By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing - History never repeats itself. But patterns of human thought and behavior repeat themselves all the time. That’s why the past has so many lessons for the present. One of them is this: Every society has an elite leadership class, no matter how well disguised. That includes democracies. It thus includes our own... That needn’t be a negative, as Patrick Deneen observes in his compelling new book, Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future. When elites exercise their advantages for the common good; when they’re willing to listen to, and “blend” with, the people they lead in a mutually supportive way; a culture thrives.