Existence of a \"Super Class\" of Individuals

¶ … existence of a "super class" of individuals within American society. These individuals through both economic and political influences control as vast amount of the resources commanded by American society. As such, these individuals tend to utilize this unseen power to foster their own unique interests within society. These influences are usually conducted in secret and often unseen by the general public. This concept, as the article illustrates, creates a false sense of democracy with American civilization. The article also explains how both the political industry combined with the mass media colludes to preserve the super elite structure within society. The political elite use their over influence within the finance, policy and lobbying domain to enact policies that favor their own ideals. Meanwhile, the mass media attempts to downplay or outright black out news that could adversely affect their agenda from moving forward. Together, these two concepts form a powerful combination by which the super elite can operates within the shadows of general economic activity within the United States. The document also elaborates on the economic structure that allows the super elite to remain in power. This class of individuals often owns a disproportionate amount of the assets within industry overall. High level executives within many media companies not only receive large amounts of compensation in terms of salary, but also through stock options. In addition, deputy managers, who often follow the same ideals as the leader, also receive much of their compensation in stock. According to the article, this allows the ownership of the business to remain in the control of the super elite with profits ultimately funneling themselves to the owners.

What evidence is marshaled in support of this theme?

The article provides a litany of statistics and facts to support its claim. The first being the existence of a massive lobbying power to help solidify the power of the super elite. The article explains that lobbyists have grown from nearly 11,000 individuals in 1995 to roughly 38,000 individuals in 2005. In addition, the article states the massive growth in wealth over the past 3 decades relative to those in the middle and lower class. As a democracy is would be assumed that all classes would share in the aggregate wealth of the country. However, the exact opposite is occurring. Since 1980, the median household income has not change on an inflation adjusted basis. As such the median household income for most Americans have remained at inflation adjusted $48,000 per household. Meanwhile for the top 1% of Americans, aggregate income has increased from $300 billion in 1980 to over $2.2 Trillion dollars as of today. The article also illustrates how the lower class of individuals who are unable to own stock or many of the assets needed to evoke charge has seen their wealth decline over time. The top individual with the body 20% of Americans earns roughly $20,000 a year. This is far less than the GDP per capital within the United States of $50,000. As such, the super elite continue to use their power to control much of the asset base of America. They then use this influence to evoke policies that further promote their ideals, ultimately allowing them to gather more assets, as the cycle continues.

What are the logical implications of the theme for the concept development?