Abundance
Is the world full of abundance and plenty for all? Or do we live in a world of scarcity, where someone must lose if another is to gain.
"Abundance is about looking at life and knowing that you have everything you need for complete happiness, and then being able to celebrate each and every moment on earth." -Wayne Dyer
Abundance, the Primal World Belief
Abundance versus scarcity is one of the 26 Primal World Beliefs, and belief in the abundant universe and society is a necessary component to creating a harmonious and peaceful world. The scarcity mindset is what drives in-group/out-group identities and the eventual justification for all wars.
With future technology like artificial intelligence and 3D printing driving down the cost of many goods, and we already produce far more food than we need to feed all people, the age of scarcity is in the past. The sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we can make abundance work for everyone.
A lot of manosphere and hustle culture influencers promote the "abundance mindset" in order to put it to work feeding monetary addiction rather than happiness. Many spiritual concepts have been co-opted to serve optimization and capitalism rather than feeding our emotions and building community. Abundance has also been used extensively by Prosperity Gospel gurus. Because of this, abundance versus scarcity is often seen as a thought-terminating cliché. Beware of the grift when looking at abundance content online.
An example of a male self-help influencer promoting the abundance mindset in a fairly straightforward and grounded way.
This video presents a more spiritual and psychology perspective on abundance. It gets into manifestation and other woo-adjacent beliefs. It's a good example of how abundance is presented in the context of modern capitalist spirituality. There is good advice about positive thinking, but it keeps coming back to money and consumerism as the fruits of abundance, rather than the mutually beneficial relationships it fosters.
Abundance, the Book
Abundance is in the zeitgeist in 2025 due to the publication of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's book Abundance. This book has been controversial in progressive circles because it has the support of many billionaires, who many see as a sworn enemy.
This is an example of a scarcity mindset being applied to the abundance book. If billionaires support it, then the rest of us must be getting scammed. There is a bit of contrarianism in the mix, too. We forget that sometimes people can get rich by helping build things we want and need, and everyone in society wins when they do. We can also do two things at once--building universal healthcare and a social safety net using progressive taxation, even as we work with the billionaires on the abundance stuff.
The abundance agenda is simply the concept of good, efficient government that works for the people instead of against them. If we are going to require compliance with a maze of regulations, we need to also fund the services that can help guide people through that maze and ensure it's as simple as possible, adding minimal time and cost to the project. This benefits everyone, and will significantly help restore trust in institutions. When bureaucracy become adversarial, trust significantly erodes.
If libertarians and progressives can agree on a model of efficient government that the vast majority can live with, we can finally get past our political gridlock and start making real progress towards a happier, brighter future of abundance.
Abundance, the Musical
Songs of abundance.
If you listen to the entirety of this 12 hour long meditation track you will get so much money. At least that's what is implied by the title and visuals.