Dylan Matthews has a well-meaning but ultimately misguided column in today’s Crimson arguing for compulsory voting. Let’s start with what Dylan gets right. He is absolutely right about this: “One reason why higher economic classes’ interests are so overrepresented in government is that rich people vote at disproportionately high rates, and poor people vote at disproportionately low rates.” He is ... Read More
In today’s Crimson, Dhruv Singhal takes on First Lady Michelle Obama, mocking her “seizure-inducing inanities” and the media’s obsession with her fashion choices. First, let me say that his criticisms of the political media are entirely valid. All the coverage of Obama’s fashion is unnecessary. Dhruv calls this coverage “objectifying scrutiny of her every fashion decision.” No, I’m sorry, “her ... Read More
The Crimson gets it wrong when they accuse American youth of apathy.
I suspected that Wyatt Troia’s editorial piece in The Crimson would drive some political discussion at Harvard. After reading Sam Barr’s response, I think it is telling that Sam essentially cedes Wyatt his point that much of the liberal agenda does not have a Constitutional basis. However, by raising a number of pedantic issues that supposedly highlight infidelity with the Constitution, I ... Read More
Wyatt Troia has a column in the Crimson arguing that the Constitution, as it stands, does not permit many “liberal schemes” (including the health insurance mandate) and that, if liberals want to make their schemes constitutional, they need to pass constitutional amendments. Wyatt correctly notes that the enumerated Congressional powers in Article 1, Section 8, do not include workplace diversity ... Read More
Peter Bozzo writes in today’s Crimson in favor of switching from race-based to class-based affirmative action. He makes a very strong case, but I think he ultimately goes wrong. First, his interpretation of Brown v. Board as a decision rooted in the principle of color-blindness is implausible to me. The heart of the ruling was this passage: “To separate [black ... Read More
In today’s Crimson, Dylan Matthews has a provocative column arguing that Harvard ought to randomize its admissions process. Dylan claims that Harvard’s current admissions system entrenches existing inequalities—including inequalities of talent. Talent, Dylan thinks, is pretty much beyond our control. Channeling John Rawls, Dylan assumes that success in life shouldn’t be “contingent” on “arbitrary factors” like genetic gifts, parental vigilance, ... Read More
I’m not exactly known for my warm feelings towards the Harvard Crimson, but I’ll defend their decision to run an article about the allegations that are swirling around the recent Harvard Republican Club elections. (Brief summary: One of the candidates for president of that club withdrew after he was accused by another candidate of forging an email to several club ... Read More
This column was originally published in the Sept. 30 Harvard Independent. It responds directly to Max’s blog post from the previous week. Harvard’s position on the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, banning the group from campus until “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) is overturned, has always struck me the wrong way. It just doesn’t make sense to punish ROTC cadets for ... Read More
In the last couple years, we at HPR have noticed a growing gender imbalance in the makeup of our staff. Of the 16 current members of the editorial board, only two are female. Among our new crop of writers, the divide is not much better: less than a third of the writers for the fall issue of the HPR will ... Read More
I was disappointed to read The Crimson’s editorial this morning regarding Martin Peretz and the Harvard research fellowship that is apparently going to be endowed in his name. Peretz, the editor-in-chief of The New Republic, recently wrote on his personal blog that “Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims” and that he could not “pretend that [Muslim-Americans] are worthy ... Read More
In an op-ed this morning, Crimson columnist and HPRgument blogger Eli Martin argues that “wind energy is not as perfect as it might appear; a closer inspection reveals that it does not meaningfully reduce our reliance on non-renewable energy sources.” The gist of Eli’s argument is that the “unpredictability of wind power” requires about 80 percent backup power, which “means ... Read More
One question from the ABC/WaPo poll on immigration was, “Would you support or oppose a program giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and meet other requirements?” To my surprise, 57% would support such a program, with 40% opposed. These results, which as with all poll results ... Read More
At Harvard’s Reserve Officer Training Corps commissioning ceremony this Wednesday, Drew Faust urged Harvard’s class of 2010 future officers to: Help reinforce the long tradition of ties between Harvard and the military, as we share hopes that changing circumstances will soon enable us to further strengthen those bonds. What does the vague latter half of her sentence mean? By “changing ... Read More
Sometimes the only way to properly criticize someone with ridiculous views is to quote them at length, and then, channeling Seth and Amy from “Saturday Night Live,” say with as much surprise and disdain as one can muster, “Really?!” I found myself saying “Really?!” a lot this morning when I read Rachel Wagley’s “defense of manliness” in the Harvard Crimson. ... Read More
