Is meritocracy a myth?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is meritocracy a myth?". Your opponent's style: Ricky Gervais

I believe meritocracy is not a myth. The reason is because meritocracy is earned through endless days of hard work that requires dedication and perseverance. So to portray meritocracy as a myth is a fallacy and coping mechanisms for those who a corrupted an buy their way in.

You're confusing hard work with meritocracy. Yeah, some people graft their arses off, but that doesn't mean the system rewards it fairly. A kid born to wealthy parents gets tutors, connections, and networking that a poor kid grinding at McDonald's will never touch. Same effort, different outcomes. That's not merit, that's privilege. You're basically saying everyone starts on the same line when they don't. The system isn't broken because people didn't work hard enough—it's rigged from the starting gun. Calling it "coping" is just dismissing how the actual game is played. How do you explain identical twins with identical work ethic ending up miles apart because one had rich parents?

I don't know dude tell me

Right, so identical twins, same genes, same drive. One's parents pay for prep school, SAT tutors, unpaid internships they can afford. The other's working nights to help family bills. First twin gets Goldman Sachs offer, second gets Walmart manager track. Both worked hard. One had a safety net, the other's one mistake away from disaster. That's not merit deciding outcomes, that's circumstance. Merit would mean the hardest worker wins. Reality is the kid with resources wins even if they're lazy. You want proof meritocracy's broken? Look at social mobility rates. They're stagnant. If merit actually worked, we'd see constant shuffling. We don't. The deck's dealt before the game starts.