The ruling class is referred to as elite.
The term elite , which can also be accentuated in the first E ( elite ), refers to a minority group that enjoys privileges or that occupies the upper stratum of society . The elite is generally associated with the dominant class or with those who exhibit their supremacy in a certain area.
For example: “The elite of this city has always been conservative and reactionary,” “My dream is to become an elite athlete: I am training hard to achieve it,” “An elite group of police officers was in charge of carrying out the investigation.” .
Etymology and pronunciation of elite
As can be seen at a glance, the term elite is not typical of our language, that is, it did not originate in it but rather we took it from French, where it arose from a Latin term, seguire , which can be translated as "select" or "choose". In its French version it is written " elite ", although we must note that the accent on the E does not indicate intensity, as would happen if it were a Spanish word, but rather that said letter is closed (something impossible to reproduce with our sounds ).
This led Spanish-speaking people to misinterpret its pronunciation, since they assumed that they should intensify the first letter, and for this reason currently the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy proposes elite as the most correct version, and elite as an alternative. also accepted. In this case, it arrived in the English language with phonetics more similar to the original, and when it impacted our culture it allowed us to correct our error , although in an indirect way.
Basketball players who play in the NBA are elite athletes.
Control of power
For sociology and psychology, this concept has a very important place. In the mid-20th century, the American sociologist Charles Wright Mills defined it as a small group, capable of controlling politics, the most powerful companies and even the army.
Many times a distinction is made between various elites according to their sector of influence . The economic elite of a country or a region, to cite one case, is made up of the wealthiest families. The political elite groups the main leaders, while the cultural elite has among its members the people who influence a culture through art, intellectual work, etc.
The elite according to psychology
From the point of view of psychology, the elite describes a small group of people who cause in the majority a profound lack of security, confidence and optimism in their own opportunities , due to having hoarded more resources than they were entitled to, to the detriment of others. It is important to note that the list of members of said elite in society cannot be defined with absolute precision, but for each person it can take different forms, depending on several factors, such as their background and expectations.
The media play a fundamental role in the force that the elite exerts in society: if they present this group of people as the privileged one, as a goal that we should all set ourselves, they generate resentment in those who believe they are incapable of accessing it. .
The notion in sport and the business field
In sports , elite competitors are those who participate in the most important professional events in the world. Formula 1 racers are elite motorists , just as players who are part of NBA teams are elite basketball players . On the other hand, the young man who plays soccer with his friends in a park is not an elite soccer player .
Elite , on the other hand, is a name used by various companies worldwide: a manufacturer of products made from tissue paper, a company that develops video games, and a modeling agency share this name.