Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman

This is an amazing book: a terrifying catalogue of human ills, a list of inspiring stories about the astonishing amount of good some people have been able to achieve in the world, and a call to action for the morally ambitious.

Radical social change can take time. Though not all of the morally ambitious people described in the book lived to see the achievement of their lofty goals, some did.

Perhaps the most astonishing tale is that of Thomas Clarkson. As a young student at Cambridge, he began his journey toward getting slavery abolished by writing a Latin essay for a contest. In June 1840, 5000 people came to London from around the world to attend the first international antislavery convention. They were there to celebrate the fact that after fifty years of struggle, slavery had been abolished across the British Empire.

Clarkson was there to see the fruits of 50 years of struggle, elderly now, the last man alive of the twelve who originated the Society for the Abolition of the Slave trade.

The movement for women’s rights soon followed. In the past couple of centuries, we have continued to expand our circles of concern. It is urgent work in our time, says Bregman, to expand our circles of moral concern beyond our loved ones, our friends, relatives and countrymen to all people on earth and all animals as well.

Unlike Thomas Jefferson, who owned six hundred slaves including some who were his children or John Locke, who decried slavery in print while investing large sums into the slave trade, Bregman has put his ideas into practice. Along with others, he has established The School for Moral Ambition, Anyone in the world can join and Bregman is putting all the money earned by his book into that non-profit organization. Currently it has 19,000 members in 130 countries.