1. Rutger Christiaan Bregman was born on 26 April 1988 and is a Dutch popular historian and author.
23 Facts About Rutger Bregman
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Rutger Bregman has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics, including Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World, which has been translated into thirty-two languages.
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Rutger Bregman's work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian and the BBC.
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Rutger Bregman has been described by The Guardian as the "Dutch wunderkind of new ideas" and by TED Talks as "one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers".
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Rutger Bregman's TED Talk, "Poverty Isn't a Lack of Character; It's a Lack of Cash", was chosen by TED curator Chris Anderson as one of the top ten of 2017.
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Rutger Bregman's father is a Protestant minister, while his mother is a special needs teacher.
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Rutger Bregman earned his Bachelor of Arts in history at Utrecht University in 2009.
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Rutger Bregman earned his Master of Arts in history in 2012, partly at Utrecht and partly at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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Rutger Bregman was a member of Christian student association SSR-NU.
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Rutger Bregman writes regularly for the online journal De Correspondent, and was twice nominated for the European Press Prize for his work there.
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Rutger Bregman's articles have been published in The Guardian, The Washington Post, Evonomics, and The Conversation.
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In September 2019, Rutger Bregman published Humankind: A Hopeful History, where he argues that humans are fundamentally mostly decent, and that more recognition of this view would likely be beneficial to everyone, partly as it would reduce excessive cynicism.
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Rutger Bregman's arguments include the assertion that in the state of nature debate, Rousseau, rather than Hobbes, was more correct about humanity's essential goodness.
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In January 2019, Rutger Bregman took part in a panel debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he criticised the event for its focus on philanthropy rather than tax avoidance and the need for fair taxation.
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Rutger Bregman's intervention was widely reported and followed on social media.
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Rutger Bregman told Carlson that the United States "could easily crack down on tax paradises" if they wanted to and that Fox News would not cover stories about tax evasion by the wealthy.
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Rutger Bregman said that Carlson himself had been taking "dirty money" for years from the CATO Institute where he was senior fellow and which is "funded by Koch billionaires", Charles Koch and David Koch.
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Rutger Bregman said that Carlson and other Fox News anchors are "millionaires paid by billionaires", referring to the Murdochs and, in Carlson's case, the Koch brothers.
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Rutger Bregman told Carlson that "what the Murdochs want you to do [on Fox News] is scapegoat immigrants instead of talking about tax avoidance".
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Carlson later apologized for using profane language, but declared his comments towards Rutger Bregman were "genuinely heartfelt".
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The major themes of Rutger Bregman's works include universal basic income, the workweek and open borders.
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Rutger Bregman approvingly cites a 1968 US proposal for a guaranteed minimum income, put forward by President Richard Nixon, among others.
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Rutger Bregman was influenced by his mother to become vegan.