All that happened was that new elites, most of whom had little or no sense of public duty, took their place

The fall of the old elites did not usher in a non-elitist nirvana. All that happened was that new elites, most of whom had little or no sense of public duty, took their place. Money and celebrity became society's chief yardsticks of merit and achievement, endlessly celebrated by gawking media.

D. Marquand, Mammon's Kingdom (2014), 58