# End State: 9 Ways Society is Broken – and how we can fix it

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/end-state-9-ways-society-is-broken-and-how-we-can-fix-it/
- Published: 2022-05-19T14:33:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**_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.**

 * 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.
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.

![End State - publisher's promotion. Society is broken. How do we fix it?](https://
wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2022/08/end-state-james-plunkett-publisher-promotion.
jpg)

## Reviews

A Guardian political book of the year.

“End State is absolutely superb. If you’re looking for a book that is honest about
the problems of the future but leaves you hopeful about solutions, then this is 
it”
**Jon Richardson**

“Insightful and revealing: a brilliant exploration of how ideas currently on the
edge of politics could move into the mainstream” 
**_Danny Dorling, _author of_ 
SLOWDOWN_**