People spent the twentieth century obsessed with the future and in pursuit of networks that could provide instantaneous connections, knowledge, and entertainment. In his influential 1970 book, Future Shock, Alvin Toffler theorized that things were changing so fast we would soon lose the ability to cope.

Now, with the advent of Twitter, email, and smartphones, we have a completely new relationship to time. We live in an eternal present, in which the priorities of the current moment seem to mean everything. 

How do we define elites today? As Starbucks-drinking, NPR-listening snobs?

The true definition of an elite is a relatively small group of people that has undue influence over society. Even “people who have cable TV shows” are elites, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said as he sat down with New America’s vice president and editorial director Andrés Martinez to discuss his new book Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy.

In its 1948 declaration of independence, Israel committed to “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex." Today, those fundamental democratic ideals are at stake. In Israel, the continued occupation of the West Bank and an emboldened conservative government are putting Israeli democracy at risk.