Rutger Bregman
Historian | Author of ‘Utopia for Realists’ (2014), ‘Humankind’ (2020) and ‘Moral Ambition’ (2025) | Co-founder of The School for Moral Ambition | moralambition.org | rutgerbregman.com
- One of the most effective things you can do right now to fight Trump and ICE is to cancel your ChatGPT subscription.
- 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.
- Finally. A voice for the voiceless.
- ICE's $100M ad campaign is using the same playbook as the Gestapo & Stasi. The goal? To make repression sound reasonable and patriotic.
- We’re hiring a marketing specialist at the School for Moral Ambition (NYC). If you’re a marketer who wants to work on something meaningful with a small team, this might be for you.
- We think of wars as the pinnacle of human violence. The numbers tell a different story. Every year, humans slaughter around 80 billion animals. That's more suffering than all wars combined.
- Rome didn’t fall overnight. It rotted in public first. Tell me this all doesn’t sound too familiar…
- Sometimes you get a few minutes on live TV with a billionaire. I tried to make them count! 😅
- 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 💰
- For most of history, progress was a flat line. Then everything took off like a rocket. The only question now: does this story end in liftoff... or collapse? A short excerpt from the incredible video The Market Exit made - one of my favorite interviews. Check it out: www.youtube.com/@TheMarketExit
- In 1935, a publisher named Allen Lane walked into a train station and asked a radical question: “Why shouldn’t a great book cost as little as a pack of cigarettes?” That question led to the paperback revolution. Books in kiosks, corner shops, train stations. Books not for elites, but for everyone.
- 8% of workers perceive their job as socially useless, while another 17% are doubtful about the usefulness of their job. Source: Dur and Van Lent (2019). (And no, these are not all government bureaucrats. In fact, there are three times as many BS-jobs in the private sector as in the public sector.)
- 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.
- Every major movement in history was built by people who didn’t fully agree with each other. If someone’s with you 70–80% of the way, they’re not your enemy, they’re your ally.
- Forget “Follow your passion.” At the School for Moral Ambition, we say: Follow the Gandalf 🧙 Gandalf didn’t ask Frodo about his passions. He said: “Here’s a world-sized problem. You’re the one to fix it.” So… which big, solvable, overlooked problem could you be the unlikely hero for?
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- Factory farming isn't just about animals. It’s also about farmers trapped in crushing debt and contracts they can’t escape. We’re currently building a fellowship to take this system on and only need to raise $8,100 more to reach our fundraising goal! Donate + learn more: moralambition.org/food
- Imagine if serving in government was as prestigious as landing a job at Google. In Finland and Singapore, it basically is. Public service is seen as a privilege, a place where the most ambitious people go to solve the biggest problems. That’s the culture we should be striving for.
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- Something I never understand: why is it so hard for the left to care more about animals?
- This video will probably get fewer likes than my posts on taxing billionaires. That difference says it all. Factory farming only survives if we don’t look. It’s time to hold these companies accountable. Every donation is matched, so $1 becomes $2 through Dec 31, 2025. Donate: MoralAmbition.org/food
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- This video will probably get fewer likes than my posts on taxing billionaires. That difference says it all. Factory farming only survives if we don’t look. It’s time to hold these companies accountable. Every donation is matched, so $1 becomes $2 through Dec 31, 2025. Donate: MoralAmbition.org/food
- The BBC censored my line about Trump's corruption, turned off the comment section, 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: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUJ-...
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- My first Reith Lecture is now out in video form: A Time of Monsters. On moral decay, elite cowardice, and why we need a moral revolution. Watch here 👉 youtube.com/watch?v=fUJ-... (With one tiny edit at 4:28, for those who notice such things 😉)
- Haha, well, I'd say this is a new low in The Spectator's coverage of my Reith Lectures. There is so much wrong with the piece that it’s hard to know where to begin, but a few points stand out --> /1
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- What if you could instantly DOUBLE your impact? This Giving Tuesday, every dollar to The School for Moral Ambition’s U.S. Food System Reform Program is matched. We’re raising $100K to launch a fellowship to help end factory farming. Your $1 = $2. moralambition.org/food
- Goodbye planet-wrecking Black Friday, hello world-healing Giving Tuesday! We're raising funds to end factory farming: one of the most polluting industries on earth, responsible for the suffering of billions of animals. Support us now, every donation is doubled! moralambition.org/food
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