Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
I didn’t want to put it down!!! Yes, really, Rutger Bregman’s new book, Humankind: A Hopeful History, is that good.
It’s a book about a simple but radical idea. That people are fundamentally good. And scientists from an array of different fields, including history, sociology, and evolutionary biology, have recently come to the same conclusion. People are hard-wired to be friendly and to cooperate.
If we keep thinking that people are just shellfish then we need all these, the presidents, the bureaucrats and the generals and the CEOs in power to keep each other in check. They need us not to trust each other in order to legitimise their power, to keep us in control.
But if we move from the view that humans are innately shellfish, to a more hopeful, more realistic view of human nature, it could change everything, argues Bregman. If we start trusting each other, if we stand up for human goodness, then we take a stand against the powers that be. For the powerful, a hopeful view of human nature is downright threatening. Subversive. It implies that we’re not selfish beasts that need to be reined in, restrained and regulated. It implies that we need a different kind of leadership. It implies a more egalitarian society, a democracy with engaged citizens that has no need of career politicians or generals.
An excellent, hopeful book, that shows that in order to survive and thrive, we need friendliness and cooperation.