The Economist has an interesting debate currently running which speaks to some of the points we are covering here regarding the responsibilities of Elites to Society...

Global elite: This house believes that the global elite serve the masses.

Defending the Motion

Jamie Whyte, Journalist/author and head of research and publishing, Oliver Wyman Financial Services

Voluntary transactions benefit both parties. If they did not, they would not happen. In a free market, everyone serves those they deal with. Anyone who gets rich must have done others a lot of service.
Against the Motion

Daniel Ben-Ami, Journalist and author of "Ferraris For All: In defence of economic progress"

From the 1970s onwards the Western elite have retreated from the notion of progress. Although they pay lip service to economic and social advance they have become strikingly ambivalent in practice.
The moderator's opening remarks Feb 8th 2011 | Mr Saugato Datta

Societies have always had elites: rich people who exercise a great deal of influence over the societies in which they live. And for as long as they have had them, these groups have aroused in others a mix of envy and resentment. There appears to be no shortage of either sentiment today.