Alexander Kustov
@akoustov.bsky.social
Author of "In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular": http://tinyurl.com/4rwpr6dc. Substack at "Popular by Design": https://tinyurl.com/b93bwr9j. Professor. More at https://alexanderkustov.org/.
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In most countries, people who want to help refugees can't do so legally.
My new piece explores how the idea of private sponsorship empowers citizens to channel their humanitarian motivations, and why that can make refugee admissions more sustainable.
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-dont-y...
My new piece explores how the idea of private sponsorship empowers citizens to channel their humanitarian motivations, and why that can make refugee admissions more sustainable.
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-dont-y...
I write about what Japan gets right, what worries me, and what other countries can actually learn from it. It's part personal travel reflection, part policy analysis, and part argument about how to make immigration demonstrably beneficial elsewhere.
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-japan-...
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-japan-...
Why Japan Is So Uncanny… Uncannily Normal
And how living in Tokyo changed my views on immigration and policy design
alexanderkustov.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I write about what Japan gets right, what worries me, and what other countries can actually learn from it. It's part personal travel reflection, part policy analysis, and part argument about how to make immigration demonstrably beneficial elsewhere.
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-japan-...
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-japan-...
Japan feels "uncanny" to many visitors not because it's exotic but because things work there.
My new post reflects on my Tokyo sabbatical, and how this experience overturned my assumptions about cultural differences, the threat of depopulation, and the benefits of immigration in Europe and America.
My new post reflects on my Tokyo sabbatical, and how this experience overturned my assumptions about cultural differences, the threat of depopulation, and the benefits of immigration in Europe and America.
November 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Japan feels "uncanny" to many visitors not because it's exotic but because things work there.
My new post reflects on my Tokyo sabbatical, and how this experience overturned my assumptions about cultural differences, the threat of depopulation, and the benefits of immigration in Europe and America.
My new post reflects on my Tokyo sabbatical, and how this experience overturned my assumptions about cultural differences, the threat of depopulation, and the benefits of immigration in Europe and America.
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
Thrilled to share my new article in Political Psychology: “The psychology of political attitudinal volatility.” In it, I attempt to answer why do some people change their political views more than others? Open access at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
@ispp-pops.bsky.social
@ispp-pops.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Thrilled to share my new article in Political Psychology: “The psychology of political attitudinal volatility.” In it, I attempt to answer why do some people change their political views more than others? Open access at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
@ispp-pops.bsky.social
@ispp-pops.bsky.social
Public intellectuals these days are not like they used to be.
"Outgroup" is just "not the ingroup" for whatever identity line you draw. Immigrants, billionaires, fans of the "wrong" abstract painter all can be an outgroup. Power differences aren't required (contrary to the term "minority").
"Outgroup" is just "not the ingroup" for whatever identity line you draw. Immigrants, billionaires, fans of the "wrong" abstract painter all can be an outgroup. Power differences aren't required (contrary to the term "minority").
November 23, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Public intellectuals these days are not like they used to be.
"Outgroup" is just "not the ingroup" for whatever identity line you draw. Immigrants, billionaires, fans of the "wrong" abstract painter all can be an outgroup. Power differences aren't required (contrary to the term "minority").
"Outgroup" is just "not the ingroup" for whatever identity line you draw. Immigrants, billionaires, fans of the "wrong" abstract painter all can be an outgroup. Power differences aren't required (contrary to the term "minority").
In all seriousness, nowhere did I say both sides were exactly identical
November 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Sure, but you can also come up with a bunch of similar or even better just-so stories connecting illegal immigration with any of those issues. I hope you realize that this is not very credible.
November 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Sure, but you can also come up with a bunch of similar or even better just-so stories connecting illegal immigration with any of those issues. I hope you realize that this is not very credible.
Thank you for this correction!
November 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Thank you for this correction!
Just wanted to clarify, is it absolutely necessary to blame "the billionaires" or "the immigrants" or yet some other group for most problems?
November 22, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Just wanted to clarify, is it absolutely necessary to blame "the billionaires" or "the immigrants" or yet some other group for most problems?
Maybe, but that's a very charitable interpretation of what she said. There is also no endless supply of "billionaires" either. if you tax them significantly more, you may actually collect less tax, because you would have fewer of them to tax.
November 22, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Maybe, but that's a very charitable interpretation of what she said. There is also no endless supply of "billionaires" either. if you tax them significantly more, you may actually collect less tax, because you would have fewer of them to tax.
Just so nobody is excluded, we now also got a good contender for a "libertarian" variety of populism blaming "overregulation" as the single cause responsible for all societal problems. To be clear, this is still not factually accurate.
November 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Just so nobody is excluded, we now also got a good contender for a "libertarian" variety of populism blaming "overregulation" as the single cause responsible for all societal problems. To be clear, this is still not factually accurate.
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
Our paper just got accepted in the @thejop.bsky.social 🎉 and is now on the journal website: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... For me personally, it's a milestone: my first paper accepted after a peer review!
November 22, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Our paper just got accepted in the @thejop.bsky.social 🎉 and is now on the journal website: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... For me personally, it's a milestone: my first paper accepted after a peer review!
Congrats, this is so awesome!
November 22, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Congrats, this is so awesome!
Thank you, I appreciate your earnest response here.
November 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Thank you, I appreciate your earnest response here.
Is it or is it not true that "billionaires" are to blame for traffic?? If you think it's not factually true, are you saying it is ok to say this because "billionaires" are "bad people who hoard wealth and take advantage of the poor"?
bsky.app/profile/akou...
bsky.app/profile/akou...
Since it is 🦋, I should've clarified that this isn't "full-throated defense of the billionaire class" or that I'm not "more willing to defend billionaires than Brown people" as noted by some.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
Left-wing vs right-wing populism in one picture.
This couldn't have been more perfect. Ignoring tradeoffs and blaming the main outgroup as the solution to every societal problem.
This couldn't have been more perfect. Ignoring tradeoffs and blaming the main outgroup as the solution to every societal problem.
November 22, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Is it or is it not true that "billionaires" are to blame for traffic?? If you think it's not factually true, are you saying it is ok to say this because "billionaires" are "bad people who hoard wealth and take advantage of the poor"?
bsky.app/profile/akou...
bsky.app/profile/akou...
Is it or is it not true that "billionaires" are to blame for traffic?? If you think it's not factually true, are you saying it is ok to say this because "billionaires" are "bad people"?
bsky.app/profile/akou...
bsky.app/profile/akou...
Since it is 🦋, I should've clarified that this isn't "full-throated defense of the billionaire class" or that I'm not "more willing to defend billionaires than Brown people" as noted by some.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
Left-wing vs right-wing populism in one picture.
This couldn't have been more perfect. Ignoring tradeoffs and blaming the main outgroup as the solution to every societal problem.
This couldn't have been more perfect. Ignoring tradeoffs and blaming the main outgroup as the solution to every societal problem.
November 22, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Is it or is it not true that "billionaires" are to blame for traffic?? If you think it's not factually true, are you saying it is ok to say this because "billionaires" are "bad people"?
bsky.app/profile/akou...
bsky.app/profile/akou...
Since it is 🦋, I should've clarified that this isn't "full-throated defense of the billionaire class" or that I'm not "more willing to defend billionaires than Brown people" as noted by some.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
Left-wing vs right-wing populism in one picture.
This couldn't have been more perfect. Ignoring tradeoffs and blaming the main outgroup as the solution to every societal problem.
This couldn't have been more perfect. Ignoring tradeoffs and blaming the main outgroup as the solution to every societal problem.
November 22, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Since it is 🦋, I should've clarified that this isn't "full-throated defense of the billionaire class" or that I'm not "more willing to defend billionaires than Brown people" as noted by some.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
My hot take is that populists blame their outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
Thank you for your response. To be clear, I'm not defending or blaming anyone here, nor am I saying that both sides are the same. My hot take is that so-called populists on all sides tend to blame their most maligned outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
November 22, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Thank you for your response. To be clear, I'm not defending or blaming anyone here, nor am I saying that both sides are the same. My hot take is that so-called populists on all sides tend to blame their most maligned outgroup for any problem whether it is factually correct or not.
I apologize if I misinterpreted you. Can you expand on what you meant by "rich people don't generate money" so that we are on the same page?
November 22, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I apologize if I misinterpreted you. Can you expand on what you meant by "rich people don't generate money" so that we are on the same page?
My response may have indeed been too snarky if not silly, and I apologize if it caused any offense. But reading my original post as "full-throated defense of the billionaire class" is also not quite charitable.
November 22, 2025 at 5:07 PM
My response may have indeed been too snarky if not silly, and I apologize if it caused any offense. But reading my original post as "full-throated defense of the billionaire class" is also not quite charitable.
Genuinely curious, what generates money if not people and their labor from your point of view? Is it really controversial to say that richer people generate more tax money in absolute dollars? I also never said it would "cease to exist" -- there would be just less money to tax.
November 22, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Genuinely curious, what generates money if not people and their labor from your point of view? Is it really controversial to say that richer people generate more tax money in absolute dollars? I also never said it would "cease to exist" -- there would be just less money to tax.
For example, if you deport "illegal immigrants," you hurt many US citizens who are related to them. If you tax "billionaires" out of existence to help "the poor," you may actually collect less tax, because you would have fewer "rich people" to tax.
November 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
For example, if you deport "illegal immigrants," you hurt many US citizens who are related to them. If you tax "billionaires" out of existence to help "the poor," you may actually collect less tax, because you would have fewer "rich people" to tax.
The question is not whether billionaires are objectively "mistreated" or not. The fact of the matter is that they don't impact traffic, for instance. And you can't just say it's ok to say that (even though it's evidently inaccurate) just because you don't feel sympathy for this group.
November 22, 2025 at 4:32 PM
The question is not whether billionaires are objectively "mistreated" or not. The fact of the matter is that they don't impact traffic, for instance. And you can't just say it's ok to say that (even though it's evidently inaccurate) just because you don't feel sympathy for this group.
I was waiting for someone to say this. It can also be one of those "choose your fighter" situations if that's what you prefer ;)
November 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I was waiting for someone to say this. It can also be one of those "choose your fighter" situations if that's what you prefer ;)
In all seriousness, nowhere did I say both sides were exactly identical
November 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
In all seriousness, nowhere did I say both sides were exactly identical
calling illegal immigrants “the social outgroup” when a few of them are literally killing Americans is kinda weird, though.
I mean I get what you’re saying but it feels like one of these types of “populism” is more correct than the other
I mean I get what you’re saying but it feels like one of these types of “populism” is more correct than the other
November 22, 2025 at 4:25 PM
calling illegal immigrants “the social outgroup” when a few of them are literally killing Americans is kinda weird, though.
I mean I get what you’re saying but it feels like one of these types of “populism” is more correct than the other
I mean I get what you’re saying but it feels like one of these types of “populism” is more correct than the other