Power Structures in America

 

Power Structures in America

The image above depicts reelected Donald Trump for his second term of presidency. This is an image of him at a Michigan rally depicting his close supporters and distant ones within the crowd behind them. The president is clearly shown looking at the cameras, maybe another set of the audience, and clapping. He is shown with a sly grin on his face, hair done nicely, in a proper suit, ready to give the Michigan people a speech to convince them to vote for him. Standing next to him is one of his political supporters, most likely the Vice President in the running. This man is also depicted dressed nicely in a suit and tie, hair perfectly combed and gelled to make it appear shiny in the light. The man can be assumed to be someone of a similar caliber to the president, as he is shown on the same plane as him. Making them equals on the stage and to audiences viewing the photo, telling a story about who they should be seen as. There are also many people depicted in the background of the image. They can be seen holding up signs in support of the two men on the stage. There are probably many people all in this same space who have the same views and are continuously following in the leadership of the two men shown in the foreground. Some of the signs read their names in various colors and others said the quote “Never Surrender.” This is one of the slogans from the political party shown as he was being accused of a crime at the time. Showing the unwavering and undeniable support from the people in the audience. 

Mills’ “The Power Elite” discusses the idea of how people actually are able to come to power and what makes them so different from the rest of the population. The important triad of this ideology incorporates economic order, military order, and governmental order. The importance of how you fall economically is how these power groups occupy different parts of the goods and services exchange. This is important to control money and how products are flowing to the general population. Military order is important for keeping common people in line as well as the control of the most expensive branch of government. Finally, governmental order has to do with the control of everything in relation to the running of a country. The power elite is in control of all of these different aspects of life. They are the people who have the ability to control everyone underneath them. They are in positions of power that “enable them to transcend ordinary environments of ordinary men and women” it just depends on how they decide to utilize this power. Within a society, it is important to recognize that even though these power elite are in positions where they could change lives, they are not obligated to nor often do so. 

It is interesting to consider the power elite when it comes to politics because it is an entire realm that is controlled by the power elite of our country. It is mostly economically wealthy men who want to gain military and governmental control. Looking at a man like Donald Trump, this is the epitome of the power elite. He is a man who had no political power or experience within the profession. He simply had a lot of money and said he wanted to be president and now here we are, he has accomplished this goal twice in the past 16 years. It is interesting to consider factors such as this because Trump before being president had a national corporation that was well known to many. He began his following when he became a powerful business man. Collecting respect from other powerful men in this sector and gaining support over the years. When he finally decided to become the president of the United States, he continued to have the support of these men, making him well respected by all those who knew him or knew of him. In addition to this and the idea that the power elite don’t exactly have to care about the people who are stuck in life below them. Even though they are in the position of power to do so, many power elite look out for themselves. Trump ended up reinforcing his connection to the economic power elite when he decided to protect the taxes of big corporations, making them even for everyone in the country, when previously they were being taxed more than smaller ones to hopefully help them in their economic endeavors. This image is an example of how Trump pictures himself and the rest of the country, as better and bigger than. The power elite is his middle name.