VM,Wow, this is a gem of an article! Thank you for introducing me to Rutgers Bergman. It looks like he has enough material to keep me busy for weeks. Mervyn
On Wednesday, September 16, 2020, 3:58 AM, V M <[email protected]> wrote: https://scroll.in/article/973201/dont-punch-nazis-rutger-bregmans-utopian-manifesto-for-living Last week as California burned apocalyptic orange, and India and China postured menacingly in the Himalayas, while Covid-19 rampaged out of control right to my door in Goa, I was reading Rutger Bregman’s relentlessly upbeat *Humankind: A Hopeful History (Bloomsbury)*. It felt distinctly like this new global bestseller was taking the piss. Contrarian is Bregman’s default gear. The 32-year-old Dutch historian rose to prominence with the 2016 *Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build The Ideal World* that argued for an unconditional universal basic income for everyone everywhere, reduction of the work week to 15 hours (he cites Keynes in support), and worldwide open borders with free movement of citizens. It so happens that universal basic income is trendy amongst the plutocratic robber-baron-turned-philanthropists of the Davos set, who made the strategic miscalculation of inviting Bregman to their 2019 World Economic Forum. He proceeded to set the stage afire, saying “1,500 private jets have flown in here to hear Sir David Attenborough speak about how we’re wrecking the planet. I hear people talking the language of participation and justice and equality and transparency, but almost no one raises the real issue of tax avoidance and of the rich not paying their fair share.” Bregman said, “It feels as if I’m at a firefighter’s conference, and no one is allowed to speak about water. This is not rocket science. We can talk for a very long time about all these stupid philanthropy schemes, we can invite Bono once more. But come on, we’ve got to be talking about taxes. That’s it, taxes, taxes, taxes. All the rest is bullshit.”
