Meritocracy is a myth though, perpetuated by those lucky enough to benefit from existing systems.
It’s completely circular. I’m on top and the people who are on top are the best so because I’m on top I’m the best.
It never accounts for all the myriad non-merit related ways folks get on top in the first place.
Unfortunate but this is the truth. Too many of us have been accustomed to small luxuries like “affording takeout”, but we unfortunately have been priced out of being able to afford stuff like this.
It’s a tough pill to swallow if you’ve been doing it your whole life and think that a functioning adult with a full-time job should be able to afford some takeout every now and again. We are not the generation that gets to enjoy that privilege, it seems.