Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World in The Majority Report Podcast Goodreads Group

Jun 17, 2019 Ray rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, nonfic

Is it hyperbolic to say that this book may change the world?

If you've already read about Universal Basic Income (UBI), or really anything by a good myth-busting economist which challenges our current era of capitalism, then Utopia for Realists may not teach you too much that you don't already know. Overall Rutger Bregman''s way is just to summarize some main big ideas into a readable paperback, and yet that is the whole point.

There are plenty of graphs which will convince the reader that incom ...more

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May 23, 2017 Rob Smith rated it did not like it · review of another edition

What a dumpster fire.

Utopia for Realist is Rutger Bregman's book on the Utopian policies such as a universal basic income (UBI), open borders and a shorter work weak. The first half of the book is strong, and I learned some things I didn't know before such as Speenhamland and Nixon's own legislative attempts at a UBI. The text is a breezy read, and it's written to be as accessible as possible to his ideas.

Unfortunately while it starts out strong, the book goes off the rails, into a ditch and set What a dumpster fire.

Utopia for Realist is Rutger Bregman's book on the Utopian policies such as a universal basic income (UBI), open borders and a shorter work weak. The first half of the book is strong, and I learned some things I didn't know before such as Speenhamland and Nixon's own legislative attempts at a UBI. The text is a breezy read, and it's written to be as accessible as possible to his ideas.

Unfortunately while it starts out strong, the book goes off the rails, into a ditch and sets itself on fire by the end of the book. There's more bad in this book than good. There's a lot of fluff writing that isn't needed, and he really glosses over historical or policy points that absolutely require some nuance. I can forgive this with the anecdotes to present his points, but when he gets to recalculating the GDP as part of utopian thinking he begins to lose me. And when he talks about open borders eradicating poverty he loses me even more.

Bregman also contradicts himself in several places, in some very important ways. He claims technological progress has stopped, but then boasts how far cellular technology and the internet has come since the '90s. He champions Friedman and Hayek, as well as the neoliberal establishment, but bemoans the financial crisis and the way most jobs have become precarious, or useless. I'm not sure how he can support those ideas, when using them are how we got to where we are now. For example. he wants to toss the welfare system because it merely prolongs unemployment, but the way the welfare system is now is entirely because of Reagan and Clinton cutting them deeply during their presidencies. And isn't the UBI merely a return to the social safety net of the past, but merely with an expanded scope?

Bregman out of nowhere slams the left towards the end of the book. Socialists to him wallow in their moral superiority, appeal to emotions more than reason, and are boring. They care about the national debt, don't want to fight poverty and claim taxes are too high. For starters, this sounds more like the American Democratic Party, than it does any socialist I know. Two, I wonder if Bregman has even read what a socialist like Bernie Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn stand for, because they sure as hell don't sound like that. And lastly, I don't know how he can slam socialists and the left while at the same time stealing their ideas wholesale and then claiming credit for them. It's a bizarre work of intellectual dishonesty. ...more

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Aug 15, 2020 Grant rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Finally being provided a one stop shop for studies that back up socialist ideas and how to not just help people in need, but to help everyone society live live better lives. I was really glad Bregman covered the topic of bullshit work i.e. jobs that are not only not needed but degrade people lives, it doesn't get talked about enough. He also addressed the side some don't want to talk about that well meaning progressives get bogged down in spending too much time fighting things that whilst import ...more

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Jun 28, 2019 Krzysiek Dąbrowski rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Bold, visionary, inspiring. Great starting point for anyone interested in today's political climate and/or economics. Castles in the sky are closer than they appear. ...more

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