End State

- Blurb -

Can we reverse the mental health crisis by getting rid of Mondays? Is it time to stop poor people being poor by. . . giving them money? Can we quell the fires of populism by giving young people a say in the future? As the shockwaves of Covid 19 continue to spread, and as the smoke clears from a year of anger and unrest, many people feel forlorn about the future. In End State, James Plunkett argues that this can be a moment not of despair, but of historic opportunity - a chance to rethink, renew, and reform some of the most fundamental ways we organise society. In much the same way as societies emerged stronger from crises in the past - building the state as we know it today - we too can build a happier future. James Plunkett has spent his career thinking laterally about the complicated relationships between individuals and the state. First as an advisor to Gordon Brown, then a leading economic researcher and writer, and then in the charity sector, helping people struggling at the front-line of economic change. James combines a deep understanding of social issues with an appreciation of how change is playing out not in the ivory tower, but in the reality of people' s lives. Now, in his first book, he sets out an optimistic vision, exploring nine ways in which our social settlement can be upgraded to harness the power of the digital age. Covering a dizzying sweep of geography and history, from London' s 18th Century sewage systems to the uneasy inequality of Silicon Valley, it' s a thrilling and iconoclastic account of how society can not only survive, but thrive, in the digital age. End State provides a much-needed map to help us navigate our way over the curious terrain of the twenty-first century.