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Rutger Bregman

@rutgerbregman • 372,833 subscribers

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

Shorts

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.

16,187 Aufrufe

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About a year ago, a Princeton student named Kyler Zhou was sitting in traffic in New Jersey. At some point he was so bored that he put on a podcast with… me 🙃 It was my usual talk about the talent crisis. About the smartest kids of a generation going to work for McKinsey and Goldman Sachs, while the biggest problems in the world go unsolved, blablabla, you may have heard it by now ;) What’s interesting is what happened next. As soon as Kyler got home, he emailed me and The School for Moral Ambition (the organization we started to get talented people working on the world's biggest problems). Kyler wanted to bring this to Princeton. Well, we told him no 😅. We had just launched our first university fellowship at Harvard, and there was no capacity for a second campus... Kyler decided to ignore us. Three days into the semester, he launched the first* Moral Ambition Chapter at a university in the United States. In just a few days, more than 120 Princeton students signed up. In November of last year I visited, and the energy was simply AMAZING. Since then, everything has been escalating. Students have started Moral Ambition Chapters at Brown, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and 5 other campuses – often before we've heard of them. Which brings me to today. After the launch of our Harvard Fellowship (8% of ALL Harvard juniors applied to the first cohort!), we're now also launching Moral Ambition Fellowships at Princeton, Brown, Vanderbilt and Stanford. The program is simple: twelve super talented students per campus, a $15,000 stipend, and a summer working full-time on the most important causes of our time, like lead poisoning or child poverty or ending factory farming or AI safety etc. – instead of polishing a boring corporate pitch deck. It's just incredible to see how quickly this movement is growing. Every year, thousands of brilliant graduates are funneled into corporate careers that add little to the world. More and more of them are starting to walk the other way. (For students: applications for Harvard, Princeton, Brown and Vanderbilt are open now. Stanford opens October 6. * Brown University claims that they were actually the first – I've decided to stay neutral in this quarrel 😅

About a year ago, a Princeton student named Kyler Zhou was sitting in traffic in New Jersey. At some point he was so bored that he put on a podcast with… me 🙃 It was my usual talk about the talent crisis. About the smartest kids of a generation going to work for McKinsey and Goldman Sachs, while the biggest problems in the world go unsolved, blablabla, you may have heard it by now ;) What’s interesting is what happened next. As soon as Kyler got home, he emailed me and The School for Moral Ambition (the organization we started to get talented people working on the world's biggest problems). Kyler wanted to bring this to Princeton. Well, we told him no 😅. We had just launched our first university fellowship at Harvard, and there was no capacity for a second campus... Kyler decided to ignore us. Three days into the semester, he launched the first* Moral Ambition Chapter at a university in the United States. In just a few days, more than 120 Princeton students signed up. In November of last year I visited, and the energy was simply AMAZING. Since then, everything has been escalating. Students have started Moral Ambition Chapters at Brown, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and 5 other campuses – often before we've heard of them. Which brings me to today. After the launch of our Harvard Fellowship (8% of ALL Harvard juniors applied to the first cohort!), we're now also launching Moral Ambition Fellowships at Princeton, Brown, Vanderbilt and Stanford. The program is simple: twelve super talented students per campus, a $15,000 stipend, and a summer working full-time on the most important causes of our time, like lead poisoning or child poverty or ending factory farming or AI safety etc. – instead of polishing a boring corporate pitch deck. It's just incredible to see how quickly this movement is growing. Every year, thousands of brilliant graduates are funneled into corporate careers that add little to the world. More and more of them are starting to walk the other way. (For students: applications for Harvard, Princeton, Brown and Vanderbilt are open now. Stanford opens October 6. * Brown University claims that they were actually the first – I've decided to stay neutral in this quarrel 😅

436,792 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

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 💰

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 💰

1,143,035 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

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

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

1,175,187 Aufrufe • vor 10 Monaten

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.

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.

1,618,273 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

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

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

526,278 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

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

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

349,168 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

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.

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.

573,590 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

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.

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.

479,980 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren

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.

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.

64,847 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

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.

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.

213,641 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

It’s that time of year again—the World Economic Forum in Davos kicks off today. Once again, global elites will gather to discuss everything, except their own tax avoidance and evasion. 🧵 Thread -->

It’s that time of year again—the World Economic Forum in Davos kicks off today. Once again, global elites will gather to discuss everything, except their own tax avoidance and evasion. 🧵 Thread -->

190,460 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

People who follow the news are more likely to agree with statements such as ‘Most people care only about themselves.’ They more often believe that we as individuals are helpless to better the world. They are more likely to be stressed and depressed. /1

People who follow the news are more likely to agree with statements such as ‘Most people care only about themselves.’ They more often believe that we as individuals are helpless to better the world. They are more likely to be stressed and depressed. /1

241,947 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren

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.

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.

81,666 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

The BBC censored my line about Trump's corruption, turned off the comment section on YouTube, and sat on the video versions for three weeks... ... still, I’m genuinely glad to see so many people watching (and commenting on) my Reith Lectures 🥳. Here's the first one:

The BBC censored my line about Trump's corruption, turned off the comment section on YouTube, and sat on the video versions for three weeks... ... still, I’m genuinely glad to see so many people watching (and commenting on) my Reith Lectures 🥳. Here's the first one:

87,020 Aufrufe • vor 9 Monaten

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.

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.

67,981 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

Europe loves to lecture the world about values, but morals without power is just vibes. We regulate AI we don’t build, sell handbags instead of hardware, and rely on others for our security and energy. If we really believe in liberal democracy, we’d better be willing to back it up.

Europe loves to lecture the world about values, but morals without power is just vibes. We regulate AI we don’t build, sell handbags instead of hardware, and rely on others for our security and energy. If we really believe in liberal democracy, we’d better be willing to back it up.

45,844 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

Billionaires pay about half as much in taxes as everyone else. So why do we let them? Simple: because they have better lobbyists than us. But it doesn’t have to be this way. History tells us that we can actually win this fight. When the income tax was first proposed, they predicted catastrophe. Same arguments, same “bullshit bingo” we hear today – and democracy still prevailed. It can again. That’s why I’m excited to team up with Gabriel Zucman to ensure it does.

Billionaires pay about half as much in taxes as everyone else. So why do we let them? Simple: because they have better lobbyists than us. But it doesn’t have to be this way. History tells us that we can actually win this fight. When the income tax was first proposed, they predicted catastrophe. Same arguments, same “bullshit bingo” we hear today – and democracy still prevailed. It can again. That’s why I’m excited to team up with Gabriel Zucman to ensure it does.

25,245 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

If I had to pick a website that changed my worldview, it would be Our World in Data. We live in an era where the headlines are filled with negativity: the loudest voices paint a picture of decline, crisis and chaos. But what if we took a step back? (1/5)

If I had to pick a website that changed my worldview, it would be Our World in Data. We live in an era where the headlines are filled with negativity: the loudest voices paint a picture of decline, crisis and chaos. But what if we took a step back? (1/5)

52,696 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

1/ The biggest problem in today's world? It's not climate change, pandemics, or democratic collapse. It's that too many brilliant minds are stuck in boring corporate jobs, instead of working on those problems.

1/ The biggest problem in today's world? It's not climate change, pandemics, or democratic collapse. It's that too many brilliant minds are stuck in boring corporate jobs, instead of working on those problems.

13,972 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

We pay people to quit their jobs, and start fighting the world’s biggest problems instead. Not someday. Not later. Now’s the time. Already, 20+ people across Europe have made the leap. Because the truth is: The world doesn’t just need more brilliant minds. It needs brilliant minds on the right side of history. 📢 EU Fellowship applications close May 12th. 🌎 Global (including U.S.) applications are now open and close soon.

We pay people to quit their jobs, and start fighting the world’s biggest problems instead. Not someday. Not later. Now’s the time. Already, 20+ people across Europe have made the leap. Because the truth is: The world doesn’t just need more brilliant minds. It needs brilliant minds on the right side of history. 📢 EU Fellowship applications close May 12th. 🌎 Global (including U.S.) applications are now open and close soon.

32,348 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr