I’d just say that communities actually secure in their status do not require multi-thousand word articles repeatedly reiterating their relevance and continually asserting the smallness of their critics. It’s a lesson most of us learn listening to lovelorn friends in high school: The more time you have to spend laying out the case why people like you, the lower the probability that they actually do.

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.