The "1843" version of the article, without the paywall => https://www.1843magazine.com/1843/the-economics-of-fun/the-s...

> " Over the last few decades, a new elite has emerged, partly as a result of deregulation of the financial sector in the West and partly because of the spread of global capitalism across the world. This elite is more geographically dispersed and mobile than the aristocrats and capitalists of yesteryear."

Remember that decadence is not intrinsic to the human condition; rather, the fruit of capitalism.