iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The Hoff Crab is neither a crab nor is it David Hasselhoff. It is a Yeti Crab, which is neither a Yeti nor a Crab but a sub-group of Squat Lobsters, which are not lobsters, they're Anomurans, like Mole Crabs, which are neither moles, nor crabs.

37861212

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

DSA-aligned Democrats are now the most pro-free-trade voting bloc in the United States, in an incredible turn of events www.theargumentmag.com/p/who-suppor...

A graph showing whether voters support or oppose free trade by party identification, showing 54% of "Dems favorable to DSA" strongly support free trade agreements

491592300

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

"For the first time ever, more people are employed by remodeling companies than by single-family and multifamily developers combined." (h/t @josephpolitano.bsky.social) www.theargumentmag.com/p/americas-e...

55912

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Other countries have politics as complex as our own.

1012811

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Maia @maiamindel.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

George Borjas posting a paper about researchers selecting models that best fit their ideological assumptions

3395

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

This is the most expensive piece we have ever published. We retained outside counsel with First Amendment expertise and we spent time diligently fact checking details of the author's account. If you'd like to support our mission, consider becoming a subscriber. www.theargumentmag.com/subscribe

theargumentmag.com

Subscribe to The Argument

Join Us. We're Libbing Out. Click to read The Argument, a Substack publication.

1180

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

This essay is published anonymously. I am in principle opposed to anonymous essays, here's why we made an exception:

1290

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

So, she spent thousands out of pocket to flee to Virginia for an abortion, realizing that somehow, shockingly, despite her relative wealth and privilege, she had become one of those people without adequate health care.

1151

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Our author was already a mother. She mourns for a world where she could have seriously considered staying pregnant.

1150

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Over 40, with an IUD still in place, she scrambled to get an ultrasound as the clock ticked away on her freedoms.

1181

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Today at The Argument we're publishing something very different. A mother in Georgia wrote to us after her IUD failed. Her email said: "…if our policies weren’t so illiberal, I very well might have decided to stay pregnant." www.theargumentmag.com/p/an-abortio...

theargumentmag.com

An abortion ban pushed me toward abortion

Is this what the pro-life movement intended?

1024360

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

This was a very persuasive piece that changed my mind!

13100

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

The point is not to make immigration an 80-20 issue, it's to neutralize it as a tool of radicalization. Black Chicagoans who witnessed their city crumble under a few thousand immigrants were infuriated that social supports went to migrants instead of them. apnews.com/article/chic...

apnews.com

Chicago's response to migrant influx stirs longstanding frustrations among Black residents

Chicago is one of several big American cities grappling with a surge of migrants. With help from state and federal funds, the city has spent more than $300 million to provide housing, health care and ...

792

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Yes, die-hard xenophobes are not moveable. But anyone doing immigration work (including many advocates, left thinktankers, and immigrants themselves) witnessed widespread negative polarization against immigration because of very material concerns.

4112

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

I feel like everyone has just memory holed the liberal backlash to immigration under Biden.

5172

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

almost as good as the freedom of speech guy speaking up in opposition to taxes to pay for a new school because the old one burned down

1241

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

I liked this take on the Abundance conference www.theargumentmag.com/p/a-tale-of-...

6461

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

"The hard right’s only cohesive goal is to shred liberal values, and the movements that flow from them. To ally with these groups is to court self-destruction." @jerusalem.bsky.social www.theargumentmag.com/p/a-tale-of-...

theargumentmag.com

A tale of two ballrooms

Last week’s National Conservatism and Abundance gatherings in Washington laid out two clashing visions of America’s future.

314844

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Maia @maiamindel.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Truth Nuke

1644

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

There's something so telling about the Trumpist right's insistence that using a slur for people with a disability is a sign of bravery

28816

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

The biggest problem American liberalism faces is how to maintain high levels of immigration while respecting the democratic will of the public. I have an idea. www.theargumentmag.com/p/liberals-d...

theargumentmag.com

Liberals don’t have to lose on immigration

“Moderating” on immigration doesn't mean abandoning it

4028111

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

> and was America not YIMBY from 1950 to 2002, then YIMBY from 2002 until 2022, and now no longer is? etc... And yes, housing costs were much lower from 1950 to 2002 and then from 2002 until 2020/2021-ish

120

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

? I did not say that YIMBY was a driver of these sentiments. My point is that lowering housing costs (or any major costs tbh) could make raising taxes easier because people think about their costs as a total portfolio.

220

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I wouldn't be surprised if that played a role (since uh, Republicans do very much focus on lowering taxes as a major part of their platform), but I still think "why were people so mad about taxes during Covid" seems much more likely to be about inflation than anything else

140

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

eh looking at the actual underlying data that doesn't seem that clean

250

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

doesn't seem implausible to me? Poll isn't granular enough to be certain but do you have an alternate hypothesis?

130

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I do think that this is largely a proxy for costs in general. There was not some major tax increase in 2020, people are just reacting to inflation! There's a lesson here... lowering people's costs is a necessary prerequisite to raising taxes! Can I interest you in a little YIMBY-ism?

1112918

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Ok we've made fun of deficit hawks forever but @jhweissmann.bsky.social has a convincing case that if you care about social welfare programs you actually do need to start worrying about the debt! www.theargumentmag.com/p/how-i-lear...

theargumentmag.com

How I learned to start worrying and hate the deficit

It's time for liberals to wake up about the national debt

9364

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler.com · 01/09/2025

“The intellectual victory of the YIMBYs can sometimes obscure how precarious our position really is: A whole edifice of opposition to land-use reforms is still in place — people in power with formative political experiences and assumptions from a prior era.” Recommended reading!

6728

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

honestly struggling to decide whether it's more important people see this meme or subscribe sorry @profschleich.bsky.social

3130

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

The problem, of course, is local "democracy".

1120

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

This has been one of the most frustrating dynamics of YIMBY politics -- a long, hard fought legislative battle gets thwarted by a NIMBY district court judge. Yes, the judge is often overruled later but as we know well, housing delayed is housing denied.

1251

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

This morning, OG YIMBY @profschleich.bsky.social argues that the pro-housing movement needs to focus more on the problem of state trial court judges.

4789

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 01/09/2025

This article on two Swiss rent control regimes is the most diabolical thing I’ve ever read on the topic. Basel does it by regulating cap rates?!?! Swiss state capacity must be insanely high – not sure this is how I’d use it, but you do gotta hand it to them www.ey.com/en_ch/insigh...

ey.com

Basel-Stadt and Geneva: insight into cantonal rent control

Swiss tenancy law allows for freedom of contract, but Basel and Geneva regulate rents strictly to stabilise prices and protect tenants.

2222

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

David Schleicher @profschleich.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

I have a new essay @theargument.bsky.social on the increasingly challenging problem of NIMBY state trial court judges.

1135

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Eviction Lab @evictionlab.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

“Many communities across the U.S. have adopted a form of legal housing discrimination that ensures cheap places to live for... Gen Xers and Boomers, while leaving families with children nowhere to turn.” www.theargumentmag.com/p/no-country... By @jerusalem.bsky.social #housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism

theargumentmag.com

No country for young families

"Having a child is like having leprosy." The dark side of senior housing projects.

0136

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

After my "case for staying on Twitter" got a bunch of interesting responses, @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com demanded that I debate him. www.theargumentmag.com/p/mad-libs-g...

theargumentmag.com

Mad Libs: Gurri v. Demsas

No subtweeting allowed...

7406

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Kelsey Piper's idea to fix the housing market is so insane... so insane it just might work. www.theargumentmag.com/p/ai-broke-j...

theargumentmag.com

AI broke job hunting. I think I have a fix.

It's cheaper than ever to waste your time

1100

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Eric Goldwyn @egoldwyn.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Thought that this was an interesting read. Not something I was aware of. As a child of parents, we all need to do our part:

0132

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Upzone New Jersey 🏗️ @upzonenj.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

A big reason why so many school districts in NJ have dramatically dropping enrollment. Now they're FAFO because the state aid is correspondingly cutting school aid.

2235

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

bobby @mrbobloblaw.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

fantastic article (as usual) on a topic you can't unsee as soon as you actually pay attention to the market for new builds -- so much of it is 55+

2264

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Rachel Cohen Booth @rcobooth.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

“I know it’s exhausting, but when I think about our work here, especially if you have dedicated funding, it’s just easy to lose sight or maybe feel too comfortable in the growth patterns — but you can’t let your foot off the gas." www.vox.com/policy/45890...

2164

Reposted by Jerusalem Demsas

Chickadee In Flight⚢ 飛翔でアメリカコガラ @xybutch.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

The realtor showing me my current apartment was super-clear that the landlord doesn't want to rent to families with kids.

2337

Jerusalem Demsas @jerusalem.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

The thing about housing discrimination is that everyone is incentivized to go along to get along. Developers are repeat players and don't want to rock the boat, so if cities don't want affordable housing for families, they won't even propose them.

0273