There is an art to finding your way out of the political wilderness after an election loss. As the victors assemble a government, the losing party contends with what led them to defeat, grappling with heightened scrutiny and the futility of working to produce tangible results without the support of the party in power. In the wilderness, “vibes” become paramount.

Last week, the Chicago Humanities Festival hosted “Abundance” co-authors Ezra Klein and NU alumnus Derek Thompson (Medill ‘08) at the University of Illinois Chicago. In their book, the two articulate a new way forward for liberal governance — away from process and toward deliverance.

Citing cases like the struggle of California to construct a high-speed rail system, they argue that these failures are ironic. They say that in order to be successful going forward, liberals must align with their worldview of “Abundance,” a political and practical reorientation on results.

Policies like those that have led to the challenges faced by the California high-speed rail project make it largely impossible for low-wage earners to live and work in the same place. When they were enacted, these policies were progressive.

Many were created to protect wildlife and the environment or conserve natural resources. Today, they remain progressive in name, but wholly the opposite in effect. Klein and Thompson argue that outdated and confusing regulations drive feelings of “not in my backyard” NIMByism, a condition that stymies the construction of affordable housing and clean energy infrastructure, in liberal strongholds across the country.

I have begun reading my copy of “Abundance.” On policy, it gets into the weeds. But in theory, it can be summed up by an onstage conversation between Klein, Thompson and moderator Ada Palmer of the University of Chicago.

A scholar of the Renaissance period, Palmer spoke about how when the construction of the Florence Cathedral began in 1296, much of the technology and scientific understanding necessary to build its dome did not yet exist. By the end of the 14th century, the nave of the “Duomo” was completed, yet the architects still hadn’t figured out how to construct the now-famous dome.

With only their initial, seemingly impossible vision to motivate them, they didn’t let the project die by the process of building it; they trusted that time would bring necessary innovation. They committed themselves not to anticipating issues and borrowing worry from the future, but delivering on their vision for the people of Florence.

The “Abundance” agenda is not so different from that of the Florence Cathedral architects. Nor is it so different from the people who raised ancient civilizations or the minds that theorized the institutions we rely on for our democracy and prosperity.

Klein and Thompson argue that liberals have gotten lazy in a world that needs saving — that perhaps we’ve simply grown tired of saving it.

But relying on the ways we have legislated to save the worlds of the past is not the way to save the world of the present.

They ask liberals to come back to the ethos of liberal governance: to create self-sufficient societies and run on clean energy — where due to these abundant conditions, quality of life is high and cost of living is low.

Unlike the architects of the Florence Cathedral, “Abundance” argues that liberals are strangled by what they don’t know. They fail, over and over, to prioritize the deliverables of an abundant society, choosing instead to cope with the scarcity of our reality and take credit for the spoils of an abundant utopia that does not exist.

The politics of having faith in progress over deference to process are powerful and should be applied to the ways we think about politics, both in terms of defining an effective opposition and explaining how a figure like Trump came to dominate them.

Across the country, profiles in cowardice have emerged as allies of the new president struggle to maintain their dignity at town halls.

Tens of thousands joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” in big cities and small towns alike.

In Wisconsin, Justice-elect Susan Crawford, a liberal former lawyer for Planned Parenthood, defeated Elon Musk-backed candidate Brad Schimel in the most expensive judicial race in American history.

In a 30-point Trump-favored Florida district, Republican Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) won by only 14 points.

And for the first time since late Sen. Strom Thurmond objected to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) broke the record for the longest Senate filibuster, speaking for 25 hours and five minutes on what the new Trump administration has wrought so far in his second term.

A few weeks ago, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led enough Democrats in the Senate to support a continuing resolution to keep the government from shutting down. The bill was written devoid of Democratic input, but in a moment of political overthought, of fear of what he didn’t know, Schumer determined it was better to acquiesce.
Since then, others have chosen to trust the process. We have the dome — defeating Trump and building our abundant world — and it’s okay that we don’t exactly know how to get there.

Trusting that voters will stay vigilant and stay outraged is what will win us elections.

To have abundance in our cities, we must first seek abundance in our current opposition — keeping the faith — powerless in government, yet formidable in conviction.

Aidan Klineman is a Medill sophomore. He can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.