Rutger Bregman

I think it's rational to assume the best in other people because most people are pretty decent.

— Rutger Bregman

No one is suggesting societies the world over should implement an expensive basic income system in one stroke.

— Rutger Bregman

“The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008)”

— Rutger Bregman

“Emancipation of women? Countries with short workweeks consistently top gender-equality rankings.”

— Rutger Bregman

Almost no one raises the real issue of tax avoidance, right? And of the rich just not paying their fair share.

— Rutger Bregman

Poverty is not a lack of character. Poverty is a lack of cash.

— Rutger Bregman

One of my rules for life is: 'When in doubt, assume the best,' because in the end, most people are pretty decent.

— Rutger Bregman

If we assume the best in people, we can radically redesign our democracy and welfare states.

— Rutger Bregman

Believing in the good of humanity is a revolutionary act - it means that we don't need all those managers and CEO's,…

— Rutger Bregman

I know that there are many excellent arguments for a universal form of basic income. Since everyone would get it, it would…

— Rutger Bregman

“So in concrete terms, just how much dumber does poverty make you? “Our effects correspond to between 13 and 14 IQ points,”…

— Rutger Bregman

I always eat bread and almost always peanut butter and apple syrup, sometimes cheese. I hardly ever ate out as a child.…

— Rutger Bregman

“A person living at the poverty line in the U.S. belongs to the richest 14% of the world population; someone earning a…

— Rutger Bregman

“In his 1971 State of the Union address, Nixon considered his plan to “place a floor under the income of every family…

— Rutger Bregman

Even if you don't care about the environment whatsoever, solar panels are really cool, and are an investment because they save money…

— Rutger Bregman

Contact is the best medicine against hate, racism and prejudice. It's something that we should be very wary of, the more segregation…

— Rutger Bregman

The first thing we should acknowledge is that poverty is hugely expensive. It varies from country to country, but most of the…

— Rutger Bregman

There's always selfish behavior. There are lots of examples of people hoarding. But we've seen in this pandemic that the vast majority…

— Rutger Bregman

As a species of animal that evolved to make connections and work together, it feels strange to suppress our desire for contact.…

— Rutger Bregman

Psychologists even have a term for this: they talk about 'mean world syndrome'. People who have just seen too much of the…

— Rutger Bregman

True innovation takes at least 10 to 15 years, whereas the longest that private venture capitalists are routinely willing to wait is…

— Rutger Bregman

We know from scientific studies that infants as young as six months old can distinguish right from wrong and have a preference…

— Rutger Bregman

“Some scholarships are applied for by only 30% of those who qualify,” says Shafir, “despite the fact that study after study has…

— Rutger Bregman

Most bayonets throughout history have probably not been used because soldiers just can't do it, something holds them back... the same goes…

— Rutger Bregman

“Free money works. Already, research has correlated unconditional cash disbursements with reductions in crime, child mortality, malnutrition, teenage pregnancy, and truancy, and…

— Rutger Bregman

“Even utopias need a tax clause. For example, we could start with a transactions tax to rein in the financial industry. Back…

— Rutger Bregman

“Before the invention of the GDP, economists were rarely quoted by the press, but in the years after World War II they…

— Rutger Bregman

“Instead, we should be posing a different question altogether: Which knowledge and skills do we want our children to have in 2030?…

— Rutger Bregman

“I’m heartened by our dissatisfaction, because dissatisfaction is a world away from indifference. The widespread nostalgia, the yearning for a past that…

— Rutger Bregman

“We’re indignant that men get paid more than women for doing the same work, and that white Americans earn more than black…

— Rutger Bregman

“If it is true that ideas don’t change things gradually but in fits and starts – in shocks – then the basic…

— Rutger Bregman

“For us today, it is still difficult to imagine a future society in which paid labor is not the be-all and end-all…

— Rutger Bregman

“Of course, there’s no clear line between who creates wealth and who shifts it. Lots of jobs do both. There’s no denying…

— Rutger Bregman

“As illusions go, this one is pretty stubborn. When you’re obsessed with efficiency and productivity, it’s difficult to see the real value…

— Rutger Bregman

“Countless aid organizations and governments are convinced that they know what poor people need, and invest in schools, solar panels, or cattle.…

— Rutger Bregman

“To calculate the GDP, numerous data points have to be linked together and hundreds of wholly subjective choices made regarding what to…

— Rutger Bregman

“To economists, everything revolves around scarcity - after all, even the biggest spenders can't buy everything. However, the perception of scarcity is…

— Rutger Bregman

“Esther Duflo, a professor at MIT with a strong French accent, likens all this research on development aid to medieval bloodletting.6 The…

— Rutger Bregman

“The Greek GDP spiked 25% when statisticians dove into the country’s black market in 2006, for instance, thereby enabling the government to…

— Rutger Bregman

“There is, however, another avenue of utopian thought, one that is all but forgotten. If the blueprint is a high-resolution photo, then…

— Rutger Bregman