Meet the Elites
They run the world. But who exactly are ‘they’?
What makes someone elite?
The concept of being “elite” means something different depending on who you’re talking to.
Schools are considered elite based on how difficult they are to get into and who’s on their alumni roster. Athletes can be considered elite based on their performance during competition. And militaries have elite groups of soldiers who are trained to perform complex and dangerous missions.
When you think of eliteness, superiority often comes to mind. People who are elite are exceptional and thus superior to everyone else. According to Merriam-Webster, elite is defined as:
A group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence.
Implicit in this definition of eliteness is the idea that anyone can become elite through hard work. If you study hard, get into the right school, and land a job at a prestigious company, you can become a member of the elite.
This is the essence of social mobility. Merit can be a ticket to a good job and a higher social class as a result.
While the idea of a meritocracy might make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, this isn’t actually how the world works.
You can study hard and get good grades, but if you don’t come from a wealthy family or check a diversity box, you won’t get into a school like Stanford or Harvard.
You can become excellent at a sport, but if you have to compete against athletes who have enhanced their performance or are biologically superior to you, you’ll never win.
In reality, the world is governed by tribes not merit. Those who are already at the top want to protect and preserve what they already have for themselves. While windows of opportunity do open up from time to time, social mobility is the exception rather than the rule.
What this reveals is that individuals, families, and companies have constructed an illusion around social mobility. You can work hard and pursue something but your hard work alone will never get you close enough to take what the elites already have.
This illusion shapes every facet of your life. It predestines you for certain types of work, access to education, the ability to build wealth, and who your future spouse will be.
Most people go through life unaware that social mobility is an illusion. They toil away all their lives blaming themselves for not working hard enough to achieve their dreams. They don’t realize their dream was predicated on an impossibility to begin with.
The elites rule the world. They’ve always ruled the world. While power changes hands between members of the elite, it hasn’t broken rank just yet. There’s good reason to believe that this trend will continue into the future.
So who exactly are the elites? Understanding who they are and what they want will tune you into the game they’re playing. That in turn, can help you understand the role you’re supposed to play in their game. The more you know, the more leverage you will have to opt out if you don’t want to participate in their game.
That’s what this essay is all about. It will dive into the two party class system that governs the world. It will identify categories of people and businesses that can be considered elite. By defining who these people are and what these people want, you’ll be better prepared to navigate the world as it is, not as you think it ought to be.
Who are the elites?
Everyone talks about the elites who run the world but you might not know who they are. There are globalist elites pushing an agenda from Davos and there are elites in Washington pushing agendas of their own.
But these aren’t the only elites. There are different groups of people with different interests and equity stakes in the world as it currently exists. Some want political power, others want legacy. They use all levers of power – be it social, political, or financial – to achieve their goals. Your time, labor, intellect, spending power, and vote are all critical means to this end.
Before I dive in too much deeper, you first have to recognize and acknowledge some important – you’re a peasant. You might have a decent amount of money saved up in the bank and you might be a member of your local country club, but that doesn’t make you an elite.
When the Occupy Movement talked about the 99% they meant it. In socioeconomic terms, you are closer in status to the poorest people in your community than you are to members of the true elite.
At the peasant level of society, we mistake social clout for eliteness for social. Within the peasantry social status is the only means to differentiate ourselves from one another. While it might make you a higher ranking peasant, social clout alone doesn’t make you a member of the elite.
Take celebrities as an example. While it's true that Hollywood actors, musicians, and influencers shape culture around us, they aren’t truly elites. They, too, have to bend the knee to those in power.
Even someone at Taylor Swift’s level isn’t exempt from this. She’s significant culturally, but she’s not powerful in her own right. She could die tomorrow and the world would carry on. Yes, she has influence, but that influence isn’t the same as power or control.
So who are the elites? They are individual people, families, companies, and institutions that are the puppet masters of the peasantry. They compete against one another for total control and world domination.
Unlike influencers or celebrities, the elites have real power. They have the means to destroy your life at a moment’s notice. They not only create policies and make choices, they also have the means to implement their decisions.
What makes elites so special is that their power and privilege is unrivaled. While there are pathways to becoming an elite, they are far and few in between. With the right amount of luck, someone at the very top of the peasantry could make the jump. But for most people, that’ll never happen. You can watch all of the motivational YouTube videos you want, hard work alone won’t make you the next Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.