Unlearning Scarcity: How Colonialism Shaped Our Mindsets—and How White Women Can Reclaim Abundance

In Episode 27 of White Women Wake Up, Karen and I unpacked a heavy truth: colonization isn’t just history—it’s a mindset. One that still shapes how we, as white women, relate to land, power, and each other. It’s the voice that whispers, “There’s not enough,” even when there is. Psychologists describe this scarcity mindset as the internalized belief that resources, opportunities, and even love are finite—so if someone else gains, we inevitably lose. It’s the fear that keeps us from fighting for our own rights—and standing up for others.

That scarcity mindset was baked into European conquest. Consider the Doctrine of Discovery (1493), which gave Christian nations permission to seize “empty” lands; or the Homestead Act (1862), which transferred 270 million acres—10 percent of U.S. land—into private white ownership at Indigenous expense. (archives.gov) The logic was simple: grab resources before someone else does.

Centuries later, we’re still living inside that framework. Capitalism rewards extraction and competition, and white supremacy trains us to protect what we have instead of expanding what we means.

Scarcity Isn’t Just Economic—It’s Emotional

A scarcity culture tells us that success is a zero‑sum game—it frames power like slices of pie: if one person claims a bigger piece, the rest must settle for less. Brené Brown calls this the never‑enough problem: no matter how much we achieve, it rarely feels sufficient, so we guard what we have instead of expanding what’s possible.

For men, gender equity can feel like a deduction from an account that was always implicitly theirs. A 2023 Pew survey found that one‑third of U.S. men believe women’s gains come at men’s expense. That perception helps explain backlash against pay‑transparency laws, paid‑family‑leave bills, and even social‑media campaigns that celebrate female leadership. When equality is framed as subtraction, resentment—not collaboration—follows.

Scarcity doesn’t stop at the gender line; it seeps into sisterhood too. Corporate cultures that treat diversity like a quota teach us there’s room for only one woman at the top. Researchers call this the queen‑bee effect: women who break through the glass ceiling may distance themselves from other women to preserve their fragile status. We see it when female leaders discourage flexible‑work policies that would help mothers, or when we compete for “the woman’s seat” on a panel instead of demanding a bigger table.

“Scarcity constrains polite, wealthy white people who philosophically might support social‑justice movements and reparations, but who neither acknowledge nor leverage the potential of their own resources.” —Ilse Hogan Griffin (Mayday Magazine)

In other words, we stall. We hesitate to give, to speak up, to risk discomfort—not because we don’t care, but because we’re taught to fear loss.

How Scarcity Shows Up—in Our Selves, Workplaces, and Movements

- Perfectionism & Paralysis: We wait to “get it right” before taking action, fearing mistakes more than inaction. Effect: innovations die on the whiteboard, and marginalized colleagues are kept waiting for change.

- Comparison & Competition: Another woman’s promotion feels like our demotion. Effect: we undercut collaboration, reinforcing the myth that women are “catty” and untrustworthy.

- Tokenism Over Transformation: We add a single BIPOC speaker or hire—but stop short of structural power‑sharing. Effect: diversity becomes a veneer that shields institutions from deeper accountability.

- Performative Allyship: We post, but don’t protest; read, but don’t redistribute. Effect: activism stalls at the level of optics, letting inequities persist unchallenged.

- Extraction Over Reciprocity: We ask BIPOC friends to educate us for free, then disappear when the work gets messy. Effect: emotional labor is outsourced, relationships fracture, and trust erodes.

Bottom line: Scarcity teaches us to see justice as a finite budget item. The societal cost is staggering—burn‑out, siloed movements, and policy band‑aids that patch symptoms instead of funding root‑cause solutions.

Naming these patterns matters because we cannot heal what we refuse to see.

A Language Shift: From Scarcity to Abundance

Scarcity Phrase	Abundance Reframe
“There’s not enough for everyone.”	“Liberation grows when it’s shared.”
“If they gain, I lose.”	“When one of us wins, we all move forward.”
“I have to earn my seat.”	“My worth is inherent; I can make room for others.”

Try swapping one scarcity phrase for an abundance reframe each week. Notice how your body and decisions shift.

From Scarcity to Solidarity

Decolonization isn’t a metaphor; it’s material, spiritual, and relational. By unlearning scarcity, we move from fear to trust, from hoarding to sharing, from isolation to community.

1. Reframe Abundance: Keep a daily “enough list”—three resources (time, skills, money, love) you already have. Gratitude disrupts hoarding.

2. Redistribute Resources: Pay rent to the Indigenous nation whose land you occupy. Fund mutual‑aid networks. Set recurring donations that outlast news cycles.

3. Decenter Whiteness: When in mixed company, speak last. Amplify BIPOC experts. Share credit publicly.

4. Educate Yourself: Read Dr. Jennifer Mullan (Decolonizing Therapy), Leah Thomas (The Intersectional Environmentalist), Jenny Odell (Saving Time). Audiobooks count.

5. Engage in Reparative Action: Push beyond land acknowledgments. Support "land‑back" legislation, vote for community land trusts, and advocate for policy that closes the racial wealth gap.

As white women, we have a responsibility to examine how we’ve been complicit—and to act. Abundance is not a personal vibe; it’s a collective practice.

Stay curious, be open, and keep waking up.

-Jonelle