1. The Perplexity of the Elites Unexpected things are taking place, for those who in principle have the best instruments available to know society and to anticipate its possible evolution: bewildering electoral results, losses of referendums against all predictions, the advance of reactionary political forces. The pavilion of the disaffected consists of people from varied backgrounds, from both the right and the left, classic conservatives and progressive snobs, the American Republican Party and the Clintons, the European Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats. In times of fragmentation, the only thing that cuts across is confusion, although it tends not to…