n0 > Platonic Aristocracy.
Oh, I see where I made you upset. Platonic roshei yeshivot running the velt. It may be a great ideal, but I don’t think this reflects the practice. R Avigdor Miller testifies how great Talmidei Chahcamim were in Slobodka before WW1 – and how totally unmoved most of the people were.
I do agree that there is an element of aristocracy with Talmidei Chachamim maintaining their learning despite what happens aroud, but they are not existing in vacuum. I may be pushing beyond what I learned from my Teacher, who only related this to responsa, not to overall limud, so I am not like Rabbi Eliezer who taught only what he learned from his teachers …