Originally recorded: August 16, 2017.
Originally broadcast: September 10, 2017.
Politicians agree that there is something wrong with the welfare system; they all suggest that we should give less public assistance with stricter rules. But what if they have it backwards? What if the solution is not to limit entitlements’ help but expand them? This is the solution offered by those who advocate for a Universal Basic Income, the government program that gives the poor the money they need to rise above the poverty level, every year, no strings attached. This episode’s guest is one of the most compelling advocates for this position.
Host Jack Russell Weinstein says, “It would be an understatement to say that I was skeptical about this topic, but Rutger turned me around. It is incredibly interesting to see the world in a new way and to fundamentally reconsider the viability of a program one starts of believing to be silly.”.
Rutger Bregman (1988) is a historian and author. He has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics. His History of Progress was awarded the Belgian Liberales prize for best nonfiction book of 2013. The Dutch edition of Utopia for Realists became a national bestseller and sparked a basic income movement that soon made international headlines. The book will be translated in 22 languages. Bregman has twice been nominated for the prestigious European Press Prize for his journalism work at The Correspondent. His work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian and on the BBC.
Click to watch his Ted Talk: “Poverty isn’t a lack of character; it’s a lack of cash.”
His webpage can be found at: https://www.rutgerbregman.com/
Buy his book Utopia for Realists at Amazon.com
This episode was made possible, in part, by a generous donation from William Sheridan of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
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