It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no

“Fortunate Son” – Creedence Clearwater Revival

What do Al Gore, George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Barry Bonds, Peyton and Eli Manning, Aage Bohrs, and Michael Douglas all have mon? Each of them reached the same level of success as their fathers in a petitive field.

We like to think that the U.S. is a meritocracy, a nation where—with gumption and grit—you can rise to the level of your talent. But as history has shown, you can rise much faster and much higher if you can stand on your successful daddy’s shoulders.

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz used the methods of data science to determine the odd that a male Baby Boomer would succeed in petitive areas.His findings are that if the father reached the achievement first, then the son is:

800 times more likely to e an NBA player1,361 times more likely to win an Academy Award1,497 times more likely to win a Grammy1,639 times more likely to win a Pulitzer Prize1,895 times more likely to e a famous C.E.O.4,582 times more likely to e an Army general6,000 times more likely to e a governor8,500 times more likely to e a U.S. Senator9,300 times more likely to e a reality TV star28,000times more likely to e a billionaire1.4 million times more likely to e president

Not surprisingly, politics is the field in which nepotism thrives. “There is some evidence that the parental advantage in politics is actually getting bigger,” says Stephens-Davidowitz. “George W. Bush ended a 171-year drought for presidential sons. From 2003 to 2006, the Senate had the highest percentage of senators’ children — six — in its history.”

These stats on nepotism provide an important lesson for today’s youth: If you want to be successful, find a way to be born to successful parents.