Abundance

Abundance discusses several key societal issues that plague the US today and creates goals to help solve those issues. In the contemporary American social landscape, the key issues that Klein and Thompson identify are the housing/cost of living crisis and the climate change crisis. Klein and Thompson begin to discuss the homelessness and housing crisis in the early chapters of Abundance. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, homelessness is increasing at troubling rates. In 2023, the number of people who experienced homelessness on a single night increased by 12.1%, and between 2019-2023, the number of people who entered an emergency shelter for the first time increased by 23%. This increase in homelessness is directly connected to the rise in housing costs, illustrated by the 12.6% increase in renter households paying more than 50% of their income on rent (Soucy, Daniel, et. al. “State of Homelessness: 2024 Edition.” National Alliance to End Homelessness, 5 Aug. 2024). This increase in housing cost mirrors the current shortage of houses, as the US Chamber of Commerce estimates there is currently a shortage of 4.5 million homes in the US (Hoover, Makinizi, and Isabella Lucy.