Nowhere in my post did I mention elites. In fact, many of my FAANG co-workers were not elites. Tech fares much better here than, say, investment banking.
> While you’re correct that the institutions you mentioned select for intelligence
That's not what I said at all -- if I had to say they selected for one thing, I'd say that the institutions I mentioned probably select for conscientiousness.
> Also, the small percentage of freeloaders out there are very good at sniffing out opportunities for taking advantage of the system...
Again, this is spoken like someone that's never worked in social services and is used to the "social niceties" that something like an Ivy-league education or a cozy tech job offers. I'd prefer looking at this in the abstract (because studies will always be politicized), and freeloading can definitely be an optimal strategy[1].
> But you’re definitely wrong about social mobility in the USA.
Oh come on, at least let's be fair. This is a contentious issue and there are disagreements here. Some say it's gone down, others say it's gone up[2].
[1] https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2016/Q3/game-theory...
[2] https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/05/14/two-leadi...