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Rutger Bregman Quotes

Rutger C. Bregman is a Dutch historian and author. He 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 twenty languages. The Dutch edition of Utopia for Realists "became a national bestseller and sparked a basic income movement that soon made international headlines." His work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian and the BBC. He 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." His TED Talk, Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash, was listed as one of the top ten of 2017.

✵ 26. April 1988
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Rutger Bregman: 3 quotes0 likes

Famous Rutger Bregman Quotes

“Think back a minute to the definition of a rentier: someone who uses their control over something that already exists in order to increase their own wealth. The feudal lord of medieval times did that by building a tollgate along a road and making everybody who passed by pay. Today’s tech giants are doing basically the same thing, but transposed to the digital highway.”

Rutger Bregman

"No, wealth isn’t created at the top. It is merely devoured there"

“There are two ways of making money. The first is what most of us do: work. That means tapping into our knowledge and know-how (our “human capital” in economic terms) to create something new, whether that’s a takeout app, a wedding cake, a stylish updo, or a perfectly poured pint. To work is to create. Ergo, to work is to create new wealth.But there is also a second way to make money. That’s the rentier way: by leveraging control over something that already exists, such as land, knowledge, or money, to increase your wealth. You produce nothing, yet profit nonetheless. By definition, the rentier makes his living at others’ expense, using his power to claim economic benefit.”

Rutger Bregman

"No, wealth isn’t created at the top. It is merely devoured there"

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