Summary

The previous chapter documented the ongoing clash between democratizing efforts from below and efforts at elite control from above. Exemplifying the ideas presented in the first chapter, this chapter is dedicated to one of American history’s more recent clashes between the masses and the elite after the “egalitarian efforts” that took place in the 1960s (17). This “enormous, concentrated, coordinated business offensive” first had to shape ideology in order to sway the population from the foundations of democracy (17). This offensive originated from all aspects of the political spectrum, as exemplified by the Powell Memorandum on the right and a report by the liberal Trilateral Commission on the left. Combined, these and many other heavily-funded efforts worked to control and reorient the population away from creative, independent thought.

The Powell Memorandum served as a call to arms to the business class to protect their...