One. Political elites: We know that the ruling class monopolizes power and governs the unorganized majority. That hereditary castes assert their right to command, as G. Mosca notes in 1896, and that they break when new forces are born that infiltrate other moral, intellectual and religious currents. Surplus. But what happens when cunning people move up, with unusual ambitions and false words?

Two. business elites. The transformation of competitive capitalism into an oligopolized and financialized one, F. Fonseca points out in A new democracy for the XXI century, marks a deep change of elites, internationalized and impersonalized. The state is weakened as a pendant of transnationals, and democracy gives way to the power of the capital. The cry that runs through Latin America is “they don’t represent us.”

Three. socioeconomic elites. While current times contribute to the banality of many well-to-do people, their silence in the face of corruption and impunity loses the function of order and peace. A kind of broken bag where God and the devil fit, according to the convenience of the pocket and power relations. Declining morale.

four. academic elites. In The Destruction of the University, Z. Bauman notes that universities have adopted business jargon in their management. The risk of adopting the criteria of “efficient” factories and companies is the loss of basic projects, humanities, freedom of thought, debate about ideas, which threatens intellectual integrity. Academic rubbish.

Where are the elites?

Woe to the elites!

Five. technocratic elites. While the benefits of using technology in various fields are not denied, the ethical foundations behind it are not clear. Powerful groups promise to free subjects from the suffering of being in the world; complacency and fragility in the face of death. M. Houellebecq would say that one cubic centimeter of antidepressant cures ten feelings.

Six. Cultural elites and media. Z. Bauman explains in What Happened to the Cultural Elite?, that current modern culture no longer has people to cultivate, but clients to seduce. And this elite intends to achieve this now, by making “temporary all aspects of the lives of their former guardians and potential converts, now reborn as clients.”

seven. Elites of the “third sector”. The 2023 report on civil society highlights its admirable resilience, but worries about the future: low funding, poor use of ICT, disconnection between actors, lack of volunteers, generational change, lack of systematization and visibility of performance. And the company, the state, the academy?

Today, the elites are hostage to the illusion of progress that collides with reality. JA Miller comments that “when everyone is going nowhere, no one seems to get lost. The one who goes where he wants, like a rocket, draws attention to the immobility of others. And I mean where are the elite torches that illuminate us in the cave. We need the wisdom of Gustavo Noboa, the vision of Pancho Huerta, the courage of Fernando Villavicencio… (OR)