Inequalities in the distributions of wealth, power and opportunity mean that it doesn't in fact belong to those who worked for it. And levels of social mobility in the US are lower than in any advanced industrialised nation. Hardly a meritocracy is it ? Like I said, a loaded deck of cards.

I think the answer that you are searching for, re. ownership of the wealth of the nation, is that it belongs to all of us. It is our common wealth. We share it and are custodians of it for future generations.