenomena is happening. This piece of political propaganda attributes President Biden with responsibility for the rising price of gas. This affirms an understanding of the elite as being omnipotent and having an almost divine power over reality. This political messaging argues for a clear visibility of the American elite, who can be given a name and face.

This political slogan lacks explanatory power: it fails to explain the motivation of President Biden to have the price of gasoline increase. Surely, Americans understand that President Biden does not decide the price of gas each day, or that he is motivated by the desire to make gas more costly. Messaging like this simply attempts to make the elite visible as a form of agitation that responds to the grievances of the electorate. While the price of gas may be a “complicated economic phenomena” and determined by “market forces” this symbol resonates because it attributes responsibility to someone who does have power.