Beyond that, if you just put it down to pure randomness you end up killing the incentive to try to advance your situation by playing by the rules.
If the people at the top try to just promote defeatism to talk people out of challenging their place, they risk something quite different: if you believe putting more effort towards playing the game won't change your situation, you start looking at alternatives like crime or revolution. The random people who were born rich don't deserve it any more than you, so let's replace them with us. A system that isn't based on violence or the threat of violence can only work if people believe it actually does give them opportunity.
I agree. Long term it is advantageous for everyone if our society is more fair, because if you keep pushing the lower class down a little further each generation eventually they will indeed have enough of it.
If the people at the top try to just promote defeatism to talk people out of challenging their place, they risk something quite different: if you believe putting more effort towards playing the game won't change your situation, you start looking at alternatives like crime or revolution. The random people who were born rich don't deserve it any more than you, so let's replace them with us. A system that isn't based on violence or the threat of violence can only work if people believe it actually does give them opportunity.