Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There

“We are living in an age of biblical prophecies come true. What would have seemed miraculous in the Middle Ages is now commonplace: the blind restored to sight, cripples who walk, and the dead returned to life.”

People have become so accustomed to modern technological developments that they easily forget how miraculous these developments are. The most major developments have been in the field of medicine, which has significantly lengthened lifespans even for the poor. Illness can still wreak havoc; the COVID-19 pandemic exemplified this, but modern science developed an effective vaccine in less than a year. Earlier peoples could only pray for such good fortune.

“The real crisis of our times, of my generation, is not that we don’t have it good, or even that we might be worse off later on. No, the real crisis is that we can’t come up with anything better.”

Rutger Bregman refers to Francis Fukuyama’s conception of the “end of history,” which is not literally an end to historical development but rather an end to meaningful ideological debate, if all the important questions have presumably been answered. Fukuyama notes that such an era would be a “very sad time” since there would be no need to take great risks or do anything other than maintain a presumably perfect system.

“We need a new lodestar, a new map of the world that once again includes a distant, uncharted continent—‘Utopia.’ By this I don’t mean the rigid blueprints that utopian fanatics try to shove down our throats with their theocracies or their five-year plans […] what we need are alternative horizons that spark the imagination.”

Bregman clarifies that by “utopia,” he does not mean a template for a perfect society, but rather an attitude of refusing to take present realities for granted and instead envisioning a very different future—without losing sight of the practical difficulties associated with achieving it. Belief in the potential for improvement is more important than any specific idea coming to fruition.