I've been studying social stratification for a while, and one thing that keeps bugging me is how we talk about meritocracy. We love to say that hard work leads to success, but the data on intergenerational mobility suggests otherwise—for example, a child born into the bottom income quintile in the US has only about a 7.5% chance of reaching the top quintile. Should we stop pretending that the system is fair, or is meritocracy still a useful ideal even if it's imperfect? Some argue that believing in meritocracy motivates people to strive, while others say it just legitimizes inequality. I'm leaning toward the latter, but I'm open to counterarguments—what do you think?