Mistermix wrote about Ezra Klein’s “abundance agenda” here. Reader Tam R sent me a dissenting view, posted here with her permission:
Right now the energy among activists is with the left - DSA, Sanders, AOC, etc but I think the country has actually shifted right and is more moderate. Harris outperformed Sanders in Vermont.
I think some of that rightward shift is the perception that Democrats are more focused on social issues and less on economic issues.
The pollster / economist Josh Doss has been saying for a long time that voters, especially younger voters, define the economy differently. Housing is the most significant. He did in depth videos about why the economy was technically booming if you look at GDP and other indicators but polling was showing that large majorities thought we were in a recession. Wages, although up from several years ago, didn’t keep pace with higher costs and housing costs. I’m predicting that the rising cost of electricity service is going to become more of a factor especially with so many foreign companies and cross border production issues. I get my heating oil and electricity from Canada.
We have to figure out how to fast track the implementation of the infrastructure and other stimulus bills we pass so people experience the benefits and associate them with us.
The example Klein uses is Shapiro getting the highway rebuilt in record time. That has to become the norm and not an extraordinary occurrence.
I think we are all going to have to get comfortable with the personalities and ideas that are part of our coalition. I think AOC is a great communicator even as she hasn’t been a great legislator in terms of bills passed. I’ve never been a fan of Sanders for more personality and process reasons but I support whoever has the courage to step forward at this point. We are going to have to let go of a lot of old conflicts.
Bolding at the end there is mine, and I’ll start there. Agreed. I too think we have to let go of a lot of old conflicts. Like it or not, Democrats are a coalition and we are a diverse coalition- on race, on income, on geography and, yes, also on ideology. So although technocratic centrists like Klein are not my flavor of Democrats I don’t want to live in a bubble. I’m on the Left side of the coalition but the Center and Right side also exist and, well, we need them. Too, I was one of the people Tam R is complaining about – I minimized the persistent problems with the Biden economy and ignored housing, and that was delusional. If people can’t afford housing, nothing else works.
So, on to the Abundance Agenda!
While partisans may argue about whether we need more government (liberals) or less government (conservatives), Klein and Thompson stake their ground on the need for better government. Promising truly effective government, they believe, will strengthen a liberalism that has accepted dangerous levels of dysfunction in day-to-day operations, which has made it difficult for fellow Americans to see why market-based solutions are not superior.
Decades of public policies that liberals enacted in the 1950s and 1960s, Klein and Thompson observe, saddled government with multiple layers of regulations, rules, mandates, and paperwork, all of which have since made it nearly impossible to accomplish key objectives. As demand has increased for many social goods, such as reasonably priced homes, clean energy, education, and medicine, the government has failed to supply. Liberals keep throwing money at the problem, but the authors believe that the money is not being well spent. As a result, we have a supply crisis that raises prices because we don’t have enough of what we need: “The problem we faced in the 1970s was that we were building too much and too heedlessly. The problem we face in the 2020s is that we are building too little, and we are too often paralyzed by process.”
I can live with the abundance agenda. If loosening land use regs boosts housing affordability for young people then, sure, I’ll come to the table and bargain. Not just “young people” either. In my law practice I encounter a lot of low-income senior citizens who ALSO cannot afford housing. A developer tried to address this by proposing an apartment complex dedicated to lower income, over 55, and local landowners shot it down because it was “too close” to a fancy Mini mansion development called “GreyStone”. Ugh. I’m in a fancy-lady book club with some of the NIMBYS who opposed the senior housing development and let me assure you it was all “I got mine, screw you”.
The abundance agenda can coexist with liberal priorities on progressive taxation, civil rights, anti trust, and a strong (and public) social safety net.
One final thought. I listened to two podcasts interviewing Klein and Thompson. They both complained several times in the interviews that “the Left” (they mean liberals and Leftists) doesn’t engage in enough self-reflection and critical analysis of their beliefs and policy prescriptions. Okay. I think that’s probably true. Guilty as charged. Now let’s talk about how technocratic centrists like Klein and Thompson never question the outcomes of technocratic centrist “solutions” that are huge failures. Pot, kettle, in other words.
As an example I would point to “ed reform”. Ohio has adopted each and every technocratic centrist ed reform gimmick that came down the pike. It’s been a fucking unmitigated disaster. We’ve dropped from 7th in the country in public education to 27th. The whole state is lousy with vouchers and charter schools and online edtech garbage and not only has ed reform not “improved” public education, it will likely destroy public education. I’m willing to examine my priors. Are centrists? Because they have some explaining to do too.
*As an aside – I want to encourage dissent and I know mistermix does too. I want you all to feel free to disagree, on anything. If you are uncomfortable disagreeing in the comments email me and I’ll post your dissent while protecting your identity AND/OR have your back if you go public with a good faith dissent.
