What could go wrong? We already know the answer. History has seen this pattern before. But it’s rarely seen it unfold with this much speed—or this little accountability. 4/4

This is what imperial decline looks like in real time: hollowed institutions, factional infighting (Hegseth vs. Duffy), unchecked ambition (Rubio’s portfolio expands absurdly), and a world on edge—with India and Pakistan teetering on conflict as the U.S. recedes from its role as broker. 3/4

Due process ignored. Expertise replaced with dogma. Enemies embraced, allies spurned. A president whose incoherence is no longer a subtext but a spectacle. Meanwhile, power is being vacated abroad—economically and diplomatically—and China is ready to fill the vacuum. 2/4

Billionaires block housing with lawsuits. Fossil fuel interests weaponize CEQA. Local actors feign environmentalism to protect exclusion.

The architecture of abundance has to be built with guardrails — not just speed. Otherwise, we clear the path for the same forces that got us here.

Billionaires block housing with lawsuits. Fossil fuel interests weaponize CEQA. Local actors feign environmentalism to protect exclusion.

The architecture of abundance has to be built with guardrails — not just speed. Otherwise, we clear the path for the same forces that got us here.

I’m deeply grateful for Abundance and the vision it casts. But one loving criticism: it sometimes imagines a procedural system where all actors are in good faith.

In reality, bad faith isn't a glitch — it’s the strategy.

Yes, we can shape these rules. We can refine these rules. We can improve these rules.
But we can’t afford to abandon them — not in a crisis this deep, and not for fears this shallow.

ADUs let teachers live near classrooms, service workers near hospitals, and families near the people who need them.

It’s not perfect — but gutting it in the name of “neighborhood character” risks turning a housing policy into a preservationist veto.

Today’s xenophobia didn’t come from nowhere. It grew in the cracks left by policies that preached optimism while pulling the ladder up behind them.

History’s truths aren’t always comfortable. But they’re necessary.

“Even affordable and supportive housing projects encounter local opposition and permitting delays, which drive up costs and timelines. State and local processes — CEQA included — apply to both public and private development.” lao.ca.gov/reports/2021...