I think that a fundamental aspect of a proper and virtuous aristocracy is a sense of responsibility tied not only to a land or property but also to “serfs” and employees.
This is a bit of a personal assessment and tale from my family, so at the risk of sounding overly sentimental: my grandfather on my paternal side during a period of relative economic depression in my country took in a family and employed them paying them in food and lodging but also later salary, technically this would be illegal however given the circumstances the situation was overlooked, he then helped that family to get on their feet, paid for the education of their children and taught them how to make good monetary decisions, now 2 generations later that family who was then homeless due to the depression now owns 3 homes themselves and their descendants have been working and still work for my family, in fact some of them were my maids as a child.
I think this sort of action my grandfather employed was the correct course of action and a big reason he was and still is respected to this very day in my state, he helped people in a way where they would later help themselves and thus everywhere he went people would obtain better conditions in their lives, and he himself would often profit from helping those people, he grew wealthy and was rather workaholic(to the point he quite literally died of overwork related stress a month after he retired) but he never saw wealth as an end in itself but as a means to an end, he taught me that when you help others in contracts of mutual benefit everyone’s lives get better, and he was no push over either being an avid boxer in his spare time and working as what essentially is the equivalent of an attorney general in my country.
To me a virtuous aristocracy would be full of people like him.
I think that a fundamental aspect of a proper and virtuous aristocracy is a sense of responsibility tied not only to a land or property but also to “serfs” and employees.
This is a bit of a personal assessment and tale from my family, so at the risk of sounding overly sentimental: my grandfather on my paternal side during a period of relative economic depression in my country took in a family and employed them paying them in food and lodging but also later salary, technically this would be illegal however given the circumstances the situation was overlooked, he then helped that family to get on their feet, paid for the education of their children and taught them how to make good monetary decisions, now 2 generations later that family who was then homeless due to the depression now owns 3 homes themselves and their descendants have been working and still work for my family, in fact some of them were my maids as a child.
I think this sort of action my grandfather employed was the correct course of action and a big reason he was and still is respected to this very day in my state, he helped people in a way where they would later help themselves and thus everywhere he went people would obtain better conditions in their lives, and he himself would often profit from helping those people, he grew wealthy and was rather workaholic(to the point he quite literally died of overwork related stress a month after he retired) but he never saw wealth as an end in itself but as a means to an end, he taught me that when you help others in contracts of mutual benefit everyone’s lives get better, and he was no push over either being an avid boxer in his spare time and working as what essentially is the equivalent of an attorney general in my country.
To me a virtuous aristocracy would be full of people like him.
Surprised you didn't mention noblesse oblige.
I'd be fine with just that.
But, we seem to instead have the opposite.