Episode 56, ‘Utopia for Realists’ with Rutger Bregman (Part I)

The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, and Rose de Castellane

Euthanasia, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Existentialism, Marxism, Kant, Ethics, Davidpapineau, Dennett, Marx, Evilgodchallenge, Cosmological, Mind, Consciousness, Courses, Nagasawa, Education, Johnstuartmill, Jeremybentham, Aristotle, Ocr, Camus, Josephfletcher, Conscience, Society & Culture, Kantianethics, Philosophy

4.8 • 604 Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2019

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rutger Bregman is a historian and author, best known for his bestselling book, Utopia for Realists: and how we can get there. Arguing for new utopian ideas such as a fifteen-hour work week and universal basic income, Utopia for Realists has been translated into over 30 different languages, making headlines and sparking movements across the world.

Despite the fact we’ve never had it better, says Bregman, here in the Land of Plenty, we lack the desire and vision to improve society. The crisis of our times, of our generation “is not that we have it good, or even that we might be worse of later, but that we can’t come up with anything better… Notching up purchasing power another percentage point, or shaving off our carbon emissions; perhaps a new gadget – that’s about the extent of our vision.”

At best, Bregman provides us with a desirable and achievable vision of human progress; a world with no borders, 15-hour work weeks and a universal basic income for everybody. At worst, Bregman wakes us up from our dogmatic slumber, encouraging us to ask important questions about 21st-century life. In his own words:

“Why have we been working harder and harder since the 1980s despite being richer than ever? Why are millions of people still living in poverty when we are more than rich enough to put an end to it once and for all? And why is more than 60% of your income dependent on the country where you just so happen to have been born?”

Part I. Utopia for Realists.

Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Rudga Bregman is a historian and author, best known for his best-selling book, Utopia for Realists, and how we can get there.
0:15.0	Arguing for new utopian ideas such as a 15-hour work week and a universal basic income,
0:20.0	Utopia for Realists has been translated into over 30 different languages,
0:23.6	making headlines and sparking movements across the world.
0:27.6	Despite the fact we've never had it any better, says Bregman,
0:31.6	here in the Land of Plenty, we lack the desire and vision to improve society,
0:36.6	the crisis of our times, of our generation,
0:40.3	and I'm quoting Bregman here, is not that we have it good or even that we might be worse
0:45.8	off later, but that we can't come up with anything better. Notching up purchasing power
0:51.3	another percentage point or shaving off carbon emissions.
0:55.0	Perhaps a new gadget. That's about the extent of our vision.
0:59.0	At best, Bregman provides us with a desirable and achievable vision of human progress.
1:05.0	A world with no borders, 15 hour work weeks and a universal basic income for everybody. At worst, Bregman
1:13.9	wakes us up from our dogmatic slumber encouraging us to ask important questions about
1:19.4	21st century life. Why have we been working harder since the 1980s despite being richer
1:26.1	than ever? Why are millions of people still living in poverty
1:30.9	when we are more than rich enough to put an end to it once and for all? And why is more than 60%
1:38.7	of your income dependent upon the country where you just so happen to be born.
1:45.0	As always, a huge thank you to Cullum St. Gabriel's and all of our patrons for supporting
1:49.1	the show. In particular, a huge thank you goes to our patrons, Lily Hooper, Jim Claire and David
1:54.5	Le Juwenzi. Great name, by the way, David. Lily, Jim and David, your support means the
1:59.7	absolute world to us on behalf of the Panpsychast team and all of our listeners, thank you. If you're enjoying the show and you're as awesome as Lily, Jim and David, head over to our Patreon page. That's patreon.com 4 slash panpsychast to show your support. A link is also in the iTunes description. If you're not enjoying the show, despite being interested in
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