The interesting aspect of that is that we are actually in the same position as our ancestral counterparts. The king ruled, the nobles (1%) gathered taxes from the peasants to pay to the treasury. We protested, took a country and called it our own, declared that men (and later women) were free, yes, yes, yes... we will be different! A new world! The only difference, however, is that we elect our king. Democracy merely means that we have the right to choose, and often we choose a new dictator whether in the form of a president or Congress. However (again), Napoleon was right about the fact that the middle class--being educated--will complain but not protest or take up arms against its government. So, we have education, but no jobs, and we live like peasants, but as long as we have our smartphones and Internet, we're good! Oft times, history does not repeat itself as much as it never actually changed.