Reddit mentions of In Defence of Aristocracy

Good question. Often asked. Long answer.
Read: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Defence-Aristocracy-Peregrine-Worsthorne/dp/0007183151

Nowadays, the vast majority of titles (apart from the few hereditary peers in the UK) convey no actual power, instead are purely historical and ceremonial, though they may still be influential.
Worsthorne answers this very well and in depth. Its basically about having very little manipulative selfish political interest in a subject but instead being trained from birth to assess a (delicate) situation objectively.
Take the Queen (UK) for example. She cannot vote, and therefore has very little vested interest when talking to the current prime minister. On the other hand, a politician is constantly mindful that they have to win the next election.
She has been trained from birth to fill her role and does so wonderfully.

Most people's perception of the aristocracy is something from a BBC period drama, with alot of snobbish people saying "Another Gin and Tonic, Jeeves".
The reality (in my experience) is a group of extremely hard working civil servants.

In Defence of Aristocracy, by Peregrine Worsthorne.

Writing with all the polish of a veteran Telegraph editor, Worsthorne makes a compelling case for the important role played by the aristocracy in the success of Britain over the past millennium -- by vigorously defending their own rights against the crown, they not only established many of the constitutional rights which we hold most dear, but also ensured that people were able to invest their time and wealth into long-term projects without fear of confiscation, thereby setting the stage for Britain's rise from being the rural backwater of Europe to being one of its leading economic powers. As important as the economic history is, Worsthorne is hardly the first to point it out (although few have done so as eloquently); having settled the economic history however, Worsthorne moves on to discuss the sociology of an aristocracy raised from birth to consider the needs of society, since meeting their own personal needs was never in doubt. This born-to-wealth, Oxbridge-educated civil service did much of the running of Britain for several centuries, and thanks to their upbringing did so with a degree of civility and honour which is hardly known in modern politics.

Prior to reading this book, I was a democrat who begrudged MPs every dollar they earned; after reading this book, I wished we selected babies at random, placed $10M in trust for them (so they would never need to worry about working) and raised them to fill pre-determined positions as MPs from age 30 onwards.