This is actually an artefact of America's protestant ethical roots: "Your circumstances are of your own sinful devising. Develop a strong work ethic and you'll live a good life; it's merely your choices and discipline that stand between you and a successful life."

It's an unfortunate moral code that creates unrealistic expectations, as well as handy judgments for those in the lower classes (and moral justification for those with too much wealth and power). The "meritocracy" is the modern form. I got to watch it in action during the few years I lived there.