The film stars Lewis Lapham, who plays himself as editor of Harper's Magazine. Lapham opens the film with the question of whether or not America has a "ruling class", a circle of wealthy and powerful families that run the banks, businesses, and government, essentially controlling everything in America.

To answer this question, Lapham devises a fictional scenario following the post-graduation paths of two young Yale graduates, themselves from opposite economic beginnings. The paths they take provide the context need to conclude the central question's answer

The following people are interviewed:

   * Robert Altman

   * James A. Baker III

   * Bill Bradley

   * Harold Brown

   * Hodding Carter III

   * William T. Coleman Jr.

   * Walter Cronkite

   * Barbara Ehrenreich

   * Martin Garbus

   * Vartan Gregorian

   * Doug Henwood

   * Mike Medavoy

   * Joseph S. Nye Jr.

   * Samuel Peabody

   * John Perkins

   * Peter G. Peterson

   * Peter Seeger

   * Lawrence H. Summers

   * Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.

   * William Howard Taft IV

   * Kurt Vonnegut

   * Howard Zinn

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