Humanity is a thoroughly “gregarious species,” as Marx had it, with a distinctly moral bent.Īll of this also invokes the ominous question first raised by the philosopher Epicurus: unde malum - or, whence evil? To counter this threat, Bregman introduces us to the concept of the “nocebo.” A variation on the familiar placebo effect, he talks about a “massive psychogenic illness” that convinces us of our own evil, a civilizing fairy-tale that takes us mentally hostage and closes off our imagination. This desire consists of the “basic communism” that humans practice on a daily basis with friends and family, at home and at school. Humans excel at gentleness in comparison to other primates it is not our desire for competition but cooperation that explains our biological advantage. In Bregman’s view, homo sapiens did not overcome their rivals with bloodlust, tact, or wantonness, but rather through the gift of cooperation: the crux of a “homo puppy”-theory. “Precisely when bombs fall from the sky or dikes break,” Bregman proclaims, “the best things come out in humans.” See the joint Christmas celebrations of 1914, or the spontaneous solidarity after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.Īn evolutionary basis can be tracked down for each of these traits. #Rutger bregman humankind crack#Such a theory presents civilisation as nothing but a small layer prone to crack after slightest external disturbance, “a thin crust on the swirling magma of human nature.” Humankind provides an able refutation of this theory. One of Bregman’s main targets in this theodicy is the so-called “varnish theory” of human development. In his own, roundabout way, Bregman here offers what one might term a “secular theodicy”: proof of the ultimate kindness of our human world, even if that kindness often appears painfully absent to us. The population of Easter Island, in turn, was never cannibalistic, but rather peacefully pastoral. Rather, they took part in the German war effort craving a shared sense of camaraderie. Neither did German soldiers fight enthusiastically for Nazism from 1940 to 1945. Boys stranded on an Australian island began working together instead of killing each other. Lord of the Flies might be a captivating novel, but its anthropological hypothesis hardly bears out in reality. More strongly, the idea that we are evil by nature, Bregman claims, has become one of the most harmful myths of our time - a “life-threatening fiction.”Īn intimidating mountain of evidence is mobilized to disprove this myth. In Bregman’s view, man’s innate goodness has become a neglected fact, obscured by centuries of philosophy solidified into common-sense. Like previous books, Bregman’s latest is a passionate plea for a radical revision of our view of mankind and a call to collective behavioral change. Starting with his 2017 Utopia for Realists - preceded by a flurry of publications in Dutch - the Dutchman has morphed into something of an intellectual superstar, planting conceptual seed bombs which blossom into further debates in Dutch and English, from basic income, the idea of progress ( Geschiedenis van de vooruitgang ), or our received notions of inequality ( Waarom vuilnismannen meer verdienen dan bankiers ). “The Dutch historian who savaged the Davos elite,” the Guardian’s headline ran a couple of days later.īregman indeed has a penchant for political grenade-throwing. “Taxes!” he proclaimed, “that’s what we need to talk about! I feel like a firefighter at a conference on fire extinguishing techniques who is not allowed to pronounce the word ‘water.’ Taxes, we need to talk about taxes!”īregman’s statement ended up on Twitter, views skyrocketed and suddenly the Dutch thought leader found himself trolling conservatives on Fox News, so angering Tucker Carlson that the latter refused to air an interview with him (it was packed with expletives). Two Davoses ago, we saw Bregman in a panel at the Swiss forum talking on the subject of taxation. In December 2018, Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch was photographed at a Caribbean beach with Bregman’s Utopia for Realists in his hands. His books are on display at airports from Frankfurt to Shanghai. Rutger Bregman is one of the most prolific intellectuals of our age. A review of Rutger Bergman’s Humankind : A Hopeful History (Bloomsbury, 2020).
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