Hmmmm not sure about this. It's a very socialist narrative. Meritocracy
is not aristocracy.
From the description you state it seems like your analysis is of the mark here. 10000 year history would pretty much sum up the class structure as aristocracy.
I would also disagree on putting group identity trumping individualistic identity. Picture of the show Chernobyl comes to mind where the post leaders were more interested in party image being tarnished by having an expert run the initial tractor disaster least they highlight party ineptitude.
RE: The Meritocracy Myth