> In reality, it was just a test of who had the most political pull.

Every society works that way. When a group has to accept a decision, the most powerful person in the group decides.

I don't understand why any educated person today would think meritocracy is a good thing. A child looking at Wikipedia for 10 minutes could see all the flaws in it, yet it keeps being touted as some idealized model of social contract. In reality it keeps white straight rich men in charge.