The Elites, the Capitalist Class, and Political Power
The Elites get described as a group of persons who exercise unequal power and influence. This is because they hold a large amount of skill or money compared to other people in society. The capitalist class is a set of people who own the means of production and are in charge of employing people. Political power has all the individuals who allow the administration of public resources and the application of strategies for society. In this paper, I will concentrate on the groups mentioned above.
Members of the elite, capitalist class and political power get unified by their common education source, unified social backgrounds, everyday experiences of managing large institutes and relationships between the upper-class society. Given that they only know of each other, in case of an opportunity for employment, they employ each other. This means that the knowledge in the sectors they run will remain dormant.
Private firms get the upper hand in securing lucrative defence contracts. As long as the military continues spending on projects, the private firms will continue earning by taking up their commitments to manufacturing the parts needed. Private firms generally have a high capacity for production. The parts made are of high quality; hence the military leaders incharge of the projects will opt for these firms.
From my point of view, I think that select groups of people influence military decisions. First, decisions on where the resources will get spent get made by bureaucrats. They don’t rely on market competition, thus continuously put their resources in a place that does not give returns. The government does not consider the claims of its citizens; instead, as long as the elite continue gaining profit from failing projects, the projects remain. If the military decisions got made with the inclusivity of various people, some meaningless plans would get scraped off.
In conclusion, there exists an elite cohesion that keeps specific jobs revolving among the members of the elite groups, capitalist class groups and those in power. Private firms have a capability; thus, they keep securing lucrative defence contracts. It is then clear that most military decisions are a result of the say of a particular group of people.
References
Oikonomou, I. (2011). EU–US Military Relations and the Question of the Transnational Capitalist Class. Rethinking Marxism, 23(1), 135-144.