Motorbike-riding tough guy C. Wright Mills was one of the most influential sociologists of the 1950's. One of his books was The Power Elite - which was all about the men who control our lives even though they have not been elected to that privilege, and who ceaselessly oppress us with a sense of artificial urgency. Middle-class anxiety is still the scourge that drives us forward - or at least keeps us in harness - and its masters have not changed. Below is a link to a retrospective essay on Mills and his thinking.


"The Deciders" from the New York Times Book Review