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Rutger Bregman

@rcbregman • 371,902 subscribers

Historian. Books: 'Utopia for Realists' (2014), 'Humankind' (2020) and 'Moral Ambition' (2025). Co-founder of The School for Moral Ambition.

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Roosevelt called it what it is: to see a problem and do nothing? That’s called whining. If Democrats want to win, they need more than outrage and moral purity. They need a plan and a broad coalition. An agenda of abundance, patriotism and economic populism. Remember: after the first Gilded Age came the Progressive Era. It could happen again.

Roosevelt called it what it is: to see a problem and do nothing? That’s called whining. If Democrats want to win, they need more than outrage and moral purity. They need a plan and a broad coalition. An agenda of abundance, patriotism and economic populism. Remember: after the first Gilded Age came the Progressive Era. It could happen again.

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We put up posters at Harvard that said: 'Don't waste your career at McKinsey.' What happened next? 8% of the entire junior class applied to our fellowship. Meet the first twelve -->
3:53
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We put up posters at Harvard that said: 'Don't waste your career at McKinsey.' What happened next? 8% of the entire junior class applied to our fellowship. Meet the first twelve -->

Rutger Bregman

203,799 views • 1 day ago

It's that magical time of year when private jets descend on a Swiss mountain village to discuss climate change and poverty! Anyway, here's my annual reminder. I'll stop posting this when they stop avoiding the real issue: their own massive tax avoidance 💰
1:52
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It's that magical time of year when private jets descend on a Swiss mountain village to discuss climate change and poverty! Anyway, here's my annual reminder. I'll stop posting this when they stop avoiding the real issue: their own massive tax avoidance 💰

Rutger Bregman

1,141,635 views • 6 months ago

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
3:03
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I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Rutger Bregman

1,173,968 views • 8 months ago

Absolutely incredible footage from today, the biggest protest of the 21st century in The Netherlands. 150,000 people in The Hague to protest against the genocide in Palestine.
2:13
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Absolutely incredible footage from today, the biggest protest of the 21st century in The Netherlands. 150,000 people in The Hague to protest against the genocide in Palestine.

Rutger Bregman

1,617,783 views • 1 year ago

Sometimes you get a few minutes on live TV with a billionaire. I tried to make them count! 😅
1:47
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Sometimes you get a few minutes on live TV with a billionaire. I tried to make them count! 😅

Rutger Bregman

526,018 views • 6 months ago

1/ Less than 24 hours before broadcast, the BBC called me and said: we're editing a line out of your lecture. The line? That Donald Trump is the most openly corrupt president in American history.
2:14
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1/ Less than 24 hours before broadcast, the BBC called me and said: we're editing a line out of your lecture. The line? That Donald Trump is the most openly corrupt president in American history.

Rutger Bregman

233,200 views • 3 months ago

One of the most effective things you can do right now to fight Trump and ICE is to cancel your ChatGPT subscription.
2:43
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One of the most effective things you can do right now to fight Trump and ICE is to cancel your ChatGPT subscription.

Rutger Bregman

344,451 views • 5 months ago

Twenty years ago, climate denial was a problem of the right. Today, AI denial is a problem of the left, and the consequences could be even more disastrous. My new video essay.
33:10
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Twenty years ago, climate denial was a problem of the right. Today, AI denial is a problem of the left, and the consequences could be even more disastrous. My new video essay.

Rutger Bregman

64,209 views • 1 month ago

Dutch public television on Trump, Vance, Zelensky and "Have you even said 'thank you'?" Excellent summary of the current geopolitical situation.
2:06

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Dutch public television on Trump, Vance, Zelensky and "Have you even said 'thank you'?" Excellent summary of the current geopolitical situation.

Rutger Bregman

625,782 views • 1 year ago

Laughter and song, the bonds of friendship, the joy of play, the wonder of art, the beauty of nature, the gift of attention – tech oligarchs like Peter Thiel, Zuckerberg and Musk don't care for ANY of it. They see humanity as redundant, as useless, as slop, and would rather replace all of it with AI.
3:35
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Laughter and song, the bonds of friendship, the joy of play, the wonder of art, the beauty of nature, the gift of attention – tech oligarchs like Peter Thiel, Zuckerberg and Musk don't care for ANY of it. They see humanity as redundant, as useless, as slop, and would rather replace all of it with AI.

Rutger Bregman

145,699 views • 4 months ago

Very excited to see this: a National Geographic documentary about one of the biggest frauds in social science—the Stanford Prison Experiment. Based on all the new evidence. Thibault Le Texier in particular deserves major credit for his work uncovering the truth.
1:30
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Very excited to see this: a National Geographic documentary about one of the biggest frauds in social science—the Stanford Prison Experiment. Based on all the new evidence. Thibault Le Texier in particular deserves major credit for his work uncovering the truth.

Rutger Bregman

573,435 views • 1 year ago

Just before Trump’s re-election, I attended a private tech conference in Silicon Valley. Over dinner, the conversation was dominated by a tech bro who spoke in ways that reminded me of 1930s fascists like Mussolini. I pointed this out to him, and he replied, without irony: “Yeah, I think we should get a little fascy.”
1:04
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Just before Trump’s re-election, I attended a private tech conference in Silicon Valley. Over dinner, the conversation was dominated by a tech bro who spoke in ways that reminded me of 1930s fascists like Mussolini. I pointed this out to him, and he replied, without irony: “Yeah, I think we should get a little fascy.”

Rutger Bregman

169,963 views • 5 months ago

Peter Thiel literally wrote that freedom and democracy are not 'compatible' and that regulating Big Tech is the work of the 'anti-Christ'. Stop treating this as metaphor. When billionaires tell you they want to end democracy, take them seriously.
0:49
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Peter Thiel literally wrote that freedom and democracy are not 'compatible' and that regulating Big Tech is the work of the 'anti-Christ'. Stop treating this as metaphor. When billionaires tell you they want to end democracy, take them seriously.

Rutger Bregman

114,460 views • 4 months ago

So I hear Tucker Carlson, arguably the greatest hypocrite on the planet, is trying to make his comeback. Perhaps a good time to re-up this.
7:59
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So I hear Tucker Carlson, arguably the greatest hypocrite on the planet, is trying to make his comeback. Perhaps a good time to re-up this.

Rutger Bregman

479,911 views • 2 years ago

Over 80% of people want a wealth tax for billionaires. Of course they’re resisting with their army of lawyers and lobbyists, but we’re building ours. I’m so excited to be teaming up with Gabriel Zucman 👉
2:43
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Over 80% of people want a wealth tax for billionaires. Of course they’re resisting with their army of lawyers and lobbyists, but we’re building ours. I’m so excited to be teaming up with Gabriel Zucman 👉

Rutger Bregman

78,761 views • 3 months ago

For the first time in history, billionaires have a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans. It’s time to tax those billionaires. And no, that’s not communism, that’s common sense.
0:58
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For the first time in history, billionaires have a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans. It’s time to tax those billionaires. And no, that’s not communism, that’s common sense.

Rutger Bregman

392,703 views • 2 years ago

I’m done with the online left (and here’s why). We’re in a fight for democracy, and too many are busy scoring points instead of building power.
1:36
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I’m done with the online left (and here’s why). We’re in a fight for democracy, and too many are busy scoring points instead of building power.

Rutger Bregman

213,539 views • 1 year ago

The BBC just remade Lord of the Flies — the story that taught generations humans are fundamentally savage. But when it ACTUALLY happened in real life? Six boys shipwrecked for over a year built a functioning society.
1:21
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The BBC just remade Lord of the Flies — the story that taught generations humans are fundamentally savage. But when it ACTUALLY happened in real life? Six boys shipwrecked for over a year built a functioning society.

Rutger Bregman

81,350 views • 5 months ago

Many are laughing at how clownish this administration feels, but historians of fascism aren’t laughing, some are packing their bags. Crackdowns on universities. Pressure on judges. Tactics straight out of Hungary and Poland, now showing up here.
0:39
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Many are laughing at how clownish this administration feels, but historians of fascism aren’t laughing, some are packing their bags. Crackdowns on universities. Pressure on judges. Tactics straight out of Hungary and Poland, now showing up here.

Rutger Bregman

89,331 views • 6 months ago

If you work at OpenAI, and you find it uncomfortable to read all this on the sidewalks in front of your office, but you STILL don’t act — then you've accepted you’re on the wrong side of history. It's as simple as that.
2:08
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If you work at OpenAI, and you find it uncomfortable to read all this on the sidewalks in front of your office, but you STILL don’t act — then you've accepted you’re on the wrong side of history. It's as simple as that.

Rutger Bregman

67,370 views • 4 months ago