In "The Meritocracy Trap," Yale Law professor Daniel Markovits launches a groundbreaking assault on the very foundation of American society: the belief in meritocracy. This deeply ingrained principle, the notion that social and economic rewards should rightly follow personal achievement and effort, is revealed as a flawed and destructive force. Markovits argues with penetrating insight that meritocracy has not democratized privilege but rather transformed it into a new form of aristocracy, one that perpetuates inequality and stifles social mobility. Far from being the great equalizer, meritocracy has morphed into a sophisticated mechanism for the wealthy and powerful to pass on their advantages, trapping both the rich and the poor in a system that neither rewards true merit nor offers a genuine opportunity for advancement. Through a meticulous examination of the mechanics of meritocracy, Markovits demonstrates how this ideal has betrayed the American dream. The book exposes the harsh reality that upward mobility is increasingly a myth and that the meritocratic system, ironically, demands relentless toil from those at the top while locking others out of opportunity entirely. The result is a society where the middle class dwindles, and both ends of the economic spectrum suffer under the weight of a corrupted ideal. "The Meritocracy Trap" not only critiques the current state of affairs with clarity and rigor but also offers a vision for how we might escape this trap, suggesting pathways toward a society that genuinely values dignity and prosperity for all its members.