Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman - 4 stars (Subdue)

[Joy D]

Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World by Rutger Bregman - 4* - My Review

“The inability to imagine a world in which things are different is evidence only of a poor imagination, not of the impossibility of change.”

Bregman’s book is based on the premise that ideas can change the world, as history as shown. He examines three ideas that, in his view, would make a positive leap toward a utopian society. These big ideas are 1) Universal Basic Income, 2) a fifteen-hour work week, and 3) open borders. At first these ideas sound like an enormous stretch, but the author has the ability to present his ideas in a way that makes them sound eminently logical. He provides examples and results of studies for each.

It is a combination of sociology, philosophy, and economics. The author discusses such concepts as the need to reevaluate GDP as a measure of a country’s economic prosperity and does it in an accessible manner. And the author is not just “preaching to the choir.” It is written to convince the skeptical to get on board. I was glad to read an optimistic view of the future. It is a credible addition to the utopian canon, and one that addresses issues of our present world. It definitely will get people thinking about how to get past the morass of pessimism that seems so ubiquitous in our global society.