Rutger is a historian and author. He has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics, including “Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World” and “Humankind”. His work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian and the BBC. Rutger has been described by The Guardian as the “Dutch wunderkind of new ideas” and by TED Talks as “one of Europe’s most prominent young thinkers”. His TED Talk, “Poverty Isn’t a Lack of Character; It’s a Lack of Cash”, was chosen by TED curator Chris Anderson as one of the top ten of 2017.
Rutger was brought up in a Christian family but is now an atheist and seems to have a naturalistic worldview. He is either vegetarian or vegan, implying he’s at least moving towards a sentiocentric moral scope.