Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World by Rutger Bregman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm pretty sure anyone reading the title for this book will either fall into one of two camps: "Oh, of course, we have to hope and plan!" or "Oh, god, this is real claptrap."

Well, let me point out one little thing for those in the first: Hope is useless. Planning based on real data and the real efforts of those who know what is going on is the only real way.

For the second camp:

Ignore the damn stupid title. This is really good stuff, backed up by thoroughly researched studies, carefully analyzed and stupidly shelved past research, and amazingly simple common sense. Do yourself a favor and pick up the book despite your preconceptions and read it.

It addresses the real stakes of the barrel we're staring down. Worse than when this was written, we're facing screws that are tightening on our thumbs more than ever before. Be it the widening poverty, the automation-to-extinction of the workforce, or the simple fact that poverty can only be solved by GIVING PEOPLE MONEY and no thoughts and prayers or efficiency experts, the real solution is pretty simple.

House the unhoused. Feed the unfed. Clothe the unclothed. I mean, seriously. It all boils down to a basic, surprisingly unsurprising tenet: When everyone is lifted from poverty, EVERYONE benefits. That big gap we're seeing? It will only create disaster. The big banking industry and all the parasites that provide nothing to the world other than obfuscation, theft, and then bail on all their victims are one of the biggest issues. A fraction of a fraction of the huge bonuses some of these assholes make could afford to house everyone -- but that hurts their bottom-leeching-line. The solution? Break through the propaganda, organize however we can, and bring honesty and fairness back to our lives. I honestly believe there are a lot more good people out here than bad. We just happen to have these stupid societal structures that absurdly reward the very worst of us, and that needs to be stopped. Most of us do not get a single damn thing out of it except exhaustion, existential woes, our own increasing poverty, and rage.


So, yeah, let's read a book that gives a clear eye to this issue, shall we? Not everything is doom and gloom. We DO have good ideas going forward. We just need to start telling those who say we've exhausted every option to shut the fuck up.

People who suddenly wake up without a boot on their neck won't start causing havoc. They start doing the things they've always wanted to do. How many artists out there are dying inside? How about would-be teachers who are disgusted with the way things are? How about ANYONE in a bullshit job stuck there just for the paycheck even as their minds rot?

THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY. And, indeed, there is.

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