I'm with you, which is one of the reasons I was wary about talking about "elites" at all, and probably too resistant to learning about them.

Every system of any kind, anywhere, has some smallish group that exerts outsize control over it. Sometimes -- perhaps often -- this is fine, and what you want. If I ever need neurosurgery I will be super glad to have HMS-trained surgeon who did residency at Cleveland Clinic or wherever. A lot of people who run things, and are sufficiently exposed to the consequences of reality, are both elite and incredibly competent. You want them on that wall.

"Elite" shouldn't be a condemnation, but sometimes, in practice, it is.