[wonderzombie]

It's the idea that meritocracy in America is a sham, and a self-congratulatory idea in any case. It starts from the premise that if you have succeeded, you deserve to have succeeded without taking into account circumstances that led to your success (e.g. parents' wealth).

Contrariwise people are sick of being told they're "meritless" because of circumstances beyond their control-- the deck is stacked against you if you happen to fall into one of many less-than-fortunate categories.