Universal basic income. A 15-hour workweek. Open borders. Does it sound too good to be true? One of Europe's leading young thinkers shows how we can build an ideal world today.
"A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell." -- New York Times
After working all day at jobs we often dislike, we buy things we don't need. Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian, reminds us it needn't be this way -- and in some places it isn't. Rutger Bregman's TED Talk about universal basic income seemed impossibly radical when he delivered it in 2014. A quarter of a million views later, the subject of that video is being seriously considered by leading economists and government leaders the world over. It's just one of the many utopian ideas that Bregman proves is possible today.
Utopia for Realists is one of those rare books that takes you by surprise and challenges what you think can happen. From a Canadian city that once completely eradicated poverty, to Richard Nixon's near implementation of a basic income for millions of Americans, Bregman takes us on a journey through history, and beyond the traditional left-right divides, as he champions ideas whose time have come.
Every progressive milestone of civilization -- from the end of slavery to the beginning of democracy -- was once considered a utopian fantasy. Bregman's book, both challenging and bracing, demonstrates that new utopian ideas, like the elimination of poverty and the creation of the fifteen-hour workweek, can become a reality in our lifetime. Being unrealistic and unreasonable can in fact make the impossible inevitable, and it is the only way to build the ideal world.
Show moreUniversal basic income. A 15-hour workweek. Open borders. Does it sound too good to be true? One of Europe's leading young thinkers shows how we can build an ideal world today.
"A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell." -- New York Times
After working all day at jobs we often dislike, we buy things we don't need. Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian, reminds us it needn't be this way -- and in some places it isn't. Rutger Bregman's TED Talk about universal basic income seemed impossibly radical when he delivered it in 2014. A quarter of a million views later, the subject of that video is being seriously considered by leading economists and government leaders the world over. It's just one of the many utopian ideas that Bregman proves is possible today.
Utopia for Realists is one of those rare books that takes you by surprise and challenges what you think can happen. From a Canadian city that once completely eradicated poverty, to Richard Nixon's near implementation of a basic income for millions of Americans, Bregman takes us on a journey through history, and beyond the traditional left-right divides, as he champions ideas whose time have come.
Every progressive milestone of civilization -- from the end of slavery to the beginning of democracy -- was once considered a utopian fantasy. Bregman's book, both challenging and bracing, demonstrates that new utopian ideas, like the elimination of poverty and the creation of the fifteen-hour workweek, can become a reality in our lifetime. Being unrealistic and unreasonable can in fact make the impossible inevitable, and it is the only way to build the ideal world.
Show moreRutger Bregman is a journalist at The Correspondent, and one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers. He has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics. His last book, Utopia for Realists, was a New York Times paperback bestseller, and his History of Progress was awarded the Belgian Liberales prize for best nonfiction book of 2013. Bregman has twice been nominated for the European Press Prize.
"This book is brilliant. Everyone should read it. Bregman shows us
we've been looking at the world inside out. Turned right way out,
we suddenly see fundamentally new ways forward. If we can get
enough people to read this book, the world will start to become a
better place." --Richard Wilkinson, author of The Spirit Level: Why
Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
''It's a wonderful, well-written book, easily the crispest and
least dry explanation of the research and history behind basic
income as an idea I've seen in print."--Dylan Matthews, Vox
"An important book, a wonderfully readable breath of fresh air, a
window thrown open to a better future. As politicians and
economists are asking how to increase productivity, ensure full
employment, and downsize government, Bregman asks: What actually
makes life worth living and how can we get there? He combines deep
research with wit, challenging us to think anew about how we want
to live and who we want to be. Required reading." --Philipp Blom,
author of The Vertigo Years and A Wicked Company
"Utopia for Realists is fantastic. A quick glance turned into hours
of riveting reading. Very seldom does a book change the way you
think about some of most intractable problems of society, and of
life. This one did. Read this book."--Sydney Finkelstein, director
of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and author of
Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent
"[Bregman] engagingly examines basic income schemes... entertaining
and intriguing.... These are appealing notions, presented here in a
breezy, TED talk-like style." --Publishers Weekly
"A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell...To the extent that
bookish economic historians can rampage, Bregman is on one...He
combines a detailed approach to economic policy with a utopian
vision of a better future...Bregman argues that it is only by
dreaming about what seems to be unachievable that society can make
good things possible."--Patrick Kingsley, New York Times
"A spirited and practical manifesto for improving the odds of
making a heaven on Earth."
--Kirkus
"Both a fun read and a breath of fresh air to anyone who lived
through the ghastly experience of last year's presidential election
season . . . Utopia for Realists argues, with humor and sympathy,
that we've all suffered from forgetting how to dream of a better
world....What's so interesting about modern America is our
hostility to the mere idea of trying to create an easier and
happier life. We're a country that was once rich with social
experimentation . . . Now we don't really even try, and mostly just
scream at each other on the Internet. That doesn't seem like it
will get us there. Maybe free money and a three-hour workday won't,
either, but it sure seems like it would be more fun to try."
--Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
"Bregman speaks with impressive authority . . . His solutions are
quite simple and staunchly set against current trends . . . He has
assembled a wealth of empirical evidence to make his case. Better
than that, though, Utopia for Realists is not a dry, statistical
analysis-although he doesn't shy from solid data-but a book written
with verve, wit, and imagination. The effect is charmingly
persuasive, even when you can't quite believe what you're reading .
. . Listen out for Rutger Bregman. He has a big future shaping the
future."--Andrew Anthony, The Guardian UK
"Convincing . . . Entertaining and reasoned . . . Bregman's book
makes for enjoyable reading, and it is packed with colorful factual
asides . . . Utopia for Realists should make for good conversation
at the next dinner party."--Benjamin Cunningham, Los Angeles Review
of Books
"If you're bored with hackneyed debates and decades-old right-wing
and left-wing clichés, you may enjoy the bold thinking, fresh
ideas, lively prose, and evidence-based arguments in Utopia for
Realists."
--Steven Pinker, New York Times bestselling author of The Blank
Slate and The Better Angels of Our Nature
"Learning from history and from up-to-date social science can
shatter crippling illusions. It can turn allegedly utopian
proposals into plain common sense. It can enable us to face the
future with unprecedented enthusiasm. To see how, read this
superbly written, upbeat, insightful book." --Philippe van Parijs,
co-founder of the Basic Income Earth Network
"Provocative and ambitious...The book is lively, well-researched,
and full of unlikely pieces of history."--Tim Harford , Financial
Times
"Rutger Bregman is part of a new generation of thinkers who are
suggesting exciting alternatives to the orthodoxies of the last
forty years. In this surprising, accessible, and often
counterintuitive book, Bregman explores some brilliant but simple
ideas for making a better world."--Brian Eno
"This is a Read Now book. Nothing dystopian about this one: a young
(he's 29), practical set of ideas for how the next generation can
do better."--Jeanette Winterson, author of Oranges Are Not the Only
Fruit
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