Do you think it is safe to run a society without the involvement of knowledgeable people?
it is true that money can buy influence but the two things that keep a society from collapsing are knowledge & ethics. In fact, where the value of money becomes more than a persons sense of responsibility & fairness, the comunity is in crisis. And these days we can clearly see this scenario, where people are chasing power instead of their actions and are adopting corruption & short term thinking
If you want my personal opinion, I would say that knowledge and ethics are the main foundation of any society. Have you ever seen a car without brakes? Even if it has high speed, it will lead you to a terrible accident, so a society without ethics is like a car without brakes. Keep in mind, the meaning of progress is not in being the richest, but in how far one can exercise his power responsibly. And for this reason, the value of education & honesty should never be compared to money, otherwise the day is not far when the dark shadow of money will swallow the sunset of honesty forever, dude..