Scott Alexander defends his 'Against Murderism' post against Nathan Robinson's criticism, arguing that Robinson misrepresented his arguments and ignored key parts of the original post. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to Nathan Robinson's criticism of his 'Against Murderism' post. He argues that Robinson misrepresented his argument by ignoring key parts of the original post where Scott had already addressed the counterarguments Robinson raised. Scott points out that he had extensively discussed the 'Definition By Consequences' and 'Definition By Motive' concepts in his original post, contrary to Robinson's claim that Scott was unaware of these ideas. Scott also provides examples from Current Affairs, Robinson's own magazine, that contradict Robinson's assertion that progressives don't portray racists as monsters. Finally, Scott expresses frustration at being accused of refusing to dialogue with political opponents, revealing that he had previously reached out to Robinson for a private discussion, which Robinson declined due to time constraints. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander argues against Nathan Robinson's proposal for public cafeterias, instead favoring a system of food vouchers with taxes and subsidies to promote healthy eating. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to Nathan Robinson's proposal for a public food option, arguing that the existing system of vouchers plus taxes and subsidies is superior. He points out that a public cafeteria system would likely become stigmatized and low-quality, while vouchers allow poor people to access the same high-quality food as everyone else. Alexander then critiques the current implementation of agricultural subsidies and dietary guidelines, showing how government mismanagement has promoted unhealthy food. He argues that both capitalism and government are 'misaligned systems' that can produce bad outcomes, and that the solution is to pit multiple systems against each other with checks and balances rather than relying solely on government control. Shorter summary