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I've read a lot of his stuff and have never heard about that. Would you want to provide a link that supports your claim, so I can make an informed decision abou

I've read a lot of his stuff and have never heard about that. Would you want to provide a link that supports your claim, so I can make an informed decision about continuing to read his generally good, substantive, and interesting content?

Impassionata 5y ago
There's some leaked emails where he plainly states he's chasing that audience. https://web.archive.org/web/20210217195335/https://twitter.com/TopherTBrennan/status/1362108632070905857 https://web.archive.org/web/20210217195335/https://twitter.c... I wouldn't say he's racist but it's almost worse. He didn't think about how this would go down, which is to say, when you court an audience that has a reputation of being overtly racist, your audience will become more and more racist, driving good people out.
- agentwiggles 5y ago
  I read through the comments he made in the images attached to those tweets, and I don't personally find what he's saying there to be especially problematic. I certainly don't read anything he's saying there as being motivated by racism, hatred, or alt-right political views. I still really appreciate you backing up your post with a link and the chance to dig into his sources. Thanks for the link.
  - Impassionata 5y ago
    >I don't personally find what he's saying there to be especially problematic. And you're right in theory; in theory it's fine to give people a chance to express their opinion. In theory the out-of-mainstream views have some insight that's worth the questionable bits. But in practice, what Scott Alexander did was cultivate a community of racists. He provided a platform, he provided cover for them. From a purely consequential point of view Scott Alexander's political writing has been a detriment. Surely no one would consider "My community is well known as a racist gathering spot" a successful outcome. It's not just the cost of doing business with regard to free speech norms, it's a poor application of free speech norms reproducing basic racism.

Impassionata 5y ago

There's some leaked emails where he plainly states he's chasing that audience. https://web.archive.org/web/20210217195335/https://twitter.com/TopherTBrennan/status/1362108632070905857 https://web.archive.org/web/20210217195335/https://twitter.c... I wouldn't say he's racist but it's almost worse. He didn't think about how this would go down, which is to say, when you court an audience that has a reputation of being overtly racist, your audience will become more and more racist, driving good people out.

agentwiggles 5y ago
I read through the comments he made in the images attached to those tweets, and I don't personally find what he's saying there to be especially problematic. I certainly don't read anything he's saying there as being motivated by racism, hatred, or alt-right political views. I still really appreciate you backing up your post with a link and the chance to dig into his sources. Thanks for the link.
- Impassionata 5y ago
  >I don't personally find what he's saying there to be especially problematic. And you're right in theory; in theory it's fine to give people a chance to express their opinion. In theory the out-of-mainstream views have some insight that's worth the questionable bits. But in practice, what Scott Alexander did was cultivate a community of racists. He provided a platform, he provided cover for them. From a purely consequential point of view Scott Alexander's political writing has been a detriment. Surely no one would consider "My community is well known as a racist gathering spot" a successful outcome. It's not just the cost of doing business with regard to free speech norms, it's a poor application of free speech norms reproducing basic racism.