Societies have also differed in how wealthy they allow their elites to become, and in their tolerance of the means by which wealth is acquired and used. One dividing line is between societies that tolerate self-enrichment through politics, and those that demand that the two spheres be kept separate.
在允许精英们富到哪种程度和容忍采取什么方式来获得和使用财富方面，各个社会之间也存在差异。有一条分界线横亘在两种社会之间：容忍通过政治来实现自身富裕的社会，以及要求政治和财富相互分离的社会。