The myth of meritocracy holds that anyone can come from anywhere and achieve great success in Silicon Valley if they are skilled. An anonymous technology executive said, “It’s like the new version of the American Dream. It used to be get a good job, kind of just have a stable life but the good jobs aren’t even that good anymore … there’s this feeling that anyone can do it. Anyone can come to America and have a good life or whatever and starting an internet company, it feels like anyone can do it and there’s some truth to it. It aligns with American values.”

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 663