The article discusses the culture of individual self-cultivation practiced by the elites that places emphasis on individualism and the talents needed to attain success. The paper looked back at the Gilded Age elites of old, the new elites such as the families of the Vanderbilt, the Goulds and Rockefellers, the character of modern omnivores. Issues covered include exclusion and snobbery, tastes as a matter of personal expression, and the bitter truth of the American experience.