FINAL ESSAY- CHANGING DISTRIBUTIONS OF POWER

Christopher Lasch begins The Revolt of the Elites by stating that, “[once] it was the “revolt of the masses” that was held to threaten social order and the civilizing traditions of Western culture. In our time, however, the chief threat seems to come from those at the top of the social hierarchy, not the masses” (Lasch 203). This idea, that the elites are now more powerful, is also prevalent in other readings, Information Deprivation in an Information-Rich Society, by Gerbiner, and Big World: How Clear Channel Programs America, by Jeffrey Sharlet, share similar ideas of unequal power distribution. These three articles are primarily linked by the idea that the market that we had previously been operating on has changed from a national market to an international market; however, other comparisons can be made between these articles when looking at the transition from state control to private control and the dominating corporations and business people.

Firstly, there are many more dominating businesses and business people than there were only a few years ago. Christopher Lasch, author of The Revolt of the Elites, states that “[today] it is the elites, however- those who control the international flow of money and information, preside over the philanthropic foundations and institutions of higher learning, manage the instruments of cultural production and thus set the terms of public debate- that have lost faith in the values, or what remains of them, of the West;” (Lasch 203) meaning that a greater amount of power is in the hands of a smaller few. Lasch also makes it clear that “[the] general course of recent history no longer favors the leveling of social distinctions but runs more and more in the direction of a two-class society in which the favored few monopolize the advantages of money, education, and power” (Lasch 204). Ideas that Lasch also expresses in this article consist of the belief that the upper class separates everything in their lives from the lower class; they hire their own bodyguard as opposed to just relying on police and they send their children to private school instead of having them attend regular schooling (Lasch 193-201). The Revolt of the Elites presents an idea that there are elite people and elite businesses that have taken over every market, leaving very little chance for any competition.

The domination of corporations and single people has also been made clear by Jeffrey Sharlet and Gerbiner. Gerbiner, one of the authors of Information Deprivation in an Information-Rich Society, has made it clear that corporations are really starting to take over more than their product; “[…] much of the space in the American cultural house has been appropriated for corporate messages […] Atlanta, for example, is seriously considering renaming some of its streets and parks with corporate logos- ‘Coca-Cola Boulevard [and] Georgia Pacific Park’- to raise funds” (Gerbiner 186). Gerbiner further states that “[the] corporate voice booms across the land, individual expression, at best, trickles through tiny, constricted public circuits. This has allowed the affective right to free speech to be transferred from individuals to billion-dollar companies that, in effect, monopolize public communication”(Gerbiner 186). This information deprivation that Gerbiner writes about relates well to the power distribution that today’s society faces; only a few corporations give us the information that they wish us to know and understand. These ideas are also seen when looking at Jeffrey Sharlet’s reading, Big World: How Clear Channel Programs America. When looking at Clear Channel as an example of a dominant corporation, it can be seen that, “Clear Channel […] reaches roughly 200 million people, or more than 70 percent of the American public,” (Sharlet 193) proving that these corporations are controlling what people listen to and what information is made known, or regulated, on a daily basis. Sharlet says of Clear Channel, “[it is] an experiment. It is a giant and potentially unstable, more reliant on muscle than on financial finesse […],” (Sharlet 193) meaning that these corporations do not even need to be so profitable, that the size alone can defeat any competitors. Gerbiner and Sharlet both write of dominant corporations and people who seem to be more in control of information and public knowledge than any other source, these companies discussed are slowly taking over the public thoughts and opinions and replacing them with their own.

Secondly, the control in this world went from control of the state to control coming from the private sector. Given that Lasch’s article is written about the newfound power of the elites, and that power being taken away from other sources, the masses and the government, it is well suited that Gerbiner and Sharlet write of the control being stolen from the hands of the state and being placed in the hands of the elites. As stated in Information Deprivation an Information-Rich Society, “[in] the increasingly central spheres of communication and information, the shift from state to private power is especially marked and observable;” (Gerbiner et al 185) it is very clear that there has been a shift in the power holders and decision makers. It has also been seen that this new private control has more power over what information the public has access to: “[…] today there is a new form of censorship, structurally pervasive, grounded in private, concentrated control of the media, and generally undetectable in a direct and personal sense” (Gerbiner et al 186).

This power switch is also well depicted in the reading by Sharlet, Clear Channel has been proven to be an excellent example of a powerful information provider; “Clear Channel stations shrink playlists and recycle an even smaller number of songs” (Sharlet 194). As well, “[…] Clear Channel has made commercial radio nearly reporting-free, believing that its syndication of […] as many stations as possible fulfills its mandate to provide news and political diversity” (Sharlet 194). With the shrinking of playlists and the lack of reporting on these Clear Channel stations, it is left to one company to package the information that it feels is necessary to be known by the public, and to throw the rest away. Clear Channel has taken power away from every angle, media, government, and the masses and has turned itself into a private company that can push ideas and decisions towards their audience and take away the influence of the state. These two readings are, once again, well related to the topic of the diminishment of the masses and the rise of the elites in that the decision making power and the information relaying power has been passed from the state to the private corporations and elites.

Lastly, it can be seen from The Revolt of the Elites, that we are now operating using a new market structure. Instead of sticking with a national business scope, there is a new international scope that today’s elites and big corporations are working with. Lasch writes that the new elites are now concerned with the operation of a system as a whole, rather than the operation of its single parts, as well, the elites are more concerned with their international counterparts rather than the masses of Americans (Lasch 203-212). Gerbiner compliments Lasch’s argument by stating that “[today], the power of huge, private economic enterprises is extended across national and international boundaries, influencing and directing economic resource decisions, political choices, and the production and dissemination of messages and images” (Gerbiner et al 185). Gerbiner furthers the argument made in the previous quotation by stating that these corporations are not only international but they have influence on many important political and economic decisions; “[the] American economy is now hostage to a relatively small number of giant private companies, with interlocking connections, that set the national agenda” (Gerbiner et al 185). Lasch and Gerbiner both come together in their separate articles in relaying the message of a new market; not only national, but international.

To conclude, it has primarily been seen that these articles are linked by the fact that the market that we had previously been operating with has changed from a national market to an international market. However, the correlation between the Lasch, Sharlet and Gerbiner readings can also be seen when examining the transition from state control to private control and the dominating corporations and business people. While completing this analysis it can be questioned whether this rise of elites is a positive step for society, or if we have taken a wrong turn and should be looking backwards towards change.