Pardon me for not living in the US, and not knowing its culture/social situation completely. That book has given me quite a few historical information where it seems like a chance event turns fortunes of people.
I don't see what the US has to do with this at all. I'd be extremely surprised if the US was the only country in the entire world that wasn't a near-perfect meritocracy. I'm not all that well-acquainted with a ton of foreign cultures, but I feel I can still say with some confidence that luck being a major factor of success is damn-near a universal law.
