The "privileged caste" being people who actually expended the effort to learn things for themselves?

And such people learnt everything from the beginning? From fire?

Where's the cut off point of where learning something for yourself becomes the signal for entrance to the enlightened caste?

It's the point where you expend effort to learn a useful skill.

> (Apart from rent payments).

Privilege enables you to rent competence, historically by paying other people. The slop companies will now sell you a simulacrum of competence by the token.

The fact that competence can (could?) only be acquired through sustained effort over a long period of time is (was?) levelling the field.

Selling simulated competence perpetuates privilege, instead of dismantling it like you seem to claim.