Or we could educate the masses and enlighten them?
In ancient times, there was a certain tyrrany of labour because almost all work had to be done by hand. If you have to work from sunup to sundown for your livelihood then you don't really have much time left for anything much other than eating and sleeping. In the modern world we really don't have to work so many hours and have more free time to pursue learning. But we are discouraged from doing so and encouraged to focus on triviallities and fluff. In most western democracies, the standard of general education is dropping and instead of teaching students how to learn and how to apply critical thinking to everything they are told, we cram their heads full of facts and figures (most of which, they will never use) and tell them that the final exam is more important than anything they have learned. Fail that and it's game over. Your education is finished and now you must join the chain-gang, wherever you can get in. A good education would not punish the student for failing but rather look for the reasons why they failed to teach that student and work to correct that.

Elitism is dangerous because an elitist believes he knows better than you how you should live your life and that he can act to force you to comply.