The Open Coordination of the Power Elite in Two Photos

 By Andreas Chenvainu

Source: White House via Flickr

Above is a photo of Barack Obama meeting with leaders of America’s technology industries at a 2011 meeting, and below is a photo of a meeting where Donald Trump met with leading figures of American industry in 2017. In both, the then presidents were meeting with people that occupy different spheres of influence than them, private industry as opposed to public governance, which raises the question why such meetings happen, which C. Wright Mills manages to answer satisfactorily. Far from conspiratorial intent, claims Mills, these meetings reflect the open, yet subtle, nature of power in the United States.

Image Source: Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

The reason such people, captains of industry and members of the state, congregate together, according to Mills, is because they have common origins and interests. In The Power Elite, Mills lays out a tripartite model of America's governing circles, which he claims are the government, the leaders of the economy, and the upper military. What defines this group is their the way institutions prepare them for leadership, their mutually reliant positions at the top of America’s hierarchies, and the fact their positions in the modern bureaucratic systems of America’s companies, military, and government, give them a great deal of decision making power compared to the average citizen. In this way, they are different from a traditional ruling aristocracy, but have not-dissimilar influence.

The reason why these three tend to work together, Mills argues, is out of shared interests. Each corner of the triangle relies on the others to maintain its power. What we see in the photos here is the side of the triangle connecting business and governance. A core part of Mills’ argument is that coordination is necessary in the modern centralized state, so it makes sense for these elites to work together. The government needs a strong economy and industrial leaders’ support to maintain legitimacy, so it makes sense that Obama and Trump would seek to meet with them and plan, and sectors of the economy, like the energy, tech, and finance industries, often rely on government support and promotion. Far from backroom dealing, this is open coordination by presidents with America’s wealthy upper class, not out of conspiratorial decision making, but because the presidency’s position and cultural way of thinking tends to incentivize collaboration with the other members of the power elite to maintain its influence.

Sources

Bayly, Lucy. “Trump Met with CEOs of America’s Largest Companies to Push Pro-Jobs Agenda.” NBC. Feb.3rd, 2017. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/trump-met-ceos-america-s-largest-companies-push-pro-jobs-n716366

Wortham, Jenna. “Obama Brought Silicon Valley to Washington.” New York Times. Oct. 30th, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/magazine/barack-obama-brought-silicon-valley-to-washington-is-that-a-good-thing.html

Carlson, Nicholas. “Obama’s Dinner With America’s Tech Leaders – Who’s Who In The Iconic Image?” Business Insider. Feb. 18th, 2011. https://www.businessinsider.com/people-at-obamas-tech-dinner-2011-2