Talking ‘abundance’ compared to ‘scarcity’ in politics

This week, Chuck Coughlin joins the Think Tank to discuss the idea of "abundance" versus "scarcity" politics, which was presented in a New York Times piece.

BY MIKE O'NEIL/THE THINK TANK

Feb 23, 2018, 4:00 PM

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(AP Photo)

Chuck Coughlin sent me a very thoughtful and provocative article last week. In it, David Brooks suggests that, whether consciously or unconsciously, our politics have evolved from an “abundance” to a “scarcity” mindset.

In the 1990s, he suggested “growth and dynamism are our friends.” With such a worldview we “confident in the future, welcoming towards others” and “win-win” opportunities abound.

He contrasts this with our present-day mindset, where we see a fixed quantity of limited resources. Our tendency is to fight to “get ours” in an ever-dangerous “us vs. them” world. In such an environment, the byword is, above all else, “stick with our tribe”.

Most troublesome, he suggests that this mentality is unlikely to go away when Trump leaves office for “Trump will be succeeded by some other warrior”.

Finally, he suggests that this scarcity mentality is incompatible with neither contemporary liberalism nor conservatism and that the end of our current parties is the inevitable result.

This week, Coughlin and I discuss the article and its implications.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR News 92.3 FM on Sunday 5-6 p.m. and repeats 9-10 p.m.