The New Republic has reprinted a wonderful Depression-era essay by John Dewey about the collapse of what he calls the “romanticism of business”: But it was just at this point that the new romanticism of business so cleverly came in. Human imagination had never before conceived anything so fantastic as the idea that every individual is … Read more
I remember the day when John McCain used to be that Republican that we Democrats kind of liked. Then came the 2008 presidential campaign. I can’t exactly fault McCain for steering hard to the right; he was, after all, trying to win the Republican primary and then energize the party’s base in the general election. … Read more
On February 3, Martin Kramer, visiting scholar at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center, gave a six-minute speech at the annual Herzliya Conference in Herzliya, Israel (discussed by Jeremy below). In that short amount he time, he provided a clear call for the West to curb Gaza’s exploding population by ending pro-natal subsidies for Gazans: “Aging populations reject radical … Read more
So the Senate passed a jobs bill today by a vote of 70-28. In policy terms, this isn’t big news. The CBO estimates the bill will cost some $15 billion, a fortune to you and I, but a pittance in Washington terms. In any case, the moneys allocated pale in comparison to the $500-600 billion … Read more
I hope I’m not too late to the party, but I wanted to address Sam and Kathy on Newsweek’s Harvard and religion article. They both agree that Harvard should implement a religion requirement, but a careful look at General Education’s mission reveals no room for such a requirement. In specific, I took issue with Kathy’s … Read more
Harvard Weatherhead fellow Martin Kramer’s recent remarks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have created some controversy in the blogosphere. Media Matters’ M.J. Rosenberg insinuated in blog posts on The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo that Kramer was “advocating Palestinian genocide” when he suggested that “the West [should stop] providing pro-natal subsidies for Palestinians with refugee … Read more
In his post “Harvard’s Supposed Crisis of Faith,” Sam Barr criticizes Lisa Miller’s recent Newsweek article about the study of religion at Harvard: “Of course religion is important to study, …even or especially if you’re a nonbeliever. But I also said, or implied, that she was wasting her time with this article, because religion is … Read more
I think Glenn Greenwald is quite right about this. The Democratic Party has spent the last few years more or less conspicuously failing to deliver on every single one of its campaign promises. I count cap-and-trade, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the end of the Iraq War, a restoration of civil liberties, the closing of Guantanamo … Read more
We began The HPRgument with the goal of creating a new space on campus for lively discussion of the things that matter — political, cultural, or Harvardian Since we began three weeks ago, debate on this site has been spirited and engaged: we’ve taken on the racial politics of Avatar, praised Obama’s “shrewd” bank tax, … Read more
HuffPost College, a new offshoot of the budding online media empire, launched today. Like the regular HuffPost, it is a strange but fascinating blend of serious news and opinion (“Majoring in Debt,” “Why Historically Black Colleges Remain Relevant”) and scintillating gossip and tabloid fare (“Camo Condoms to Infiltrate College Campuses,” “Cornell Mistakenly Disposes Animal Remains … Read more