desert island – a remote tropical island, typically an uninhabited one
meritocracy: a system, organization, or society in which people are chosen and moved into positions of success, power, and influence on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and merit
So, if Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos suddenly arrives naked on a desert island – alone – will their verve and smarts make them rich?
What if they arrive on an island, that has a dozen people but no technology?
10,000 people and no technology?
5 people and they have learned how to kill rats with a trap.
How many people does he need (non-billionaires) and how many generations of technology (that he had no part in), to even start to become rich and superior?
The very rich, no matter how smart or hard-working, needed all of us to get there, one way or another. All of us. One person less would mean (on average) less success.
So feel free to ask a billionaire how successful they could have been on a desert island.