Let’s Make The World Wildly Better: Rutger Bregman On Moral Ambition

When I study the great moral pioneers of the past, I don't read biographies of people who were very relaxed. They were working their ass off. We think that follow your passion is probably the worst career advice ever invented in the history of humanity. Let's not just check our privilege, let's use it. to make a massive difference.

If you can achieve your goals in your own lifetime, then I think you're not thinking big enough. And this is a movement that's way bigger than us. So we're in the midst of the holiday season and So many of us are trying to get our heads around what we're going to do differently in 2026. And in thinking about this, I think what I want to do is offer you something to think about, something I've said many times before, but bears repeating around this time of year.

And that is this. We are all far more capable than we permit ourselves to believe. Each and every one of us is in possession of a reservoir of potential we've barely begun to tap, that is just begging to be expressed into reality. And I say this as somebody for whom hopefulness comes hard. I am hardwired to dismiss these kinds of optimistic proclamations as pretty much nothing more than pure Pollyanna drivel.

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