If we assume the best in people, we can radically redesign our democracy and welfare states.
Rutger BregmanRead
So I think that good journalism helps you to zoom out, to focus on the structural forces that govern our lives. And I think that good journalism is also not only about the problems, but also about the solutions, and the people who are working on these solutions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Good journalism provides a broader perspective on societal issues and highlights both challenges and solutions.
In this quote, Rutger Bregman emphasizes the role of journalism as not merely a tool for reporting problems but as a means to gain a deeper understanding of the systemic forces that shape human existence. It advocates for journalism that not only identifies issues but also tells the stories of those actively seeking solutions, thereby encouraging a more informed and engaged public.
Themes
JournalismSolutionsIssuesSocietyReportingAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of media literacy, one might use this quote to highlight the positive role of journalism in society.
More from Rutger Bregman
All quotes →Since long workdays lead to more errors, shorter workdays could reduce accidents. Overtime is deadly. Tired surgeons have been found to be more prone to slip'ups, and soldiers who get too little shuteye are more prone to miss targets.
Rutger BregmanRead
My hope is that the corona crisis will help bring us into a new age of cooperation and solidarity and a realization that we're in this together.
Rutger BregmanRead
This is what a crisis does: It makes you question the status quo. That doesn't mean that after a crisis we move into some kind of utopia. But it is an opportunity for political change.
Rutger BregmanRead
While it won't solve all the world's ills - and ideas such as a rent cap and more social housing are necessary in places where housing is scarce - a basic income would work like venture capital for the people.
Rutger BregmanRead
Believing in the good of humanity is a revolutionary act - it means that we don't need all those managers and CEO's, kings and generals. That we can trust people to govern themselves and make their own decisions.
Rutger BregmanRead
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[I]f the writer does his job right, what he basically does is remind the reader of how smart the reader is.
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I simply want to celebrate the fact that right near your home, year in and year out, a community college is quietly - and with very little financial encouragement - saving lives and minds. I can’t think of a more efficient, hopeful or egalitarian machine, with the possible exception of the bicycle.
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It's extraordinary to think that if you walked into a room and said you had never heard of Hamlet, you would be regarded as a Philistine. But you could walk into the same room and say, 'I don't know what a proton is,' and people would just laugh and say, 'Why should you know?'
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We read to find out what the world is like, to experience lots of lives, not just the one we live. If it is true that our lives are chaotic and we crave a shape, stories are the shapes that we put on experience, containing all the wisdom in the world. We can even choose what kind of wisdom suits us.
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School has become the world religion of a modernized proletariat, and makes futile promises of salvation to the poor of the technological age.
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