Thoughts on the American System

Abstract

A change of administration usually provides useful insights into the nature and mode of functioning of the U.S. social order, and in this respect the accession to power of the Nixon regime is no exception. First of all, we can see from Nixon's cabinet appointments how monopoly capitalism tends to rely increasingly for its top functionaries and administrators on men whose chief training and experience have been either in managing and manipulating capital in its most abstract forms or in servicing the system as a whole. In the former category we include bankers and corporation lawyers, in the latter university professors.

This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.

Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.