Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman
“Your behaviour is contagious, so a better world does indeed begin with you.”
3 Main Messages:
We can all make a little difference but some of us can make a big difference.
What are we currently accepting as normal that will horrify future generations?
The goal of life is not to be happy, but to be purposeful.
This is a book that has changed me.
I have to be honest and say that it was an inspiring but also an uncomfortable read: necessary in order to face some harsh truths.
Bretger writes about the importance of living a life where we are on the right side of history, where we take a good look at how we are currently living and ask ourselves “what practices of ours will future generations think barbaric.” Then we need to consider what we do about that.
For me, as someone who struggles to eat meat that actually looks like an animal (don’t get me started on drumsticks, wings and chicken feet) I was shocked to read that over 200 million land animals are slaughtered every day. On a recent trip to Kazakhstan I baulked at the idea of eating horse (a delicacy and common meal there), yet I currently don’t think twice about eating pork or beef.
According to a scant google search I found that nearly 25% of the world’s population is already vegetarian, perhaps with me soon joining their numbers. Is this eating meat something that will horrify future generations?
But this book is about much more than simple life choices. He identifies many people who have lived their lives in service of future generations and who have applied their time, talents and personal funds to making the world a better place. As he writes: “There are millions of people around the world who could help make the world a better place but don’t.” Not yet.
I was shocked by many of the facts and stories referenced in the book and the potential impact that one person can have. Take Ralph Nader, for example, who set up his ‘Radical Nerds’ group and pushed for many changes, such as the Clean Air Act, and the law enforcement of using seatbelts, saving an estimated 3.5 million lives.
There is also the story of Rob Mather who began the World Swim Against Malaria, saving many millions of lives through funding and sending over 300 million mosquito nets, and Holden Karnofsky who started the Give Well group which makes it easier for people to find the most effective charities to support. Also mentioned are Arnold Douwes who led the Dutch Resistance and Katharine McCormick who funded research and distribution of The Pill, as well as many others who saw an issue and looked to solve it.
Bregman focuses a lot on the history of slavery and the path of the abolitionists. I was again horrified to read that, before 1800, 75% of the world’s population were serfs or enslaved. Even leading and respected figures sported practices unthinkable today. For example George Washington had nine rotten teeth replaced with nine teeth pulled from the mouths of slaves!
Despite what the news keeps telling us, for the majority of people on earth, living conditions are improving. Granted, not everywhere and not all the time. But as a general trend. Considering half of all children died before adulthood until 1800, we now have inoculations to prevent most diseases, and many of the health conditions which would have killed us 50 years ago are merely an inconvenience today.
What then is possible for the future? What a great question to ask our children. When I was a child, travelling abroad for holidays was unheard of, we never ate mangoes, bananas were considered exotic. We didn’t wear cycling helmets or seatbelts, adults smoked on planes and trains, people would drink and drive, our buildings contained asbestos and our playgrounds were covered with concrete and gravel. Look at where we are now! What needs to change next?
Rather than be pessimistic, this book is a call for action. Bregman asks us to have a dream, to see where there are needs which would transform the world and look to be the people who make the change. If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
