My life philosophy is that you need a boring private life if you want to have a more exciting public life. — Rutger Bregman Copy Share Image
From Scotland to India, and from Silicon Valley to Kenya, policymakers all over the world have become interested in basic income as… — Rutger Bregman Poverty Copy Share Image
Remember: real politics isn't about figureheads and seats in parliament. Real politics is about ideas. And there can be no doubt regarding… — Rutger Bregman Doubt Copy Share Image
Societies tend to presume that poor people are unable to handle money. If they had any, people reason, the poor and homeless… — Rutger Bregman Education Copy Share Image
Poor people aren't making dumb decisions because they are dumb, but because they're living in a context in which anyone would make… — Rutger Bregman Context Copy Share Image
Countries with short workweeks consistently top gender' equality rankings. The central issue is achieving a more equitable distribution of work. — Rutger Bregman Equality Copy Share Image
“In the twenty-first century, the real elite are those born not in the right family or the right class but in the… — Rutger Bregman Elite Copy Share Image
“we can turn to a study by the Center for Immigration Studies–a think tank that opposes immigration–which found that immigration has virtually… — Rutger Bregman Education Copy Share Image
Most people would say the meaning of life is to make the world a little more beautiful, or nicer, or more interesting.… — Rutger Bregman Beautiful Copy Share Image
There is certainly a longstanding idea within western culture that civilization is only a thin veneer. As soon as something happens, say… — Rutger Bregman Civilization Copy Share Image
“In fact, it has become increasingly profitable not to innovate. Imagine just how much progress we’ve missed out on because thousands of… — Rutger Bregman Copy Share Image
During the Enlightenment, there were brilliant thinkers who realized that, if you assume most people are naturally selfish and you construct the… — Rutger Bregman Buddhism Copy Share Image
Since the 70s and the 80s you see the rise of neoliberalism. The central dogma of neoliberalism was that most people are… — Rutger Bregman Government Copy Share Image
The first thing we should acknowledge is that poverty is hugely expensive. It varies from country to country, but most of the… — Rutger Bregman Country Copy Share Image
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 Behavior Copy Share Image
As a species of animal that evolved to make connections and work together, it feels strange to suppress our desire for contact.… — Rutger Bregman Desire Copy Share Image
Psychologists even have a term for this: they talk about 'mean world syndrome'. People who have just seen too much of the… — Rutger Bregman Cynical Copy Share Image
“Instead, we should be posing a different question altogether: Which knowledge and skills do we want our children to have in 2030?… — Rutger Bregman Children Copy Share Image
“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 Black americans Copy Share Image
“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 Change Copy Share Image
“If it is true that ideas don’t change things gradually but in fits and starts – in shocks – then the basic… — Rutger Bregman Copy Share Image
“Whether we’re searching for new dreams or rediscovering old ones, we can’t move forward without looking to the past. It’s the only… — Rutger Bregman Dreams Copy Share Image
“Besides being blind to lots of good things, the GDP also benefits from all manner of human suffering. Gridlock, drug abuse, adultery?… — Rutger Bregman Black friday Copy Share Image
“Recently, the International Monetary Fund published a report which revealed that too much inequality even inhibits economic growth.22 Perhaps the most fascinating… — Rutger Bregman Economic growth Copy Share Image
“The inventor of GDP cautioned against including in its calculation expenditure for the military, advertising, and the financial sector,33 but his advice… — Rutger Bregman Deaf ears Copy Share Image
“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 Common people Copy Share Image
“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 Economics Copy Share Image
My hope is that the corona crisis will help bring us into a new age of cooperation and solidarity and a realization… — Rutger Bregman Age Copy Share Image
Only the work that generates money is allowed to count toward GDP. Little wonder, then, that we have organized education around feeding… — Rutger Bregman Education Copy Share Image
Our streets are very important for social cohesion, for feelings of safety, and we just surrendered all this to the car. But… — Rutger Bregman Copy Share Image
When I talk about 'everyday communism', I am teasing a little. It is a provocative idea. But then we all do a… — Rutger Bregman Communism Copy Share Image
We so often tend to think our democracies are ruled by procedures and laws, but they are also governed by implicit rules… — Rutger Bregman Ability Copy Share Image
I've solved my phone addiction by deleting all the apps I was addicted to - email, browser - and getting my wife… — Rutger Bregman Addiction Copy Share Image
I know that there are many excellent arguments for a universal form of basic income. Since everyone would get it, it would… — Rutger Bregman Dogs Copy Share Image
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 Faith Copy Share Image
I always eat bread and almost always peanut butter and apple syrup, sometimes cheese. I hardly ever ate out as a child.… — Rutger Bregman Copy Share Image
“So in concrete terms, just how much dumber does poverty make you? “Our effects correspond to between 13 and 14 IQ points,”… — Rutger Bregman Copy Share Image
“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 Poverty Copy Share Image
“In his 1971 State of the Union address, Nixon considered his plan to “place a floor under the income of every family… — Rutger Bregman Family Copy Share Image
