We’ve forgotten Charles Beard, prominent US historian. Beard saw that elites drive all societies. He said the…

We’ve forgotten Charles Beard, prominent US historian. Beard saw that elites drive all societies. He said the Founders of the US were a cohesive elite of wealthy property owners, slaveholders, and federal bond investors. /1 https://t.co/wCVtIO5c5G

He argued the Founding Fathers designed the US Constitution as a system of checks and balances to protect their own personal financial interests and to deliberately guard against the "tyranny" of popular majorities (the common, propertyless masses). /2

Some may remember this was also central to ancient Greek thought, at the invention of democracy. Preventing ‘mob rule’. Some would also draw the conclusion here that democracy needs to go still further, to have governance at last by the people. /3

But the opposite is true. Elites will always drive how societies operate. Not because they oppress the people, but because humans are social animals, and always act by following a small number of high status people. /4

And in fact it would be both physically and logically impossible for them to do otherwise. No group of people of whatever size can think and act. There is no group mind or will. Humans imitate one another, and what they imitate is status. /5

The only solution to a bad elite is an opposing elite, to destroy the existing status quo. That or an internal or external catastrophic disruption to that status quo. Natural disasters, wars, plagues etc. /end