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Utopia for Realists
- How We Can Build the Ideal World
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
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Utopia for Realists
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Publisher's Summary
Universal basic income. A 15-hour workweek. Open borders. Does it sound too good to be true? One of Europe's leading young thinkers shows how we can build an ideal world today.
After working all day at jobs we often dislike, we buy things we don't need. Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian, reminds us it needn't be this way - and in some places it isn't.
Rutger Bregman's TED Talk about universal basic income seemed impossibly radical when he delivered it in 2014. A quarter of a million views later, the subject of that video is being seriously considered by leading economists and government leaders all over the world. It's just one of the many utopian ideas that Bregman proves is possible today.
Utopia for Realists is one of those rare books that takes you by surprise and challenges what you think can happen. From a Canadian city that once completely eradicated poverty to Richard Nixon's near implementation of a basic income for millions of Americans, Bregman takes us on a journey through history and beyond the traditional left-right divides as he champions ideas whose time has come.
Every progressive milestone of civilization - from the end of slavery to the beginning of democracy - was once considered a utopian fantasy. Bregman's book, both challenging and bracing, demonstrates that new utopian ideas, like the elimination of poverty and the creation of the 15-hour workweek, can become reality in our lifetime. Being unrealistic and unreasonable can, in fact, make the impossible inevitable, and it is the only way to build the ideal world.
What the critics say
What listeners say about Utopia for Realists
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel
- 2017-11-05
great read
concise explaination of UBI and other related topics, highly relevant right now. a b c
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Darren Stamos
- 2020-07-16
A User Manual For A Liveable, Evolving Society
This book addresses the massive imbalance in today's society, and how everyone can benefit from a soceity that capitalizes on freed creativity, ingenuity and energy.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Teena
- 2022-02-01
Food for thought
Excellent, I found that this book offered some innovative thoughts on how to handle some of today's most pressing issues. I personally think it's time to look at initiating new ways to deal with current issues that plague our society. Those that it is proven that the same old methods are not improving the situation but in fact just the opposite. I appreciate that the author used thorough information sources and different opinions and points of view to support his writings. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is willing to listen with an open mind.
Governments need to review and improve upon services and their funding models. It's a darn good possibility that these changes could save taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars. Maybe, this book should be listened to by some government officials and employees throughout all nations.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Jamie Charles
- 2022-02-28
I'm Ready - Are You?
February 2022 | 4/5
This was a pallet cleanser for the hopeless despair we have all experienced with the covid pandemic and associated lockdowns. Interestingly, one of the ways to push the utopian ideas in this book forward is through global catastrophe.
We live in a great time - we have money, and health, and
education, but we've forgotten that things could be better.
Not so long ago, things like passports were deemed uncivilized, governments piloted programs with a UBI, and some of the greatest thinkers of our time worried humanity would be bored with all the leisure time they'd enjoy.
Sadly, we work more than ever so we can buy more stuff. We struggle to make a living wage, and vacations to enjoy our things are reserved for the ultra wealthy.
Rutger Bregam shows us how we were trending towards a UBI, a 15 hour work week, and open borders. We learn how things went off the rails and several ways to get back on track.
Read this book - restore a little faith in humanity, and make these utopian ideals a reality.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Leninmarino
- 2022-08-28
Very socialist discourse
witha careful selection of sources that avoided addressing the greatest socialist failures of human history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Rob Soleski
- 2021-08-23
this book is amazing
this book is amazing.
it should be required reading for everyone around the world but especially in western and the G7 nations
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Karl
- 2021-03-25
Building a foundation for a World where we all win
I've listened to this book three times now, and each time through I pick up a new thing. it does a marvelous job of explaining how we got to the broken world we live in and how we can make it better.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Bruce M. Campbell
- 2019-07-20
It takes a global village
Academically sound, and multidisciplinary in scope, Utopia for Realists reveals the tectonic boundaries between what has always worked (more or less, especially the former) and the increasingly obvious challenges to the accepted status quo. A must-read/listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Leslie Cheung
- 2020-11-29
Nice read
Narrator had a good tone to his voice. I enjoyed it as my very first audible.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Dane Fleischhacker
- 2023-03-25
👍
Good book, good narration, doesn't go on beyond it's purpose or usefulness by adding too much fluff.
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