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The political order, once a slim decentralized set of several dozen states with a weak spinal cord, has become a centralized, executive establishment which has taken into itself many powers previously scattered, and now enters into each and every cranny of the social structure (Mills 1956). .
The military order, once a slim establishment in a context of distrust fed by state militia, has become the largest and most expensive feature of government, and, although well versed in smiling public relations, now has all the grim and clumsy efficiency of sprawling bureaucratic domain (Mills 1956). .
If we took the one hundred most powerful men in America, the one hundred wealthiest, and the one hundred most celebrated away from the institutional positions they now occupy, away from their resources of men and women and money, away from the media of mass communication that are now focused upon them-then they would be powerless and poor and uncelebrated. For power is not of man. Wealth does not center in the person of the wealthy. Celebrity is not inherent in any personality. To be celebrated, to be wealthy, to have power requires access to major institutions, for the institutional positions men occupy determine in large part their chances to have and to hold these valued experiences (Mills 1956). .
Mills attempted to attack powerful and wealthy individuals demonstrates his lack of insight and awareness. Honestly, there is not a lot of validity to his observation. Contrary to his statement, we find that many powerful, wealthy people have gained a prestigious position and then lose their wealth and power through forfeiture, or circumstances beyond their control, they are more apt to return to that status, in a short period of time. They have gained the know how, the wherewithal, an understanding, if you will, to grasp the "formula" to become rich and powerful. How many times have we read accounts of certain people losing all of their wealth, almost overnight, and in a few short years they are back making fortunes.
