Experts vs elites
&gt; elites are selected primarily for their prestige and status, which has many contributions, including money, looks, fame, charm, wit, positions of power, etc.<p>I’d argue that it’s only money. Prestige, looks, charm, wit and even positions of power come and go and rich people have always surrounded themselves with those the same way they have always surrounded themselves with experts.<p>At its core, I don’t think human society has really changed that much since the dawn of organised civilisation. Sure we’ve tried different some very systems over the thousands of years, but if you zoom out to the helicopter perspective, the biggest “influencers” have always been the oligarchs and the sole requirement for joining their ranks is having lots and lots of money.<p>At least I can’t think of a period of human history, or a political system, where the richest families within it, didn’t have much more power than the ordinary citizen, and I suspect the sole reason liberal democracy has been so successful is because it is the “safest” system to be extremely wealthy within.