Most people, deep down, are pretty decent.
Life and Thought
Rutger Bregman is a Dutch historian, author, and journalist who writes about human nature, inequality, universal basic income, and the possibility of social reform. Utopia for Realists, Humankind: A Hopeful History, and Moral Ambition are among his best-known books.
Rutger Bregman was born in the Netherlands on April 26, 1988. He studied history at Utrecht University and the University of California, Los Angeles, before beginning his professional career as an author and journalist. Bregman worked for many years with the Dutch media platform De Correspondent and gained international recognition for his writing on history, economics, social policy, and the future of human societies. His outspoken speech at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, where he accused the wealthy of avoiding the subject of taxation, attracted widespread attention.
In Utopia for Realists, Bregman advocates proposals such as universal basic income, a shorter working week, and open borders. He shows that many achievements now taken for granted—from the abolition of slavery to public education and equal rights—were once dismissed as fanciful and impossible. In his view, when idealism is joined with evidence and practical policymaking, it can become a realistic force for social change.
In Humankind: A Hopeful History, Bregman challenges pessimistic accounts of human nature. Drawing on historical, psychological, and anthropological evidence, he argues that cooperation, trust, and altruism are also fundamental human tendencies. In doing so, he criticizes the Hobbesian view of humanity and several familiar narratives concerning violence, the Stanford prison experiment, and the story of Lord of the Flies.
In Moral Ambition, Bregman urges talented individuals not to measure success solely by income, status, and personal advancement, but to direct their abilities toward solving the world’s largest, most important, and most neglected problems. He is also a co-founder of the School for Moral Ambition, which trains people to pursue effective careers in the public interest. Bregman’s work lies at the intersection of public history, the social sciences, and practical ethics, inviting readers to reconsider humanity, society, and the possibility of change.