What Our Leaders Could Learn from the New Pope
President Obama and Washington politicians should follow the simple example of Pope Francis I.
On the Newsstand:Elitism
Act of Valor and the Limits of Elitism
Even in the military, there are glimmers of the hubris and self-confidence that elite institutions can breed—especially in deep secrecy.
Mitt Romney’s Harvard Problem
Romney's air of disconnectedness will continue to haunt him in the nominating process.
Michael Cotter in Defense of Dukakis
Inspired by a friend’s offhand dismissal of Ivy League academics, Michael Cotter of the Crimson argues that the recent backlash against academic elites is dangerous to American politics. Cotter suggests that these often hypocritical accusations of elitism hurt constructive political dialogue and ultimately encourage American ignorance. Read the full article at The Crimson.
Ross Douthat on “White Grievance”
Ross Douthat has a wonderful way of casually saying things that you don’t hear many conservatives say. For instance, his statement on Monday that “the note of white grievance” that Pat Buchanan struck in a 2000 speech at Harvard is now “part of the conservative melody.” Wow, a prominent conservative who acknowledges that politics in the Obama era involves an ... Read More
Not Victims: Another Case Against the Clubs
I want to comment on Sam’s final club post from the other day, which I find compelling but nevertheless insufficient. Let me try to explain why. Sam gives us the standard-line “progressive critique” of the clubs. His is an argument that’s been made many times before — by the likes of April Yee here, Sabrina Lee here, and most recently by ... Read More
Serfs Up! Unpaid Interns and the Culture of Dependence
I’m posting the column that was scheduled to run in this week’s Harvard Independent… until the issue was canceled. This is an elaboration of my views on the unpaid internship debate, which has been a hot topic on the HPRgument lately. See Max’s initial post and my response. Serfs Up! – Unpaid Interns and the Culture of Dependence The Obama ... Read More
Final Clubs and Gender Relations
In today’s Harvard Crimson, Daniel Herz-Roiphe has written an unusually articulate, well-argued entry in the perennial “Why Final Clubs Are Still Really Bad” essay contest. I’m glad he focused on gender discrimination and inequality, rather than also trying to tackle racial, hetero-normative, and class-based elitism. Those other forms of discrimination are equally important, but I think they’re pretty low-hanging fruit. ... Read More
Why Coakley Never Had a Chance
The article I wrote with Peter recently went up, and I had a few thoughts that I wanted to add. I’m from Massachusetts — Plymouth to be exact — so this election was pretty much the only big news for the greater part of our J-term. This was bound to be one of the big new stories, simply due to ... Read More
Harvard and the Tea Party
I really don’t understand the impulse among many Harvard students (if the Crimson is any guide) to pat the Tea Partiers on the head and say, “I don’t agree with you, but you’re totally what this country is all about.” No, they’re not. They’re just crazy. Do they sometimes “ask the right questions”? Yes, absolutely. Reading Monday’s illuminating New York ... Read More
Obama’s Problems with the White Working Class
John Judis of the New Republic thinks that President Obama has trouble with the white working-class because he’s a yuppie at heart. I think that this is definitely one of Obama’s major problems with this demographic, but I’d add that his yuppie-ness combines with a couple of other factors to create the problem. Specifically, I think his race does hurt ... Read More
The Average Man’s Office
The everyday values of George W. BushBy Ian Merrifield ’12 Much of George W. Bush’s success in the 2000 and 2004 elections came from his remarkable ability to connect with American voters. Compared to Al Gore and John Kerry, President Bush looked and sounded much more like someone whom the typical American voter would “like to have a beer with.” ... Read More
A Historical Perspective on the 2008 Election
I was recently reading the Harvard Independent (a mistake, I know), and one of the writers had a piece discussing two widely-read articles over the summer trashing students from Harvard and other Ivy League universities. I skimmed through most of it, and what really struck me was a passage mentioning Harvard students’ homogenized, unfailingly reasoned and moderate political positions. It ... Read More
