No Kings: Imagine, Plan, Build Pods
An essential characteristic of Occupy Wall Street was the enabling of many in person meetings for planning the particular actions of 9,000 people in 82 groups. We were able to completely change the conversation with the simple phrase: ” We are the 99%.” Meetup.com actually got their inspiration from the home based meet-ups that Cesar Chavez used to organize farm workers. My wife and I were developers #1&2 for the website that used WordPress with BuddyPress Groups (see a page from October 21, 2011 in the Way Back Machine). Volunteers from as far as Australia joined our Internet Working Group and our GitHub repository got used by occupations in many other cities. A year later, the website was used for Occupy Sandy to organize disaster, relief volunteers, following Hurricane Sandy.
To build a future of abundance as envisioned by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, individuals can adopt a pod-based organizing model that combines strategic planning, decentralized action, and community-building. Build your pods with in-person gathering events using our Odd Fridays. Here’s how to operationalize this approach:
1. Forming Purpose-Driven Pods
Pods are small, agile groups (4–6 people) focused on specific aspects of the Abundance Agenda (e.g., housing reform, green energy, or regulatory innovation).
- Start with shared values: Align around Klein and Thompson’s vision of overcoming regulatory stagnation and fostering growth in critical sectors[1][2].
- Define roles: Assign tasks based on skills (e.g., research, outreach, policy drafting) using delegation frameworks like informed progress (regular updates) or ownership (full autonomy)[6].
- Meet regularly: Host monthly gatherings over meals (e.g., potlucks or cooking nights) to build trust and creativity[9].
2. Structuring Pod Meetings for Impact
Follow a four-phase framework inspired by community organizing principles[4][8]:
- Visioning: Discuss long-term goals (e.g., “How do we triple affordable housing in our city by 2030?”).
- Tactical Planning: Break goals into 3–6 month actions (e.g., lobbying for zoning reform or creating a solar-cooperative model).
- Delegation: Assign tasks with clear expectations (e.g., “You’ll draft the policy memo by next month; I’ll secure meetings with city council members”)[6].
- Accountability Check-ins: Review progress and adjust strategies.
3. Leveraging Cross-Pod Collaboration
- Networked pods: Individuals can join multiple pods (e.g., one focused on housing and another on climate tech), creating a web of interconnected efforts[7][10].
- Shared resources: Use tools like collaborative documents or platforms to share research, templates, and success stories across pods[11].
- Scale through coalitions: Partner with aligned groups (e.g., urbanist nonprofits, YIMBY movements) to amplify impact[10].
4. Taking Immediate Action
While large protests or elections matter, pods prioritize concrete, local wins:
- Housing: Organize a pod to advocate for “missing middle” zoning in your neighborhood[1][2].
- Energy: Launch a community solar project or pressure local utilities to adopt green tariffs.
- Policy Innovation: Draft model legislation for streamlined permitting and share it with city officials[3].
5. Building a Culture of Abundance
- Celebrate small wins: Host quarterly “abundance dinners” to share progress and recruit new members[9].
- Embrace experimentation: Adopt agile methodologies to test ideas quickly (e.g., pilot a bike-lane project in one neighborhood before citywide rollout)[11].
- Focus on narratives: Use storytelling to reframe scarcity mindsets (e.g., “Dense cities mean more neighbors, not less space”)[12].
Example Pod Workflow
| Week | Activity | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visioning session + meal | Set goal: “Pass a housing density bill in 6 months.” |
| 2 | Research zoning laws and allies | Draft a one-pager for city council. |
| 3 | Delegation: Assign lobbying and op-ed writing | Secure two councilmember meetings. |
| 4 | Accountability check-in | Refine strategy based on feedback. |
By combining Klein’s vision of institutional reform with the grassroots power of pods, individuals can bypass political gridlock and create tangible progress. As Thompson notes, “The abundance agenda is not about waiting for permission—it’s about building the future, one block at a time”[3][12].
Sources
[1] Abundance (Klein and Thompson book) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_(Klein_and_Thompson_book)
[2] Abundance | Book by Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson – Simon & Schuster https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Abundance/Ezra-Klein/9781668023488
[3] Ezra Klein on the Abundance Agenda (Ep. 236) https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ezra-klein-3/
[4] Community Organizing – The Solutions Project https://thesolutionsproject.org/info/community-organizing/
[5] Join a Bay Resistance Action Pod https://www.bayresistance.org/updates/resist-trump-with-bay-resistance
[6] Four Tips for Effective Delegation – Small Groups http://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2015/four-tips-for-effective-delegation.html
[7] Pods — SOIL: A Transformative Justice Project https://www.soiltjp.org/our-work/resources/pods
[8] Inclusive Facilitation for Social Change – FSG https://www.fsg.org/blog/inclusive-facilitation-for-social-change/
[9] Building Community Through Shared Food Experiences in Halls https://www.roompact.com/2025/05/cooking-up-community-how-to-use-food-to-connect-with-your-residents/
[10] Scaling Up Movements For Greater Impact – The Commons https://commonslibrary.org/scaling-up-movements-for-greater-impact/
[11] Maximizing Productivity with Cross-Functional Development Pods https://www.bayrocklabs.com/post/maximizing-productivity-with-cross-functional-development-pods
[12] The problems of “Abundance” – Frontier Group https://frontiergroup.org/articles/the-problems-of-abundance/
[13] The Problems Democrats Don’t Like to See – The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/opinion/abundance-democrats-future.html
[14] Abundance and the Left : r/ezraklein – Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/ezraklein/comments/1kajlxh/abundance_and_the_left/
[15] The Abundance Agenda Has Its Own Theory of Power : r/ezraklein https://www.reddit.com/r/ezraklein/comments/1l68otd/the_abundance_agenda_has_its_own_theory_of_power/
[16] Chapter 5., Section 4. Social Action – Community Tool Box https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/systems-advocacy-and-community-organizing/main
[17] A Guide to Facilitating Small Groups – Community Organisers https://www.corganisers.org.uk/training/learning-resources/a-guide-to-facilitating-small-groups/
[18] Community Organizing for Social Justice | Michigan Online https://online.umich.edu/courses/community-organizing-for-social-justice/
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[21] Section 3. Social Planning and Policy Change – Community Tool Box https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/social-planning-policy-change/main
[22] Exponential growth and decay models [IB Maths AI SL/HL] – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PDGqdVjyig
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[24] PODS: A Program to Increase Community Participation and Social … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21aK6PmYWaQ
[25] “Abundance” is a book for an alternate timeline https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/abundance-is-a-book-for-an-alternate
[26] Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson | Abundance | Long Now Talks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9wga7S3nAw
[27] Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson – Abundance Is the Key to Fixing … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGUWMonAtTQ
[28] How to organize a community action group – Zelos Team Management https://getzelos.com/community-action-group
[29] What Are The Best 5 Steps To Successful Community Organizing? https://callhub.io/blog/community-organizing/community-organizing/
[30] EDGE Members Action PODs https://www.edgefunders.org/edge-members-action-pods/
[31] 6 Tips for Inclusive Public Meetings – American Planning Association https://www.planning.org/planning/2019/mar/6tipspublicmeetings/
[32] 10 Best Practices for Social Planning – Week Plan https://weekplan.net/practices-social-planning
[33] San Francisco Foodies – Meetup https://www.meetup.com/sffoodies/
[34] Ways To Maximize Small Group Creation for Students https://www.studentcenteredworld.com/small-group-planning-and-instruction/
[35] Corporate Team Building Tour | Sidewalk Food Tours of San Francisco https://sidewalkfoodtours.com/san-francisco/sf-corporate-team-building-tour/
[36] Exponential Growth Calculator https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/exponential-growth
[37] Exponential & logistic growth – Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/ecology-ap/population-ecology-ap/a/exponential-logistic-growth
[38] 7.4: Exponential Growth – Mathematics LibreTexts https://math.libretexts.org/Courses/Las_Positas_College/Math_for_Liberal_Arts/07:_Algebraic_Models/7.04:_Exponential_Growth
[39] Exponential growth – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth