{"id":53876,"date":"2020-06-26T06:57:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T11:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=53876"},"modified":"2020-06-26T06:57:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T11:57:43","slug":"rob-hopkins-reviews-human-kind-a-hopeful-history-by-rutger-bregman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=53876","title":{"rendered":"Rob Hopkins reviews \u2018Human Kind: A Hopeful History\u2019 by Rutger Bregman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/transitionnetwork.org\/news-and-blog\/human-kind-a-hopeful-history\/?unapproved=1116&amp;moderation-hash=6c416d301f1fba25d59f8cf743bd2650#comment-1116\">Rob Hopkins reviews \u2018Human Kind: A Hopeful History\u2019 by Rutger Bregman<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So many times, in conversations with friends reflecting on things we see happening in the world, someone will say \u201cwell, basically we\u2019re all shit aren\u2019t we?\u201d Or \u201chuman beings are basically vile aren\u2019t they?\u201d Or words to that effect. This belief in a selfish, destructive, greedy, violent core to our being is deeply pervasive and underpins so many of the systems that are proving so damaging to the world. Rutger Bregman\u2019s new book, \u2018<em>Human Kind\u2019<\/em>, turns that toxic nonsense on its head and argues that, in essence, \u201cmost people, deep down, are decent\u201d, and that the world would be a very different place if we were to recognise that. It may be one of the most important books you will ever read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bregman writes, \u201cif we believe most people can\u2019t be trusted, that\u2019s how we\u2019ll treat each other, to everyone\u2019s detriment. Few ideas have as much power to shape the world as our view of other people. Because, ultimately, you get what you expect to get. If we want to tackle the greatest challenges of our times \u2013 from the climate crisis to our growing distrust of one another \u2013 then I think the place we need to start is our view of human nature\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bregman begins by revisiting all of the \u2018scientific\u2019 research and works of fiction that we have been continually told shows that we are, essentially, selfish and horrible, and looks at it with fresh eyes. \u2018<em>Lord of the Flies<\/em>\u2019? Most UK-based readers of this will have studied this book in school, a book that shows how, when left to their own devices, kids turn on each other and act out the worst impulses of adult society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rob Hopkins reviews \u2018Human Kind: A Hopeful History\u2019 by Rutger Bregman So many times, in conversations with friends reflecting on things we see happening in the world, someone will say \u201cwell, basically we\u2019re all shit aren\u2019t we?\u201d Or \u201chuman beings are basically vile aren\u2019t they?\u201d Or words to that effect. This belief in a selfish, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2861,5971,29945,29946,854],"class_list":["post-53876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liberty","tag-distrust","tag-rob-hopkins","tag-rutger-bregman","tag-selfishness","tag-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53877,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53876\/revisions\/53877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}