Utopia for Realists
From a universal basic income to a 15-hour workweek, from a world without borders to a world without poverty – it’s time to return to utopian thinking. Rutger Bregman takes us on a journey through history, beyond the traditional left-right divides, as he introduces ideas whose time has come. Utopia for Realists is one of those rare books that takes you by surprise and challenges what you think you know.
Stats for nerds
14recommend
28mentions
23people
2016–2026years
57% recommend36% neutral7% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_for_Realists
I can recommend „Utopia for Realists“, granted it only touches on UBI, but it offers historic insights on feasibility and examples of implementation
- Because if Macron lacks wisdom for proper energy management of the people when people are in cold times and need reasonable electricity, and if he is unable to be disciplined on basic matters pertaining to defense spending and defense readiness, why on earth would anyone trust him to be wise oj compulsive state-sponsored kindgarten at 3 years old? Tearing a babe away from mother so soon to give them state-sponsored educational materials? Nah. He’s a control freak like any other bureaucrat. Otherwise it’d be straight cash to the household every month and more parental supervision. More parental choice, not less.
Direct cash infusions to households would not affect inflation. Giant bailouts for huge corporations and for huge corrupt political super pacs definitely does though. Read the book Utopia For Realists for the chapter on direct cash to households and the compiled evidence done over decades in the United States and even Canada.
- Utopia for Realists, by Rutger Bregman
- This would be my recommendation too, also Utopia for Realists his earlier book is a great read.
- Welcome to HN and your comments are not in bad faith at all.
Some views here are very ‘boolean’ and lack nuance... presented as simplifying complex matters. But it’s rather a simplistic mode of thinking, which reduces our lives to lives devoid of empathy. This mode of thinking also tends to see ‘working class’ folks who can’t manage their finances as folks who simply lack character.
In the words of Rutger Bregman... poverty isn’t a lack of character, it’s a lack of cash (recommended read: his book ‘Utopia for Realists’)
And don’t forget, what this pandemic has showed us is that lots of working class folks really are essential workers.
Yes, there are some folks who are lazy, but you find that in all sectors.
Letting simple algorithms designed by folks with a very ‘boolean’ worldview determine who is worthy of employment (survival) and who is not leads us to world as illustrated in the movie Elysium.
I for one appreciate your view.
Please continue baptizing ;)
- I'm a great believer in the power of cash to solve problems. Rutger Bregman's Utopia For Realists opened my eyes on this matter. The minority of "rotten apples" only spoil the concept if we let them - we can view their potential misuse as part of the operating cost of helping a large majority of people into happier and more productive states of life.
I worry that some employers fear that UBI and similar will decrease workers dependency on their employment, and thus become more demanding and more expensive. My own intuition is that keeping a strong imbalance in power between employer and worker is at best a local maxima for the employer, and much greater profits can be achieved with a more balanced relationship with the workforce.
