>Profoundly gifted people generally do rise to the top as our system is already structured, assuming they want to, given the average amount of support.
In the US? What makes you think that?
In the US? What makes you think that?
Most people are not profoundly gifted, so the majority simply do as well as their parents, give or take.
Anecdotally I know many talented people who got "broken" at high school level (due to any number of issues, from poverty to physical and emotional trauma). Having connections, mentors, initial capital, educated family, it all helps a lot.
This is not US-specific either, I made it to the US from a war-torn country across the globe with no money or connections, but I am extremely stubborn. There were definitely people who didn't make it this far who arguably had the pure IQ advantage.