But is/was it a good thing for the traditional elites with it's track record of war, suffering and oppression to be allowed back as paymaster to the gatekeepers

But is/was it a good thing for the traditional elites with it's track record of war, suffering and oppression to be allowed back as paymaster to the gatekeepers? I.E. is the glorious past people look to by default when criticizing the Internet giants actually an society we want to return to, especially if we imagine ourselves as a citizens of somewhere who is not a de-facto colonial power. I.E. what kind of regulation do you actually want and how much power are we willing to centralize inside the increasingly untrustworthy system of revolving doors that most governments seams to have been devolving into since the last war to end all wars ended.