The global elites are loosing their most sacred cow, Harvard, and they can’t handle it. Their sense of entitlement has been crushed and they are enraged.
Hi Ally, there is a definite sense of loss being felt just now by the cneter-left Wilsonian blob around the West, not least in the US. My Venice trip to see the blob’s representatives felt like a wake and in a way it was; for an old, failed order, desperate to cling to its prerogatives, even as they know their hold on political, economic, social and cultural power grows increasingly tenuous. I agree that what’s happening with Harvard is part of this sense of loss as well as this sense of entitlement. We will chronicle it all!
Loss is definitely the right word, across the board. Academia, politics, bureaucrats, media, thinktankers/pr-folks… it’s almost laughable how they fight tooth and nail to defend their privileged positions in a system designed to keep each other in power. Laughable because they don’t seem to realise the naked hypocrisy of their arguments. Only almost as their antiques are hurting entire societies.
Final comment: there needs to be a comprehensive overhaul of all tax exemptions: specifically the 501 (c) (3) tax exemption has been abused by the likes of Gates & Soros (and others). Today 501 (c) (3) are chiefly money launderers, even sponsor terrorism, besides buying corrupt political services with campaign funding.
Abolish the tax exemptions, broaden the tax base, reduce distortions in the fiscal regime, increase tax thresholds and lower tax rates for everyone else. 15% would be a leading tax rate in the OECD and pull more foreign capital to the USA.
Agreed Erik, it is also the best way to drain the swamp in general. Corruption and lobbying cannot flourish without the massive/unfair/economically unwise number of expeditions in the impossible-to-fathom US tax code. Doing away with them and lowering the rates (the latter a popular move) is the key to real reform
I’ve lectured at Harvard a couple if times and must say, I felt distinctly underwhelmed by both the calibre of the students and what they knew. I think if DOGE had a good look at how Harvard spent the federal funding (entirely within its purview) USAID stories would come out daily; not a bad course of policy action
There are far more strings attached to the money universities and others take from Saudi Arabia and from China.
Russia does not spend money on foreign universities. It barely spends money on its own.
Europe spends more money on foreign universities than on its own universities. Once again, the dumbest of the lot.
In fact, hardly any of the university money is actually spent on teaching or research, so go figure where that money ends?
Another reason to cut taxes and put Washington DC (& Brussels) on a starvation diet. Cut taxes and cut debt. The economy will grow all the more. People get to spend their own wallet and look for quality in education.
What on earth happened there? I always rather liked your principled view that the cure for free speech was more free speech not less. Take a step back. Threatening to change an entire funding and admissions structure to punish one of America’s most world-respected academic institutions because you don’t like the views of a minority of crazies amongst the student body and teaching staff is pretty much doing Hamas’s work for it - and grotesquely overestimates the influence of that minority. There are plenty of laws that protect people from intimidation and threats of violence: America should apply them. In democracy, the means are the end, and advocates of blind violence and revenge who live comfortable prosperous lives in western democracies, need to be reminded how they are able to do so.
I’m very happy my initial plans for a life in academia didn’t work out. It was becoming obvious two decades ago where things were heading. I recall how among phd students and junior academic staff it was not only acceptable but even fashionable to style oneself as an ‘academic activist’.
Today Harvard posted on X: "No government – regardless of which party is in power – should dictate what private universities can teach, who they can admit and hire, and what areas of study and research they can pursue. – Chairman Alan Garber".
Answer: if you are a private company, how come you take billions from the state? It’s time that you put your money where your mouth is and stop being publicly funded.
For places like Harvard that want to fight, we should say: we have given you this much money over the past 20 years in grants and tax breaks, now you return it, which will come to 100s billions.
To repay that we will take ownership of your campuses. We paid for them, we can pass a law to put it back in public ownership. Easy.
Why do elite universities get tax breaks? The UK just stopped tax breaks for private schools, which was seen as for the common good.
Elite universities are companies not connected to the country or doing things to benefit the country. They are ivory towers that provide more for the world than the country, and giving them a tax break is a joke.
It’s time to remove all universities tax breaks and grants. Then only give them money for doing specific things in the countries interest.
Entirely agree, Zo; as I said, Harvard is best thought of now as a vast store of money…connected to a university. Given its demonstrated DEI views, it is not acting neutrally in the public interest and should be taxed with the rest of its sector
50 years ago universities were public institutions, now they are international companies, and they should be taxed accordingly. No public money and no tax breaks.
Let’s hope that Trump does this soon! That will be a good day for America, let’s hope Europe follows.
The global elites are loosing their most sacred cow, Harvard, and they can’t handle it. Their sense of entitlement has been crushed and they are enraged.
Hi Ally, there is a definite sense of loss being felt just now by the cneter-left Wilsonian blob around the West, not least in the US. My Venice trip to see the blob’s representatives felt like a wake and in a way it was; for an old, failed order, desperate to cling to its prerogatives, even as they know their hold on political, economic, social and cultural power grows increasingly tenuous. I agree that what’s happening with Harvard is part of this sense of loss as well as this sense of entitlement. We will chronicle it all!
Loss is definitely the right word, across the board. Academia, politics, bureaucrats, media, thinktankers/pr-folks… it’s almost laughable how they fight tooth and nail to defend their privileged positions in a system designed to keep each other in power. Laughable because they don’t seem to realise the naked hypocrisy of their arguments. Only almost as their antiques are hurting entire societies.
Final comment: there needs to be a comprehensive overhaul of all tax exemptions: specifically the 501 (c) (3) tax exemption has been abused by the likes of Gates & Soros (and others). Today 501 (c) (3) are chiefly money launderers, even sponsor terrorism, besides buying corrupt political services with campaign funding.
Abolish the tax exemptions, broaden the tax base, reduce distortions in the fiscal regime, increase tax thresholds and lower tax rates for everyone else. 15% would be a leading tax rate in the OECD and pull more foreign capital to the USA.
Agreed Erik, it is also the best way to drain the swamp in general. Corruption and lobbying cannot flourish without the massive/unfair/economically unwise number of expeditions in the impossible-to-fathom US tax code. Doing away with them and lowering the rates (the latter a popular move) is the key to real reform
Harvard is very mediocre in the positive sciences.
MIT is the better place in Boston for that.
I’ve lectured at Harvard a couple if times and must say, I felt distinctly underwhelmed by both the calibre of the students and what they knew. I think if DOGE had a good look at how Harvard spent the federal funding (entirely within its purview) USAID stories would come out daily; not a bad course of policy action
There are far more strings attached to the money universities and others take from Saudi Arabia and from China.
Russia does not spend money on foreign universities. It barely spends money on its own.
Europe spends more money on foreign universities than on its own universities. Once again, the dumbest of the lot.
In fact, hardly any of the university money is actually spent on teaching or research, so go figure where that money ends?
Another reason to cut taxes and put Washington DC (& Brussels) on a starvation diet. Cut taxes and cut debt. The economy will grow all the more. People get to spend their own wallet and look for quality in education.
What on earth happened there? I always rather liked your principled view that the cure for free speech was more free speech not less. Take a step back. Threatening to change an entire funding and admissions structure to punish one of America’s most world-respected academic institutions because you don’t like the views of a minority of crazies amongst the student body and teaching staff is pretty much doing Hamas’s work for it - and grotesquely overestimates the influence of that minority. There are plenty of laws that protect people from intimidation and threats of violence: America should apply them. In democracy, the means are the end, and advocates of blind violence and revenge who live comfortable prosperous lives in western democracies, need to be reminded how they are able to do so.
I’m very happy my initial plans for a life in academia didn’t work out. It was becoming obvious two decades ago where things were heading. I recall how among phd students and junior academic staff it was not only acceptable but even fashionable to style oneself as an ‘academic activist’.
Didn’t expect things to go this far though.
Today Harvard posted on X: "No government – regardless of which party is in power – should dictate what private universities can teach, who they can admit and hire, and what areas of study and research they can pursue. – Chairman Alan Garber".
Answer: if you are a private company, how come you take billions from the state? It’s time that you put your money where your mouth is and stop being publicly funded.
For places like Harvard that want to fight, we should say: we have given you this much money over the past 20 years in grants and tax breaks, now you return it, which will come to 100s billions.
To repay that we will take ownership of your campuses. We paid for them, we can pass a law to put it back in public ownership. Easy.
They belong to us, time to show them that.
Why do elite universities get tax breaks? The UK just stopped tax breaks for private schools, which was seen as for the common good.
Elite universities are companies not connected to the country or doing things to benefit the country. They are ivory towers that provide more for the world than the country, and giving them a tax break is a joke.
It’s time to remove all universities tax breaks and grants. Then only give them money for doing specific things in the countries interest.
Entirely agree, Zo; as I said, Harvard is best thought of now as a vast store of money…connected to a university. Given its demonstrated DEI views, it is not acting neutrally in the public interest and should be taxed with the rest of its sector
Yes, very much agreed John.
50 years ago universities were public institutions, now they are international companies, and they should be taxed accordingly. No public money and no tax breaks.
Let’s hope that Trump does this soon! That will be a good day for America, let’s hope Europe follows.
That is an insane amount of money…..
Yes, Terri, it sure is; it shows how desperately they are invested in DEI and anti-semitism, whatever the Supreme Court says. Truly appalling
If you let the father of the bride pay for the wedding, you can be sure he’ll want a say in the guest list.
I know that from learned experience!
I paid for my wedding to avoid anyone's interference.
Properly Bismarckian, Dianne!
Thanks John, I'll take that.
Does he get a say on the groom?
Speaking personally I managed to forestall that!
Absolutely. Surely, one has to ask him for his blessing first!
Nothing is as daunting as domestic politics
Opp's ....