Utopia for Realists: A Guide to Constructing an Ideal World

esandresmx: Es evidente que los líderes de izquierda actuales han leído este libro y tratan de implementarlo en lugares como Chile y Mexico. Recomendable para entender el mundo actual.

Mexico on Aug 08, 2023

Marcelo Soares Souza: Um Livro mais do que necessário nestes tempos. O Autor lastreado por sólida pesquisa traz diversas possibilidades de novas utopias, utopias reais e possíveis. Como diria Eduardo Galeano “A utopia está lá no horizonte. Me aproximo dois passos, ela se afasta dois passos. Caminho dez passos e o horizonte corre dez passos. Por mais que eu caminhe, jamais alcançarei. Para que serve a utopia? Serve para isso: para que eu não deixe de caminhar.”

Brazil on Sep 19, 2022

Aidon M.: I think more people and politicians should read this. i enjoyed this book, anyone who thinks they know should read it. you will quickly see how the 425 billion/yr estimates given by the toronto sun and cohorts are scare tactics. If you're a citizen, age of majority, making under x amount, you get income supplement.
Implementing a basic income guarantee would pay for itself 4 fold within canada. This was tested in the 70s in Manitoba Canada, a side effect of basic income guarantee was a 10% across the board reduction in all healthcare, mental and physical. Ontario was running a trial that Ford cancelled, it was showing such good results they wanted to extend it to gather more data. Just imagine a 10% reduction in healthcare, that's 10s of billions of dollars a year for the nation.

Im sick of having my home and vehicles broken into because someone needs meth, stole for meth and now has a criminal record so cant get a good job and feel the only alternative is to continue using meth and continue stealing to get it. pick any drug, prostitution, whatever, doesnt matter if we like it or hate it the fact is its out there. there's single parents working 2-3 jobs and kids not...

Canada on Nov 04, 2021

Sunny: Utopia is an ideal place in which everything is perfect and everyone is happy. The term was coined by Sir Thomas More in his book Utopia (written 1516) describing a fictional island society in the south Atlantic Ocean. This book is neither about that island nor is it a fictional story of an utopian country. Instead the author Rutger Bregman lays out realistic strategies of how we collectively can improve our life quality. This includes a basic income guarantee to eradicate poverty, shifting towards 15 hours work-week to increase work satisfaction and opening national borders in order to decrease inequality. Rutger’s ideas are very relevant, especially at this moment with a pandemic that has had a devastating impact on people’s lives. We need to re-examine the current political-, economical- and societal structures and align these to our future needs. Do we want to continue to live in an society in which 8 of the worlds population has a wealth corresponding to 3.5 billion people? Do we want to live in a society in which we work longer hours on work which does not provide any meaningful value to our lives? These are very essential topics covered in this book.

Japan on Dec 13, 2020

Arizona EAGLEtarian: But she embodies the insight in Utopia for Realists. Both Bregman and AOC have and set forth tremendous vision for a hopeful future. As does Greta Thunberg when she confronts world political and business officials on the climate crisis.

I found all but one of the chapters in Bregman's book fascinating and captivating. That one chapter, wedged in the middle somewhere, is about economic measures (i.e. GDP and such). But even that's not as boring as economics often can be.

BUT... I LOVE how Bregman starts off.

"Let’s start with a little history lesson: In the past, everything was worse. For roughly 99% of the world’s history, 99% of humanity was poor, hungry, dirty, afraid, stupid, sick, and ugly."

When you think about it, and separate what you've taken in from your social studies classes and the cacaphony of commercial mass media, he's absolutely right. So, when advertisements are pounding your senses with all the ways and reasons you should feel less than fulfilled and only need this one more product to achieve nirvana, step back and breathe.

Anyway, Rutger Bregman (the historian) puts it all in perspective. Then he inspires what's next, or...

United States on Mar 17, 2019

Amazon Kunde: Rutger Bregman beschreibt seine Vision für die Zukunft unserer Politik und Wirtschaft (Bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen, 15-Stunden-Woche, offene Grenzen). Erfrischend geschrieben und gut argumentiert. Seine Diskussion hat hinreichend Tiefe ohne langatmig zu werden. Die Umsetzbarkeit der Ideen wird zwar nicht im Detail diskutiert -- aber darum geht es auch nicht. Das Buch regt zum Nachdenken und Diskutieren an.

Germany on Apr 14, 2017

David WinebergDavid Wineberg: Utopia For Realists is a Left manifesto. It explores three policies guaranteed to enrage right wingers: a guaranteed income, a shorter work week and open borders. Rutger Bregman does it with splendid panache. The book is a totally positive, upbeat read – most unusual for a defensive, defeatist Left. The studies and the facts are all there. Deny them at your peril, he seems to say.

To appreciate and enjoy Utopia For Realists, you must buy into the initial premise that our problem is we can’t come up with anything better than the way things are now. We have run out of goals. We have run out of ideas. We are all about cutting back, servicing less, and ignoring various elephants in the room, like automation overloading us with leisure time. Western society is so wealthy in historic terms that we don’t realize we have reached Utopia. Even at our worst, we are infinitely better off than our forebears. What we need now is a new Utopia to aim for.

Guaranteed income sounds impossibly expensive, but everywhere it has been tried – dozens of places - it has worked spectacularly. For one thing, every dollar spent saves three in less supervision of beneficiaries (eg....

United States on Mar 14, 2017