The thing you will find as you read this book is that there will be frequent digressions. Why would anyone need that much wealth? Isn’t it a burden just to decide what to do with all of it?īut I digress. 62 people, at this very moment, are richer than 3.5 billion other people put together. As prickly as they are about having to share their fortune with others, the stark truth is they took that wealth away from the rest of us in a variety of different ways. There never seems to be enough money for these type of people. Of course, any time you even hint at a redistribution of wealth to a obscenely wealthy conservative, they get prickly and defensive. I came away thinking, this Bregman really knows how to get under people’s skin. The footage and audio was leaked, and though I wasn’t surprised to hear Carlson get upset with a guest, I was shocked to listen to the vehemence and the frankly crazed level of his response. Rutger Bregman, the Dutch historian, first came to my attention when recently he got into a tiff with Tucker Carlson. Progress is the realization of Utopias.”-Oscar Wilde. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. ”A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. 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, beyond the traditional left-right divides, as he introduces ideas whose time has come.

This guide to a revolutionary yet achievable utopia is supported by multiple studies, lively anecdotes and numerous success stories.

New utopian ideas such as universal basic income and a 15-hour work week can become reality in our lifetime. Every milestone of civilization – from the end of slavery to the beginning of democracy – was once considered a utopian fantasy. Rutger Bregman, a bestselling Dutch historian, explains that it needn't be this way.īregman shows that we can construct a society with visionary ideas that are, in fact, wholly implementable. We live in a time of unprecedented upheaval, with questions about the future, society, work, happiness, family and money, and yet no political party of the right or left is providing us with answers.

Utopia for the realist