On Noblesse Oblige

Nobility.

What makes for an elite is a sense of obligation to model superiority for the benefit of others. To be fair this may be a sincere intention. The call of noblesse oblige can be real. The argument that luxuries are consumed to demonstrate the superiority of the nation the Nobles represent, and that exquisite manners are performed as a ritual standard that the Commons may wish they could aspire to but also are a burden that the Commons are exempt from. What the aristocrats sacrificed was their freedom of action compared to the peasantry and also their privacy. The King and his family were almost like animals in a zoo, eating on display before crowds. They thought that would endear them to the public.

Calvinist Protestantism made every man a potential noble by refining Luther's "Priesthood of all Believers" into the "Elect Predestined by Divine Grace." While you could not be sure that you were among the Elect you could demonstrate to others that you were worthy by your conduct. In affect the virtues of thrift industry temperance etc of the Protestant Ethic that fueled the Capitalist Revolution as Max Weber described were aristocratic virtues.