Rutger Bregman
@rutgerbregman.com
15K followers 16 following 140 posts
Historian | Author of ‘Utopia for Realists’ (2014), ‘Humankind’ (2020) and ‘Moral Ambition’ (2025) | Co-founder of The School for Moral Ambition | moralambition.org | rutgerbregman.com
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rutgerbregman.com
This is a role for someone who believes career culture *can* change—
and wants to help lead the change.

If that excites you (and maybe scares you a little too) …

We’d love to hear from you.
rutgerbregman.com
You will design and run the entire program, crafting the curriculum, curating mentors, securing internships, managing logistics, and bringing in bold speakers.

You’ll be the Gandalf of the Fellowship: wise, kind, and fiercely committed to helping students live out their ideals.
rutgerbregman.com
We’re launching the Harvard Moral Ambition Fellowship.

Twelve students. One life-changing experience. And we’re hiring a Program Manager to lead it.
rutgerbregman.com
Over the past two years, we’ve run fellowships, campaigns, and events that have helped thousands rethink what success really means.

Now, we’re bringing that mission to one of the most prestigious universities in the world: Harvard.
rutgerbregman.com
(In Europe we started with fighting Big Tobacco and accelerating the transition towards sustainable proteins, we're also building a Food Fellowship in the US + a global Tax Fairness Fellowship - see moralambition.org)
The School for Moral Ambition
Moral ambition redefines success: not by what we accumulate, but by what we contribute. Build a legacy that truly matters. Join the movement.
moralambition.org
rutgerbregman.com
At the organization I co-founded, the School for Moral Ambition, we’re out to change that. We help talented people redirect their ambition toward the greatest challenges of our time.

That's why we like to think of ourselves as The Robin Hoods of Talent 😉
rutgerbregman.com
My friend @S_VanTeutem calls it 'The Bermuda Triangle of Talent': consultancy, finance & corporate law.

A black hole that sucks in so many of our “best and brightest.”
rutgerbregman.com
Take a place like Harvard. Every year, thousands of teenagers apply with essays about ending poverty or saving the planet.

Fast forward a few years… and nearly half go to McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, or Kirkland & Ellis.
rutgerbregman.com
Millions of talented people end up in careers that don’t make the world better. Some even make it worse.
rutgerbregman.com
The biggest problem in the world isn’t climate change, future pandemics, or democratic collapse.

It’s that far too many of our most brilliant minds are working on *everything but* those problems. 🧵
rutgerbregman.com
Millions of talented people end up in careers that don’t make the world better. Some even make it worse.
rutgerbregman.com
And just to note: this is the official death toll, which most experts consider a significant underestimate. The actual number is likely much higher — see, for example, this recent study: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

We're probably talking about 4,000+ 9/11s for Palestinians
First independent survey of deaths in Gaza reports more than 80,000 fatalities
Results align with other efforts to count the number of people killed amid the ongoing conflict.
nature.com
rutgerbregman.com
Defenders of Israels war crimes often remind us that October 7 was the equivalent of twelve 9/11s, and that therefore, Israel had no other choice.

You never hear them do the math for Palestinians, who have now endured the equivalent of at least 2,500 9/11s.
Reposted by Rutger Bregman
patmillsuk.bsky.social
Historian and author @rutgerbregman.com joins the global call to #TaxTheSuperRich.
He insists we can't accept a status quo where the richest keep getting richer while people and planet suffer. Fair taxation of the super rich is essential for a just and inclusive society.
#FFD4 #FfD4People
rutgerbregman.com
If this all sounds too alarmist, good. That means it’s not too late, Smits concludes.

Fascism doesn’t look like it did in the 1930s. It looks like now.

Again; read the full piece here: decorrespondent.nl/16177/this-...
This is fascism
Fascism starts with talk, not tanks. With democratic elections, not a coup. And it takes hold thanks to people who think things won’t move quickly—until they do just that.
decorrespondent.nl
rutgerbregman.com
So what do we do? For one, we stop treating fascists like ordinary politicians. We stop waiting for the “real” crisis.

The crisis is here, fascism is here.
rutgerbregman.com
What happens next?

Historian Robert Paxton warns that fascist regimes do not necessarily settle into stable autocracy. They can spiral. They can radicalize. They can consume themselves, but only after they’ve consumed everything else.
rutgerbregman.com
Trump governs by executive order, he defies court rulings, he hints at an unconstitutional third term. His new campaign merch says: Trump 2028.

This is a stress test of American democracy—and the institutions are breaking.
rutgerbregman.com
Now, what's crucial to remember is that it's not just Trump.

Fascism always relies on collaboration:

Republicans could have expelled him. They didn’t.
Congress could have barred him. It didn’t.
rutgerbregman.com
10) Fascists turn the state into a weapon. The Trump administartion has sanctioned law firms, arrested judges, and sent immigrants to off-the-books prisons.

“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Trump posted.
rutgerbregman.com
9) Fascism pits rural against urban. Cities symbolize degeneracy, while rural life stands for tradition, purity, strength. Trump has for years railed against cities as hotbeds for crime and moral decay.
rutgerbregman.com
8) Fascism always elevates “hardworking citizens” over so-called freeloaders. Trump valorizes miners and soldiers. He fires 121,000 civil servants. He mocks disability and cuts aid.

(Behind the rhetoric, the economic structure doesn’t change. Hence the massive tax cuts for the rich.)
rutgerbregman.com
7) In fascist ideology, gender roles are rigid: men lead and women reproduce. Trump echoes this tradition: attacking gender studies, banning words like “equality,” offering medals to women with more 'American' children.
rutgerbregman.com
6) Fascism casts the dominant group as the true victim. Trump insists the system is rigged—against him, against his followers, against “real” Americans.