When I graduated, I worked for a company who's founder said he didn't employ people to build products, he built products to employ people. He lived that philosophy, refusing to lay anyone off even when times got rough, until the board finally was able to retire him. That world died a long time ago. Loyalty once meant something, and it was a two way street. Not anymore.
Now the american dream is more myth than reality. With the death of union jobs and the rise of the mba's, working hard and being smart doesn't give you much of an advantage by itself.
You have to be the product of the system; go to the right schools, work for the right companies, know the right mentors. Otherwise you will likely just be another assistant manager who might make it to headquarters some day. Maybe.
Want to start a company and make it to unicorn status? You better fit the mold or the system will chew you up and spit you out. Your ideas can still make billions, but you won't be the one with all the money.
I was a product of a golden age. That age is over. It's now the age of the mega-rich, racist, authoritarian, jingoistic, cultists (they aren't religious - that doesn't fit). If you are a part of it, you are one lucky bastard. Just like in the 1800's, but without all the opportunity of new frontiers.