Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World Hardcover – March 14, 2017

Gave me hope for the future.

I love this book. It provides actual data on how well we all do when we help each other out. It dispels the myths associated with Universal Basic Income - most people continue to work when given "free" money and actually have the freedom to contribute their true gifts so we all benefit. LOVE IT

Rutger Bregman’s Utopia For Realists or How We Can Build a Better World is an exercise in Social Pioneering. Perhaps a better word for realists would be idealists. That said, the book is a very easy to read book that surprisingly (or not) makes quite a bit of sense. I feel that Bregman taps into a bit of S I Hayakawa’s mind set that “people are questioning the appropriateness of nineteenth-century (eighteenth-century,medieval, or Stone Age) institutions to twentieth-century conditions. They are progressively more alarmed at the dangers arising from old-fashioned nationalism in a world that has become, technologically and economically, one world;...”Bregman’s premise is that it is possible for us to build a better world, with three major premises: Universal Basic Income; a 15 hour work week; open borders. Of the three, the universal basic income (ubi) is perhaps, the most attainable for the present. From Bregman, “We live in a world where the going rule seems to be that the more vital your occupation (cleaning, nursing, teaching) the lower you rate in the GDP. As the Nobel Laureate James Tobin said back in 1984, “We are throwing more and more of our resources, including the cream of our youth, into financial activities remote from the production of goods and services, into activities that generate high private rewards disproportionate to their social productivity.””We find, with increasing automation, productivity is increasing and employment is decreasing. Education becomes more important, “as long as machines can’t go to college.” Though the lower classes might have an increase in creature comforts, the chasm between them and the ultra-rich will be wider than ever. Basically what Bregman is saying is that as long as you have money, you are shielded from so many of life’s consequences. Thus his three major ideas for the social pioneering of society.The most obtainable of the three is probably universal basic income. The author lays the groundwork for its success, and some of the past history for this concept, that was a horse hair from reality during the Nixon administration. The concept would rely on responsible use of the UBI by its recipients, but in a sense would provide an umbrella for society to get a leg up in life when assistance is most needed. If the money is generated through increased taxation, then so be it. We have all found out that trickle down economics doesn’t work. The money always trickles up. Even if taxed as in the 1950’s, the ultra wealthy will continue to be ultra wealthy, as the money will continue to meander into their pockets.The 15 hour work week is problematic as it cannot be democratically resolved. Construction and infrastructure problems would never be completed, and not everyone can or will become a tradesman. And, until nationalism, xenophobia, are extinguished, and the different religions reach some sort of harmony, open borders seem a reach at this time.I’d recommend reading the epilogue first, then dive into the text. Large print, easy to read, with a number of charts and graphs to support Bregman’s three major concepts. As the world’s population continues to increase, automation replaces workers, and money begets money without any increase in social productivity, Bregman provides compelling rationale for his three main thesis. I would have liked to see a bit more in regard to health care, but then, Bregman hails from the Netherlands, and the European continent is well on the way toward universal health care. Bottom line, it all comes with a cost, and Bregman provides convincing evidence for the promotion of the books main points. The time for social pioneering has come, if not, the consequences for not having foresight will most likely come back with a vengeance.

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. Police and court services, pointless workshops, training sessions and reports on everyone all the time). For another, the poor don’t drink away the income; they hang onto it dearly, measuring it out only as needed for the biggest impact. Poverty is not an attitude; it is a shortage of cash.Two hundred years ago, we worked 70 hour weeks with no days off. And we were miserable. Today, we can be miserable with 40 hour weeks, two days off and 2-5 weeks’ vacation. Soon, we must face the reality of 15 hour weeks, because artificial intelligence will pick up where automated looms, assembly lines and robots have left off. We can massage it into a Utopia, or let it destroy our fabric. Our choice, but we need to start acting now.Borders prevent development and trade. Mexicans used to return from the USA at the rate of 85%. Now they have to stay put. Finding new markets or even just work is enlarged with a larger territory. Artificially compartmentalizing everyone is stultifying. Economically, politically, and socially. Passports and visas – a totally artificial construct recently invented, benefitting no one.Bregman doesn’t get into the self-imposed need for growth, though he does criticize the concepts of GNP/GDP. He says governing by numbers is the last resort of a country that no longer knows what it wants, a country with no vision of utopia.He ends with sound advice for the Left: stop caving to right wing dogma. You have access to dramatic facts. Use them. There are gigantic, proven solutions waiting to be implemented if only someone would sponsor them. He points out that the accepted issues of the day, like voting by women, same sex marriage and abolition of slavery were outrageously radical and completely unacceptable just a few years ago. So be impossible and have a thick skin.David Wineberg

I loved this book so much I bought two copies. Actually I bought two copies because the different packaging led me to believe they were two different books the author wrote on the same topic. No matter. I found plenty of people who wanted to read the book so now there are two more in circulation.Here is why you will want to read this book: You admit that things look pretty dark now and our future looks pretty bleak? Well what you need, my friends, is a dose of hope to wipe away that despair. Utopian thought provides that hope and shines a light upon some possible future pathways. At any rate when things fall completely apart we better be ready with some bright ideas about how to make the world whole again. This book is filled with some challenging ideas that are presented with such clarity you are likely to go out and win some brew pub arguments with your new found audacity. It also felt good to read. It was also a fast and easy read - despite how challenging some of the concepts were. I chalk this up to some great writing. And great it must be because this book was originally written in Dutch and survived the translation intact.Purchase two copies: one for yourself and one for your comrade in arms. Another world in possible!

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.

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.”

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 getting the quality time they deserve, while corporations make more money than ever. child care 1500 a month per kid? ndp wants to subsidize that? Just give the parents the option to go on basic income guarantee of 1500/month and boom so many parents stay home, less kids get abused, less couples split and oh yah, magically child care rates will fall.Im more of a basic income guarantee than a ubi guy, if you are a citizen and make under 20k (or whatever) then you get this federally administered program. maybe certain groups (vets, disabled, retired, parents) get a small supplement over and above and wave bye bye to cpp, ei, aish, disability, gst cheques, GIS and a host of other costly to administer ineffective unequal programs. you dont get rid of just the program, you no longer need to pay the real estate, IT, HR and administrative costs to run the programs. Taxes are simpler and CRA can get rid of a host of tax credits leaving more money to audit large corporations. Even if a million people were on basic income and never ever worked, its sustainable... and that would never happen. the trivial amount of people that would actually abuse the program is nothing compared to the benefit to society in the reduction of crime, parents able to spend time with their kids and not needing to shame everyone for not making enough, the reduction of people forced to turn to sex trade or see their potential wasted waiting tables because they can't afford an engineering course.Imagine students would only pay for tuition and books because as citizens they qualified for a basic income guarantee? how many more 4yr degrees would we have? But if 5 people want to share a place and smoke pot all day who cares, let them, they're no longer breaking into my home or stabbing my neighbor or leaving crack pipes in playgrounds.a simple legislation change to remove tax benefits for companies with unrented rental units, to cap rents for various size suites (to prevent corporations siphoning off the basic income guarantee for themselves) and oh what a new world we will live in. Less crime and less shame is worth the risk. then maybe we'll legalize drugs... pot law was the beta test for canada since Portugal and sweden proved drug decriminalization and legalization works, lets move this dogmatic country into the future.Read the book, it gets the juices flowing!

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.

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.