Hoi oligoi. A new phrase for me, and one which made immediate sense. My Georgist grandparents sometimes referred to themselves as part of the hoi polloi, but at other times also used it to distinguish themselves, in a joking way, from the mass of people who didn't know George's ideas.
Here's the opening of the Wikpedia entry for Oligarchy:
Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos), meaning "few", and ἄρχω (arkho), meaning "to rule or to command")[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, or military control. Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the next.[citation needed]
Throughout history, oligarchies have been tyrannical (relying on public servitude[disambiguation needed] to exist) or relatively benign.Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich,[4] for which the exact term is plutocracy, but oligarchy is not always a rule by wealth, as oligarchs can simply be a privileged group, and do not have to be connected by bloodlines as in a monarchy.
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