Doug Henwood, one of the few leftist thinkers to examine in serious detail what the left still calls the ruling class, rejects “conceptions of a ruling class that center on PC-obsessed, organic food-eating urban elites.” He goes on, “That set has some influence, especially among the liberal wing of the consciousness industry, but it doesn’t shape the political economy.” It’s the shaping of the political economy, he argues, that ought to be decisive in defining who does and doesn’t belong to the ruling class: “The ruling class consists of a politically engaged capitalist class, operating through lobbying groups. Financial support for politicians, think tanks, and publicity, that meshes with a senior political class that directs the machinery of the state.” To put this another way: the characteristic members of the ruling class are not skilled, educated, credentialed professionals like lawyers, doctors, and consultants. The ruling class is made up of the owners of the firms for which those skilled professionals work.