Maybe this is why I am always soo pissed off..

My overall point then is that there is a deep mismatch between how deserts are distributed and how rewards end up, and that these distributions are as close to inevitable as things get. In any dynamic process where there are repeated games, and success builds on success, and that is certainly true where you have professional reputations or anything similar, you are going to have a highly skewed distribution. On the other hand, the factors that in some sense ought to lead to success are going to be normally distributed. This means in any profession, very broadly conceived of, there are going to be a lot of discontented people, not only in the long tail, but towards of the middle of rewards curve (if you can even say it has a middle). You are also going to have a few people basking in more than they (in some sense) deserve, but this is not to say they are not entitled to it, by the rules of the game, under which you are rewarded for having been rewarded.