Trump and the upside-down world

The title on the cover of Cass R. Sunstein’s 2021 book, “This is not normal,” is printed upside down. If it were a US flag, the inverted positioning would signal “distress or great danger.”

The legal scholar and behavioral economics pioneer starts his book with the idea that what is considered normal can shift with the political and cultural context of the times. But he argues that however threatened it is right now, “democracy is the best form of government” given its emphasis on the “equal dignity” of people.

“It is a...