This was a pretty big let down for me, I wanted to feel inspired and excited by the thinking in this book. Their thesis is very thin and feels more like two guys lecturing the reader on all that is wrong than actually providing a vision for a world of abundance instead of scarcity. Mostly it is a few essays expanded and tacked together, which is a bummer because we could use real rigorous thinking about how to create better futures and systems. The writing is good but the arguments are lacking.

For a book about political paradigms, this was great. Klein and Thompson set out to paint their theory of abundance across many sectors (housing, immigration, climate change, innovation) at a time when the political right had laid its bets on a message of scarcity and the fear of it. They argue that by the government should serve the role of creating abundance where it's needed, but should do so by knowing how to be involved and where to get out of the way.

The authors trace the origins of some of the biggest challenges our government and politics face today, such as the housing shortage, difficulty in building, climate change and expediting clean energy, immigration and worker shortages, innovation hampered by bureaucracy and huge price tags. What they find is that the blame can often be laid at the feet of Democrats and liberals because actions taken decades ago to address decades-old problems have morphed into different beasts entirely.

In a very readable and engaging way, they explain how complex parts of our society interface with government and what the challenges are. As a Democrat, I found this to be illuminating and this book gave me more perspective on why Republicans and the conservative right are frustrated with government today. There are many examples of spending too much with too little to show for it. But, the authors argue, it doesn't have to be that way, and in fact we have many examples of the American government achieving incredible things in nimble and innovative ways that benefit society and Americans, and even citizens abroad.

This book gave me a bigger and deeper perspective of the American political landscape today, and helped me better understand how the government functions in certain sectors. There's a lot of room for improvement, but there's also abundant potential and ultimately the book left me feeling hopeful.

Although this is a book that talks a lot about government and politics, it's not just for readers who are Democrat. The authors mostly focus on thoughtful criticism of Democrats, and praise Republicans where praise is due. I would recommend this book to anyone who follows politics and enjoys thoughtful explorations of politics and government. I would especially recommend it to Democrats who feel outraged about the actions of the new administration. This book does not justify their actions, but I do think it helps give perspective to why we might have ended up here. Importantly, it offers a different vision of the future. I would love to think that this book will end up in the right hands of people with the power to implement many of the ideas in this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book for review.