Derek Thompson

I think the politics of abundance meets this moment somewhat perfectly. I think when you look at the economic agenda of Donald Trump, or maybe let's be more accurately said, the personality of Donald Trump, which is manifesting itself in what appears to be some kind of economic policy, it is just one example of scarcity after another. I mean, this man...

I think the politics of abundance meets this moment somewhat perfectly. I think when you look at the economic agenda of Donald Trump, or maybe let's be more accurately said, the personality of Donald Trump, which is manifesting itself in what appears to be some kind of economic policy, it is just one example of scarcity after another. I mean, this man...

does not believe in the concept of a positive-sum interaction at all. He doesn't believe in the concept of cooperation. I don't think it's any surprise that when you look at his economic agenda, you see him constantly identifying elements of scarcity and then trying to take something else away. He says, we don't have enough manufacturing, so what we need to do is have less trade.

does not believe in the concept of a positive-sum interaction at all. He doesn't believe in the concept of cooperation. I don't think it's any surprise that when you look at his economic agenda, you see him constantly identifying elements of scarcity and then trying to take something else away. He says, we don't have enough manufacturing, so what we need to do is have less trade.

We don't have enough housing, so what we need are fewer immigrants. We don't have enough money. There's really high debts. What we need is less health care for poor people by cutting Medicaid. There's a lot of let's solve this scarcity here by taking away something that America needs. And I think that by juxtaposition, abundance is the exact opposite message. Yes, we don't have enough houses.

We don't have enough housing, so what we need are fewer immigrants. We don't have enough money. There's really high debts. What we need is less health care for poor people by cutting Medicaid. There's a lot of let's solve this scarcity here by taking away something that America needs. And I think that by juxtaposition, abundance is the exact opposite message. Yes, we don't have enough houses.

Let's fucking build more. Yes, we don't have enough manufacturing of some critical goods that are essential to national security. Let's have an explicit policy to encourage their construction in America, not by cutting off trade, but rather by working with our allies, our trading partners, to build an industrial base that can take on the future. So I see that being a very, very close fit.

Let's fucking build more. Yes, we don't have enough manufacturing of some critical goods that are essential to national security. Let's have an explicit policy to encourage their construction in America, not by cutting off trade, but rather by working with our allies, our trading partners, to build an industrial base that can take on the future. So I see that being a very, very close fit.

I also frankly see the way this book sits alongside Doge as being very apt, right? You have right now in government, nominally, a department of government efficiency, but it's basically a department of just slamming government to the ground and then grabbing whatever can be discovered in the ruins for Elon Musk, right?

I also frankly see the way this book sits alongside Doge as being very apt, right? You have right now in government, nominally, a department of government efficiency, but it's basically a department of just slamming government to the ground and then grabbing whatever can be discovered in the ruins for Elon Musk, right?

So I think by contrast, we're talking about a vision of government efficiency that is very explicit. going into specific programs, whether it's the CHIPS and Science Act, high-speed rail in California, and saying, this is how government isn't achieving its ends right now. And if we are going to be the party that believes in government, we have to be the party that makes government work.

So I think by contrast, we're talking about a vision of government efficiency that is very explicit. going into specific programs, whether it's the CHIPS and Science Act, high-speed rail in California, and saying, this is how government isn't achieving its ends right now. And if we are going to be the party that believes in government, we have to be the party that makes government work.

That's a true department of government efficiency. And then the last thing I guess I would say is, you know, the book is... very detailed about how government fails and how to make government better.

That's a true department of government efficiency. And then the last thing I guess I would say is, you know, the book is... very detailed about how government fails and how to make government better.

But to your point about speech writing and meeting people in the moment at the level of meme and vibes and emotions, I also think that toward the end in our conclusion, we have this history that we tell about political orders, about how America's changed in the last 100 years with a New Deal order that rose between the 1930s and the 1960s and a neoliberal order that was overseen by Ronald Reagan.

But to your point about speech writing and meeting people in the moment at the level of meme and vibes and emotions, I also think that toward the end in our conclusion, we have this history that we tell about political orders, about how America's changed in the last 100 years with a New Deal order that rose between the 1930s and the 1960s and a neoliberal order that was overseen by Ronald Reagan.

And one thought that I had as I was sort of thinking about these two big political orders that have defined American history in the last century is that each one defined freedom for its own time. You know, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, you know, he talked about the four freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of belief, from want, from fear. And then Ronald Reagan redefined freedom in the 1980s.

And one thought that I had as I was sort of thinking about these two big political orders that have defined American history in the last century is that each one defined freedom for its own time. You know, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, you know, he talked about the four freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of belief, from want, from fear. And then Ronald Reagan redefined freedom in the 1980s.

Freedom didn't mean a kind of positive freedom. It was about freedom from the government. I do think that it's not too cheap to say that successful political movements often succeed by defining freedom in the terms that the age demands.

Freedom didn't mean a kind of positive freedom. It was about freedom from the government. I do think that it's not too cheap to say that successful political movements often succeed by defining freedom in the terms that the age demands.