We live in a time that glorifies success in a way that borders on dark satire. Let's be honest: we can't really stand those who are successful. How effortlessly everything seems to come to them. They have the more interesting jobs, more followers on Instagram, nicer apartments, and whiter teeth. Nobody likes the successful. And yet, we want nothing more than to belong to their ranks. We hate the successful, but we love success. Why is that? What attracts us to success, even though we claim the opposite everywhere?

The market rewards performance, and everyone gets what they deserve, it is often said. Yet amidst the Maschmeyers of this world, millionaires who would consider themselves middle class, and those driven by the belief in success, who chase the desire for a secure future in increasingly precarious jobs on a hamster wheel, one thing becomes clear: real opportunities for success are dwindling. A good education does not necessarily guarantee a good salary, inequality is rising, and life chances increasingly depend on one's background. Only those who inherit have a carefree future – which is the least effortful way to achieve material success. The idea that one can earn their place in life worked in the post-war decades – but the randomness and unpredictability of success and failure, the decoupling of success from performance, increasingly expose the belief in meritocracy. Success is a modern self-deception – does it perhaps hold us captive precisely because of that?

Bernd Kramer gathers insights from sociology, psychology, and philosophy that significantly shake the cult of success in our time. He reveals the mechanisms that underpin our belief in success and shows how difficult it is for us to escape the pull of this logic. The book also outlines political solutions and offers concrete ways to free ourselves from it.