Ezra Klein, a journalist and New York Times columnist, joins Derek Thompson from The Atlantic and author Michael Pollan for a thought-provoking dialogue. They explore the shift from a scarcity to an abundance mindset in politics, particularly after Trump's election. The trio advocates for rediscovering speed in governance to improve efficiency and accountability. They also tackle the housing crisis, urging a balance between community needs and individual interests, while scrutinizing the influence of power on societal progress.
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insights INSIGHT
Abundance Counters Scarcity Politics
Dysfunctional governance fuels right-wing reactionary movements by failing to solve affordability crises.
Presenting a message of abundance contrasts sharply with scarcity solutions and is urgently needed.
insights INSIGHT
Rediscover Speed as Progressive Value
Government has chosen slowness, breaking democratic accountability.
Speed must be rediscovered as a progressive value to maintain effective governance.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Prioritize Speed and Reform Processes
Congress should set clear deadlines and impose financial consequences for unused funds.
Prioritize speed in administration and reform over-extended processes and captured legislation.
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In this book, Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler present a contrarian view that the future is brighter than commonly perceived. They document how exponential technologies, DIY innovators, technophilanthropists, and the rising billion (the world's poor empowered by modern communication technology) are conspiring to solve global problems such as access to clean water, food, energy, healthcare, education, and freedom. The authors provide examples and strategic roadmaps for governments, industries, and entrepreneurs to address these challenges, offering a optimistic outlook on the potential for technological innovation to improve human living standards[2][4][5].
Presented in partnership with Manny's and City Arts & Lectures
As they look upon the United States of America in 02025, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson see a country wrought by a half-century of failed governance. They see states and cities theoretically committed to progressive futures instead bogged down in labyrinthine mires of process and deliberation — a society stuck in low gear. Yet they also see opportunity to turn those failures on their heads, and to build a better society based around more responsive, efficient governance.
This is the vision that animates Abundance, Klein and Thompson’s new book and the focus of their Long Now Talk, hosted by Michael Pollan and co-sponsored with Manny’s and City Arts & Lectures. Despite Long Now’s focus on long-term thinking — of counterbalancing civilization’s pathologically short attention span — there was much to appreciate in Klein and Thompson’s call for American governance to “rediscover speed as a progressive value.” In their wide-ranging discussion, the two authors made the case for a vision of liberalism that builds, both for its own sake and as a bulwark against reactionary right-wing movements that have capitalized on the shortcomings of contemporary progressive politics.
Episode Notes: https://longnow.org/ideas/abundance
Long Now 
