That would not be strong refuting evidence. Given both genetics and environment factors (smart successful parents have more to teach, perhaps), I would expect successful children from successful parents. On the other hand, in a society where success were arbitrary, I would expect high incoherence between parent and child success.
I suppose by "anyone can make it" we could literally mean, "irrespective of your abilities anyone can make it", but I don't think that's the sense most people mean and that's not the meaning of meritocracy. Talent and/or a hard working mien are not bestowed randomly at birth.
Given both genetics and environment factors ... I would expect successful children from successful parents.
This is an assertion which, conveniently enough for those on the top, is entirely indistinguishable from a class society. It could be that you are right and that all the low-wage workers in the U.S. are low-wage because they are just plain dumb and not at all because they never had any of the opportunities growing up that children of well-off parents do. Personally, I don't put nearly so much power in genetic determinism.
tl;dr: there are big differences between countries in the impact of parental education and earnings on the education and earnings of their kids. Parental success is a very strong determiner of both in the U.S., but much less so in, say, Canada and Finland (both of which are among the top four best-scoring countries on the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment).
The genetics you can't avoid, but the point of a true meritocracy is that you don't have the environmental factors.
I suppose by "anyone can make it" we could literally mean, "irrespective of your abilities anyone can make it"
No, that's not what it means. It means that if you have the competence to suceed, society won't hold you back. Environmental factors are all about lifting some people, and holding others back via society.
Another way to put this, if Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were raised in Watts, what are the chances they'd resemble the ppl they are now? 50%? .01%?
I suppose by "anyone can make it" we could literally mean, "irrespective of your abilities anyone can make it", but I don't think that's the sense most people mean and that's not the meaning of meritocracy. Talent and/or a hard working mien are not bestowed randomly at birth.