Utopia for Realists

Rutger Bregman, an influential proponent of Universal Basic Income delivers an excellent addition to our After Capitalism collection with the highly engaging and readable “Utopia for Realists.”  This fits is nicely with the Non-Worker’s Paradise visions.

He starts with some realism: everything was worse in the past. The past two centuries have seen explosive growth in both population and prosperity worldwide. Progress has become synonymous with economic prosperity. Okay, so then why the need for a utopia? “The twenty- first century will challenge us to find other ways of boosting our quality of life.” In other words, we can do better.

He speaks right to the core message of After Capitalism: “We need a new lodestar, a new map of the world. In our terms, a guiding image of the future. Indeed! I love this little tidbit: “Governing by numbers is the last resort of a country that no longer knows what it wants, a country with no vision of utopia.” Indeed…once again!

He makes his case for universal basic income and the need for a massive redistribution of wealth, dispelling myths and citing research that suggests it can work. One example, “the prestigious medical journal the Lancet summed up their findings: When the poor receive no- strings cash they actually tend to work harder.”

He cites the work of economist Albert Hirschman in noting that utopias are initially attacked on three grounds:

• futility (it’s not possible)
• danger (the risks are too great),
• and perversity (it will degenerate into dystopia)

But he adds that “almost as soon as a utopia becomes a reality, it often comes to be seen as utterly commonplace.”

He digs into the notion of work. First, in the 1980s, workweek reductions came to a grinding halt. Essentially, economic growth was leading to more consumption rather than more leisure. He suggests that reduction of work first has to be reinstated as a political ideal. And he believes robot/automation will be a key driver. He brings in one of my favorite quotes from Arthur C. Clarke: “the goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play.”

For fans of social change theory, he’s a believer in the power of ideas: “In the end, it’s not the market or technology that decides what has real value, but society.”

So, how? He sets it up: “The question is not can new ideas defeat old ones; the question is how.” His answer is that research suggests that sudden shocks can work wonders.

But he also cites a point that I totally agree – worldviews don’t change easily. But he has a caveat, relating to the “sudden shock” point above. A worldview is….”a fortress that is defended tooth and nail, with all possible reinforcements, until the pressure becomes so overpowering that the walls cave in.” He supports sticking to one’s convictions – a “single opposing voice can make all the difference.”

He describes the success of the neoliberal movement in moving from the fringe to the mainstream in less than 50 years. He also cites what I’ve called the “ineffective left:” “The left seems to have forgotten the art of Politics. They’ve got no story to tell, nor even any language to convey it in.” Yep.

He concludes by the advice to cultivate a thicker skin, and notes that if we want to change the world, we need to be unrealistic, unreasonable, and impossible. If one were looking for a 10-point plan for creating utopia, it’s not here. I think he would be suspicious of such a plan, but rather he looks to the power of a compelling image to direct us. I couldn’t agree more! – Andy Hines