>Since modern states don't have an entrenched hereditary aristocracy
We absolutely do, but because we are bombarded with propaganda telling us they "earned it" by "working hard" and "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps" we pretend it is just a co-incidence that the people born into the top 1% almost always remain there, and people born in the bottom 99% almost always remain there.
>After public schooling became a things, suddenly just being able to read and write is not a distinguishing feature
It never was. The aristocracy were educated specifically on economics, justice, etc. It wasn't simply a matter of being able to read.
We absolutely do, but because we are bombarded with propaganda telling us they "earned it" by "working hard" and "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps" we pretend it is just a co-incidence that the people born into the top 1% almost always remain there, and people born in the bottom 99% almost always remain there.
>After public schooling became a things, suddenly just being able to read and write is not a distinguishing feature
It never was. The aristocracy were educated specifically on economics, justice, etc. It wasn't simply a matter of being able to read.