[CJefferson]

Look at many articles, including this one: http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21595437-america...

I'm afraid the USA is much less meritocratic than Europe. In the USA, the class into which you are born is a more important factor in where you will end up than it is in Europe (which I realise is the opposite to most people's belief).

[yummyfajitas]

Unless you have evidence that merit is uncorrelated with class, your data does not support your conclusion.

[nhaehnle]

Yeah, CJefferson probably expressed her/himself badly in what s/he was trying to say, but there are better ways to express that - your response comes across as snarky and trolling (and yes, I know who you are).

For certain definitions of "merit", it is obvious and plain for everybody to see that class has a great impact on "merit". From conception, the children of upper class parents have an advantage that ends up being visible in fairly objective measures of e.g. intelligence.

This is not what the debate is about, though. Actually, anatari already pointed this out; I quote: " Also depends on what you define as merit. [...]"

[barry-cotter]

Intergenerational social mobility is basically invariant across human societies. See The Son Also Rises, Gregory Clark.

Sweden, Britain, China, almost identical. Note, China, communism, cultural revolution and all didn't have any lasting effect on social mobility.