I am Portuguese, most of what can be called civilization in my country is normally the imposition of an EU directive (this is an exaggeration, but you get the point).

The labour movement has been another powerful non-elite engine of progress.

Both seem to have fizzled out of late and a synthesis and revival would be a very good thing.

But the point is that a technocratic elite might be a good thing in a democratic arrangement.

In France, however, as I gather from Jerome's complaints, the technocratic elite has lost its public service ethos and been coopted into predatorial capitalism which is not a good thing. And as the EU Commission looks a lot like the French civil service, one should expect a similar shift there.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes