The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite
The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2019
Book Brief
BetaThe Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2019448
Book • Nonfiction
United States • 2010s
2019
Adult
18+ years
Super Short Summary
In The Meritocracy Trap, Daniel Markovits explores how the American belief in meritocracy amplifies inequality, weakens the middle class, and exhausts the elite. The book argues that this system, intended to reward talent and effort, instead fosters socio-economic disparities, trapping individuals across all societal levels in relentless competition.
Informative
Challenging
Dark
Contemplative
Reviews & Readership
2,681 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
Review Roundup
The Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Markovits critically examines how meritocracy fuels inequality and undermines the middle class. Positively, it offers a compelling analysis of societal norms. However, some critics find its solutions unconvincing. The book effectively challenges readers to rethink societal structures but may overreach in its arguments.
Who Should Read The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite?
Readers interested in The Meritocracy Trap likely enjoy analyses of social inequality and economic dynamics. Fans of Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century or Reich’s The Work of Nations would appreciate Markovits’ critique of meritocracy as a driver of socio-economic disparities.
2,681 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
448
Book • Nonfiction
United States • 2010s
2019
Adult
18+ years
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