"It would be a society with extremely high and rising
inequality yet little circulation of elites.
"A society in which the pillar institutions were populated
by and presided over by a group of hyper-educated, ambitious overachievers who enjoyed
tremendous monetary rewards as well as unparalleled political power and
prestige..., a group of people who could more or less rest assured that now that
they have achieved their status, now that they have scaled to the top of the
pyramid, they, their peers, and their progeny will stay there.
"Such a ruling class would have all the competitive ferocity
inculcated by the ceaseless jockeying within the institutions that produce
meritocratic elites, but face no actual sanctions for failing at their duties
or succumbing to the temptations of corruption....
"In the way bailouts combined the worst aspects of
capitalism and socialism, such a social order would fuse the worst aspects of
meritocracy and bureaucracy.
"It would, in other words, look a lot like the American
elite circa 2012."
--Christopher Hayes, Twilight of the Elites
All of that would be fine, if the rest of the people lived
in a society with true free enterprise.
Let the super-elite act like elites always have, but let the
regular people live in freedom.
Over time, freedom creates growth, opportunity,
socio-economic mobility and widespread prosperity.
Alas, the elites seldom ever make such changes on behalf of
the people.
If we want to be free, regular people must start being much
more active as citizens.
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