[ordinary]

> The article claims that the US is "near the bottom in terms of actual social mobility", but only supports this with some points about how social mobility in the US isn't that good.

Data that supports their statements is easily found:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socio-economic_mobility_in_the_...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/04/us/comparing-e...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/harder-for-americans-to...

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html

> The US is still one of the most meritocratic countries in the world.

This is only a convincing argument against the notion that social mobility is low in the US if you already subscribe to meritocratic principles.