Re: [A-List] Re: Oil, Oil Everywhere

["Yoshie Furuhashi" <critical.montages@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 3/19/07, CeJ <jannuzi@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>I'm basically trying to make a distinction between the capitalist
> class and the power elite.  The capitalist class in general are
> multinational, unorganized, and uncoordinated, and they are not
> directly involved in day-to-day running of the US state, though they
> shape US economy through their investment.  A minority of the US
> section of the multinational capitalist class are the activist type,
> who shape politics, and some of them directly get involved in running
> the state as the power elite.
> -- Yoshie>>
>
> I think there are other ways to group people that reveals things. For
> example, I would bet (if I had anything to bet--anyone on to
> 'leverage' me) that if I could find the 12 million people who make the
> most money from military- and intelligence-related (national security)
> federal spending, I would also bet that almost down to the last 12
> millionth, they have voted for George Bush in the last two elections
> knowing full well that he would provide the most money for them.

It was probably possible to divide capitalists by sector before the
rise of portfolio investment.  And it is still possible to do so
regarding small capitalists whose main wealth comes from companies
they own and manage themselves.  But, for the rest?  A majority of the
rich always vote Republican (at least since the New Deal probably),
but that's for the reasons of tax and other policies.

> Of course the pool could be expanded right on down to the lower
> enlisted men who make the least money, but whose income still comes
> from the militarized federal budget (as does their health
> care--however inadequate some might think it--to which I point out
> 'socializing' a cost means socializing it, which the US won't do).  In
> which case I would bet that the deciding factor would be 'lifer dog'
> vs. 'getting out as soon as military service obligation is up', with
> those with career aspirations voting overwhelmingly for Bush.

Polls of service members that I have seen indicate that officers are
predominantly Republican and the rank and file are just about evenly
split between Republican, Democrat, and Independent.
--
Yoshie