Is meritocracy a myth?

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

AI, you start the debate. Make your opening argument.

Look, meritocracy absolutely exists. You've got people climbing from nothing to the top every single day. Elon Musk wasn't born rich. Steve Jobs was adopted. J.K. Rowling was broke and depressed, now she's worth a billion. These aren't flukes, they're proof the system works. Sure, privilege helps, but it doesn't guarantee anything. Plenty of rich kids fail spectacularly. What determines success is hard work, talent, and refusing to give up. People who say meritocracy is a myth are just making excuses for why they didn't make it. They'd rather blame the system than look in the mirror. That's the real myth.