Name: Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash
Uploaded: 2017-05-22T15:06:14Z
Duration: 14 min 48 s
Description: "Ideas can and do change the world," says historian Rutger Bregman, sharing his case for a provocative one: guaranteed basic income. Learn more about the idea's 500-year history and a forgotten modern experiment where it actually worked -- and imagine how much energy and talent we would unleash if we got rid of poverty once and for all.

"Ideas can and do change the world," says historian Rutger Bregman, sharing his case for a provocative one: guaranteed basic income. Learn more about the idea's 500-year history and a forgotten modern experiment where it actually worked -- and imagine how much energy and talent we would unleash if we got rid of poverty once and for all.

Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash

Poverty traps people in a scarcity mindset that can lower IQ as much as a night without sleep, causing short-term decisions that outsiders misread as personal failings. Decades of evidence, including a landmark experiment in Dauphin, Canada, show that giving people a guaranteed basic income makes them healthier, smarter, and more secure—without discouraging work. Rather than blaming the poor or offering small nudges, providing unconditional cash addresses the true root of poverty and unlocks human potential. The data suggests that ending poverty is far more affordable and transformative than most believe.

Eradicating Poverty Starts With Cash, Not Character Fixes

*Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World*

"Living under scarcity"

capitalism

economics

policy

resources

society

social change

money

work

equality

TED Stage Talk

Rutger Bregman: Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash