Yes the system is not meritocratic, some people have it much harder and can't do much about it. That sucks for the individual, but it "works" in the sense it is

Yes the system is not meritocratic, some people have it much harder and can't do much about it. That sucks for the individual, but it "works" in the sense it is a hurdle/disincentive from the population overconcentrating at few big cities.