Rutger Bregman: There is Hope for the Human Race (2020 Event)

‘Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of
affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again
touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our
nature.’ So said Abraham Lincoln in one of his rousing speeches,
but it is a sentiment that could come straight out of the
playbook of popular Dutch historian Rutger Bregman.


Bregman's compelling ‘hopeful history,’ Humankind, is a bracingly
optimistic account of human nature. Essentially, in his view, the
vast majority of people are pretty decent. He contrasts this idea
with biologist Frans de Waal’s ‘veneer theory’ which posits that
beneath a thin skin of human decency, there’s a savage waiting to
burst forth.


Superbly readable and full of fascinating evidence, Bregman’s
book also looks at how his optimistic analysis of human nature
could play out in policy terms. Hyper-local participatory
democracy? Schools with little or no curriculum? A change to the
tough treatment of people serving time in prisons? In this event
recorded live at the 2020 Book Festival,  Bregman shares his
invigorating thesis with Lee Randall.