ABSTRACT
Wright Mills used the term higher immorality to refer to an institutionalized set of values and practices among the nation's corporate and political elite. Mills believed that America's upper class loves money, has mediocre cultural tastes, and, most important, possesses a moral insensibility that allows for the commission of various criminal and deviant acts. What Mills perceived about American political power in the 1950s was the beginning of "the secret government". The effects of the secret government have devastated the trust of the American people in their government and American prestige in many third world nations. Many Americans now possess conflicting values or no values at all regarding faith in their most basic institutions. The "main drift" of the American character is one of cynicism and alienation. American military intervention has gone hand in hand with the militarization of the economy, and increasing secrecy in the making of defense and foreign policy.
