The Rise of the Mass Elite

I'm not advocating a return to a more deferential society, nor the idea that the gentleman in white all knows best. But if people in authority are dishonest about who they are, they are less likely to make balanced decisions and will always be second-guessing how their opinion looks. Some sort of middle way must be possible. If a significant slice of the population regards power and authority is inherently suspect, it hardly encourages people to take responsibility. And it does not make for a healthy politics when the ethos of much of the mass elite is to pretend to be weak and powerless - even though they are relatively privileged. Nor to see power in the hands of the narrower governing elite, as concentrated