You know the difference between now and 1850? In 1850 pretty much anybody could "get away with murder", given how poor control over society in general and police investigation techniques were Today you can still "get away with murder" but you have to be part of the club What I'm getting at, is that, the fiction in which those people rule and impose their views over the rest of society, heavily depends on technology to exist In another time those people wouldn't even dare to dream of the power and immunity that they enjoy