“Yes, we all know there are some well known roshei yeshivos whose fathers and or grandfathers were gedolim, but it’s by no means exclusive.”
Then name some of the exceptions that are around today. Nobody is disputing that the European generation was more merit-based.
My original post was that the Litvish world is moving towards being yichus based. The fact that Joseph had to use previous generations as examples proves my point better than it proves his.