see I have this theory;

* People gain expertise if given resources to do what interests them. The truly rich didn't JUST start with money, they're people who think money and power is interesting, and if you're not also interested in money or power, they're not going to be very interesting people to you.

* Being a leader requires decisions which may hurt those you affect. This is easier to do if you're emotionally and physically remote from them. Wealth, including the seed capital needed to become truly rich, creates remoteness and the assumption everyone else has equal chances ( which makes it really easy to assume an active superiority to your underlings). But being low on empathy definitely helps.

* Wealth also buys the ability to make mistakes. If a immigrant family decides to start a restaurant, or a middle class kid goes off to college, and that tanks, that's basically their chances. Whereas if you're rich enough to try out five investments, and four tank but the other turns out fantastically solid, you're great financially and ego will follow.

So what I am saying is the very wealthy tend to be too privileged to question themselves, even if they're not profoundly self-absorbed bigots, and also can be incredibly boring people if you're not them.

The less polite way to say it is that I think we're ruled by uncreative, uncreatING, complete sadists.