Scott Alexander examines why conservative political victories seem to cause public opinion backlashes while liberal victories don't, presenting several theories but remaining uncertain. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the phenomenon of political backlash following major policy victories, comparing conservative and liberal wins. He notes strong backlashes against conservative victories like Trump's presidency and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but observes little to no backlash against liberal victories such as the legalization of gay marriage or the passage of Obamacare. The post presents several possible explanations for this asymmetry, including media influence, the perceived direction of history, and the visibility of immediate negative consequences. However, Scott remains uncertain about the true cause and the predictability of such backlashes. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander evaluates his predictions about the Trump presidency, finding he performed about average overall with some notable successes and failures. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews and grades his predictions about Donald Trump's presidency, covering topics from Trump's base diversity to the likelihood of a coup. He analyzes his successes and failures, discussing his performance on prediction markets and his overall accuracy compared to average pundits. Scott concludes that he did about average in his predictions, with some notable successes in race-related predictions and on prediction markets, but also made mistakes in overestimating Trump's competence and underestimating his continued support from Republicans. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines how Trump's presidency has unexpectedly decreased support for his own policies, analyzing polls and proposing several explanations for this counterintuitive trend. Longer summary

Scott Alexander analyzes how Donald Trump's presidency has paradoxically led to a decrease in support for his own political positions. The post presents several polls showing increased support for free trade, immigration, and other non-Trumpist positions since 2016. Scott proposes various explanations for this phenomenon, including disgust with Trump as a person, partisan realignment, conservatives distancing themselves from Trump, increased media focus on negative aspects of Trump's policies, shifting of goalposts, and backlash effects similar to those seen in studies of disruptive protests. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of civility and honesty in politics, warning that being sufficiently repulsive can damage one's own cause. Shorter summary

A collection of interesting links from early 2017 covering drugs, education, politics, science and history, with Scott's commentary on each. Longer summary

This is a links post where Scott Alexander shares various interesting articles and studies he's come across. The post covers a wide range of topics including new drug developments, education statistics, political events around Trump's presidency, scientific discoveries, and historical curiosities. The format follows a typical links post structure with brief commentary on each link, often adding context or witty observations. Many items focus on current events from early 2017, including Trump administration policies and European political trends. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander defends his past writings on Trump, emphasizing his consistent criticism of Trump while refuting accusations that he underestimated Trump's racism or missed hidden signals. Longer summary

Scott Alexander defends his past posts about Trump in light of recent criticism. He emphasizes that he has never been a Trump supporter and has consistently criticized him. He addresses two main points of contention: First, his stance against overinterpreting politicians' statements as secret codes (dog whistles), arguing that Trump's recent Muslim ban was openly stated policy, not a hidden agenda. Second, he reiterates that his post 'You Are Still Crying Wolf' acknowledged Trump would likely ban Muslims, but argued this stemmed from cognitive bias rather than white supremacy. Scott maintains that while Trump is bad and often motivated by everyday racism, he is not an ideological white supremacist. He encourages critics to make their own predictions about Trump's presidency and compare them to his own recorded predictions. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander argues that accusations of Trump being an 'openly white supremacist' candidate are exaggerated and harmful, and calls for more measured criticism of Trump's actual flaws. Longer summary

In this post, Scott Alexander argues that accusations of racism and white supremacy against Donald Trump and his supporters are exaggerated and harmful. He contends that while Trump has said and done problematic things, claims that he is an 'openly white supremacist' candidate are not supported by evidence. Alexander reviews various arguments about Trump's alleged racism and rebuts them, citing statistics and providing context. He argues that treating Trump as uniquely racist compared to past presidents is inaccurate and counterproductive. The post ends with a call to stop 'crying wolf' about racism, as it causes unnecessary fear and may desensitize people to real instances of racism in the future. Alexander makes several predictions about what will happen under a Trump presidency to back up his argument. Shorter summary