What is Abundance?
"Abundance envisions a future defined by more government effectiveness, more technological progress, and more enabling infrastructure. But we have to choose this path."
What It’s About
Derek Kaufman, founder of Inclusive Abundance, defines abundance as an ideological antidote and practical strategy for fighting “self-imposed scarcity.” He acknowledges America’s continued economic dynamism while pointing out how this scarcity blocks further progress and erodes people’s expectations of the future. This scarcity can be reversed by new, nonpartisan coalitions.
Upshot
Kaufman’s piece clarifies that:
- Scarcity Is Self-Imposed: Kaufman cites antiquated government systems, misguided economic narratives, zero-sum thinking, polarization, and red tape as the key factors behind scarcity
- Institutions Must Innovate: By updating government to be as dynamic as the times, we can strengthen public trust in it
- It’s Time to Build: Removing regulatory barriers will enable development of needed housing, energy, and transportation
Why It Matters
Kaufman's analysis defines the word at the heart of the movement: abundance. He also articulates Inclusive Abundance’s role in the solution, namely supporting an ecosystem of allies who are working to shape and promote abundance as an approach to policymaking.
Who Wrote It
Derek Kaufman is the founder and CEO of the Inclusive Abundance Initiative.
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What is Abundance?
Inclusive Abundance is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization bringing together policy experts, public officials, business leaders, and philanthropists to learn about, define, and implement solutions that combat self-imposed scarcity, with a particular focus on building more housing, investing in clean energy, encouraging innovation, and making government work better for everyone.
America has long been a beacon of ingenuity and Abundance. We are the wealthiest country in the world, accounting for more than 25% of the global economy. America’s inflation-adjusted output per person has increased by 20% since before the Great Financial Crisis. Tight labor markets are helping those in the lowest income brackets make significant wage gains. Innovation has unlocked advances that would have seemed like magic a generation ago. We are now closer to making the American Dream a reality for everyone.
Yet many are convinced our future will be defined by less, due to rising costs, social and economic divisions, and frustratingly outdated systems everywhere we look. We viscerally experienced scarcity during the pandemic, when fragile supply chains made it difficult to buy everything from toilet paper to computer chips. Housing shortages led to skyrocketing rents, and enrollment systems for social safety net programs collapsed under a crush of applications.
Much of this scarcity is self-imposed and driven by antiquated government systems that can’t handle modern demands, misguided narratives that suggest economic growth is incompatible with sustainability, zero-sum thinking that implies when someone in America wins, someone else must lose, political divisiveness that fuels distrust and civic disengagement, and red tape that makes it challenging and costly to innovate and build. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Inclusive Abundance envisions a different approach. We represent a dynamic community of doers who want to fight against scarcity and get back to accomplishing big things. By identifying shared priorities, supporting impactful ideas, and collaborating across ideological divides, we can realize data-driven solutions that create a more vibrant future with broadly shared prosperity.
Abundance strengthens our institutions — the backbone of a thriving and inclusive nation. By embracing reform and innovation, we can help institutions better serve their constituents, strengthen public trust, and encourage greater civic participation.
Abundance invests in our built environments – the foundations of economic and social development. By lowering regulatory burdens and leveraging creativity and technology, we can build the next-generation energy, housing, and transportation infrastructure needed to improve our quality of life.
Abundance envisions a future defined by more government effectiveness, more technological progress, and more enabling infrastructure. But we have to choose this path.
Inclusive Abundance supports an ecosystem of allies that works together to conduct new research, build coalitions for action, and ultimately change how we approach public policy in America. We know this won’t be easy. But by harnessing the optimism and ideological diversity of the emerging Abundance movement and relentlessly pursuing change, we can overcome scarcity. Join us!
- Read about abundance policies in our library
- Get to know some leading Abundance Innovators
- Learn more about institutions doing great work in the space
