Is the current elite unique?

[Cornfed]

You can tell the elite because there are no standards they are held to. No matter what they do, how criminal it is or how disastrous the consequences for anyone other than other elites, no-one even thinks of holding them to account. This seems completely unprecedented. If every other society I know of, there was some expectation that the elite would reflect positively on their positions by being great warriors or scholars or something, but now what the hell do they even do? It is not surprising they are so into affirmative action. Anyone with any actual merit in anything is bound to show them up.