The Trouble with Elites : Elitism and the anti-democratic impulse by Richard Alston

The Trouble with Elites : Elitism and the anti-democratic impulse

Richard Alston

Paperback, 106 pages, $24.95

ISBN 9781922815934

Release Date: Feb 2024

In most Western countries elites have always been with us. Once the elites were largely intellectuals, even benevolent visionaries, but the class now includes almost anyone who has achieved significant material or occupational success. But just because you are a famous film star, sporting hero or business tycoon, let alone a wealthy retiree, doesn’t entitle you to pontificate, often on subjects you know little about. Most are university-educated, often driven by emotion rather than reason, and more interested in virtue-signalling and self-satisfaction, with little regard for the values, concerns and everyday struggles of others.

All is not lost. In 2016, the elites hated Brexit and Trump. In 2019, they loved Bill Shorten. Each time they lost. While the elite class don’t want to know, working middle-class voters are not prepared to see their families, jobs and national safety sacrificed on the altar of elitism.

Richard Alston AO has been a barrister, a senior Cabinet Minister, Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Federal President of the Liberal Party. He is currently a businessman and company director.