I think we can, with our modern technology, create a direct democracy without leadership by "the elite". Look at Peru and their public utility issues. Look at Switzerland. Before the creation of corporations, most things were held in common by society. Stewardship came before ownership. The most efficient aspects of our modern American culture are publically owned and voted on: Police, emergency services, roads, utilities, schools, etc and they seem to work just fine. The only broken cog in the wheel is the one that allows the "elite" to put their hand in the cookie jar whenever they see fit to do so. This will end soon. Life will be different for those still struggling with the false left-right paradigm. It has been said that one can know they are living under a dictatorship when public policy changes little with each election, regardless of who is perceived to be at the helm....yea, we have been under a tyranny since the Reagen era folks.....but we worship at that alter, right?
"So long as men worship dictators, Caesars and Napoleons will arise to make them miserable."
Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963)