A meritocratic society is a lot of meritocracies chained together, themselves needing to merit success. Each one can only work with their own inputs, and so rely on the outputs of the other organizations. If these organizations do not extend deeply and broadly enough back, then at some point the inputs of an organization won't be the ones that should be there. This needs to go back to families at some point. In a meritocracy, mothers and fathers have an obligation to ensure that the potential of their children is developed and expressed through participation in society. I believe the failure of so many parents to do this is responsible for the ineffectiveness of our supposedly meritous systems, organizations and industries.