As the sociologists Stephen McNamee and Robert Miller Jr. point out in their book, The Meritocracy Myth, Americans widely believe that success is due to individual talent and effort.  The book challenges that widely held American belief in meritocracy - that people get out of the system what they put into it based on individual merit.

http://www.amazon.com/Meritocracy-Myth-Stephen-J-McNamee/dp/0742561682/

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