The primary problem with the so-called elites is that they are not elite, and they are neither wise, nor intelligent, nor educated, nor enlightened, nor superior in any fashion save two, accident of circumstance and elevated self-regard.
I agree. We've been so indoctrinated about the triumph of democracy that we forget that, going back a thousand years before the last century, the aristocracy was trained to lead. Noblesse oblige was the motto; the elites had a duty to those they they lead.
Were those privileges abused? Of course. Were some aristocrats ill-suited for their roles? Naturally. But not as many as we'd like to think. And they all operated within a moral frame that told them what they should be doing, even if they weren't.
Somewhere on the Web there's a quote that every government turns into an oligarchy. Usually, the elite is centered around power or money. In our country, it seems that the elite is defined by their credentials. The right schools, the right NGOs and community activist groups. And everyone who's had a real job knows that the educated expert is always the one who doesn't know anything.
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