Most societies throughout history have had some sort of elite that had a large part of the majority of the wealth and power in that group. What are some different types of elites and what would their effects be on a society?
Here are some I can think of so far:
Aristrocracy/Nobility - An elite who inherited their wealth and prestige (and possibly land) from being part of prominent families. Penalty to the tax output of the society and makes the society lean more towards slavery or serfdom. Plutocracy - The elite is people who are simply wealthy, typically through business or trade or industry. Makes the society prefer laws that boost the economy in or make the economy more free. Theocracy - The elite are the priests and religious leaders. Makes the society more resistant to conversion and more determined for religious/cultural unity. Egalitarian - No elite. Typically more common in smaller societies, or societies with a lot of connectivity. More happy with democratic laws.
Scientists/Scholars. Give science bonus? or factory and military vehicle bonus? and probably want secularism? also they want a technocracy Fit people (i need a better name xD): The people that, by some measure, are considered superior in an eugenicist society. They are very good at whatever that measure is. create unrest in other classes? Warrior class: People good at fighting. They promote militarism. can evlve into nobility Ship owners: People who own a ship. Similar to warrior class but in the sea. Can also become nobility? Military officers: the people in charge of the armies. they can support military dictatorships.
Politicians: Elite who become powerful through campagins, elections and supporting certain ideologies (in some cases also thanks to manipulation and corruption). Promote democratic societies, and will always change ideology to better fit the masses.
Philosophers/guruâs: elites who promote certain philosophies/ideologies and give lessons in them. No idea what the effect could be.
Entertainers: Elite who mainly entertain the masses. Can be used for propaganda.
Beaurocrats: Elite who have climbed up the government ladder, and now wield great amounts of power. No idea what the effect could be. Maybe support dictatorships?
Magicians: Elites who have specialised in âmagicâ, âclairvoyanceâ, âexorcismsâ and other similar superstitions. No idea what the effect would be.
Magicians could be used to help control and direct the population. Having a monopoly on the supernatural in a superstitious society is a powerful position.
You just made me realize how influential diviners (as in, the traditional meaning of the â-mancerâ suffix) could be in Strategy Mode nations. A lot of ancient wonders are thought to have been built to help track astrology as the seasons go by (granted, we know thatâs legitimate for sure, but still).
As for other forms of magic, even the Aztecs were motivated to maintain their empire for the sake of obtaining sacrifices to keep the sun moving (even if it was just theatrics to some).
Kratocrat. Elites that hold power by threat of direct physical force over their inferiors.(this might be what Crodnu was getting at with âfit peopleâ). God-king. Elites that hold power by supposedly being a direct representation of a god or having direct familial relations with the gods. Feudal Lord. Elites hold ownership over land guaranteed to them by a civilization leader which gives them direct administrative power over those who have no guaranteed land.
Ergatocrat Working class people being the elite. Could be useful if youâre trying to make a Xenomorph USSR , donât know what the bonuses would be though.
Hard to wrap my brain around this concept, but they could instead be represented by unions - a collective of workers bargaining for their interests. Their demands: banning unethical but cost-effective strategies, thus leading to more labor stability. You wonât get as high production, but youâll have far less contamination and unrest.
A syndicalist (yes, we are using that word) government would likely improve raw production because workers know that their best interests are at hand. However, just like the USSR, one must be careful so as to not let political connections morph your representative government into a bureaucracy.
The power struggles in Thrive are going to be crazy, Iâll tell you.
Elders (or retarded elders, according to Omicron wink wonk): Many elderly aged and/or wise people leading the society. Effect? No idea, hmm⌠Being ret⌠[XCOM gibberish]
EDIT:
Psychiatrickerist: Psychologists taking power to either selectively choose ânon-crazyâ political members or manipulate the people (a bit like Dr. Sophia Lamb in BioShock 2; oops spoiler alert ). Effect? Hmm, maybe people worshipping the psychologists or less crazy people? We need to find outâŚ
Prisoners: Prisoners and criminals escape and take control of the power by brute force. Effect? Dictatorship.
Spies: Former Secret Service agents regroup to prepare surveillance on the population or to plot against a common enemy. Effect: More discretion or too much surveillance; privacy broken.
Speaking of broken privacyâŚ
Social Media: Digital Social Media Networks have taken control of the world by dealing with secret service or companies to sell private informations. Effect: difficult to speak freely or to hide something. Some people are unhappy. Some other become expert hackers.
âŚwhy? If you would have cared about spoilers you would have put the spoiler alert in front of the text, and if you didnât you would not have put the spoiler alert. Itâs not like you were talking or something and could have genuinely forgotten, itâs written.
Hmm, it was just a joke. It is mentioned at the beginning of the game that she was a psychiatrist. Anyway, the point is that she was a kind of dictator/cult guru.
This could be seen as sort of a tangent, but could there be a species where the rulers are physically different to the other members of the species, by being the rulers, like the snake people in the ninjago lego thing.
I meant where the leader is different because they are the leader, not that they are the leader because they are different. Maybe if there are natural drugs that the species can use to induce metamorphosis?
There are species which use sex changes as a way of demonstrating authority or hierarchy - certain fish do so, but some other animals may undergo similar phenomena.
Because maybe the leaderâs form is normally only seen when there is a lot of food, so if all of the creatures transform they will be unable to find enough food. But the leader will be given more food, and be able to survive in that form.
wink wonk): Many elderly aged and/or wise people leading the society. Effect? No idea, hmm⌠
). Effect? Hmm, maybe people worshipping the psychologists or less crazy people? We need to find out⌠