…but it gets harder and harder to convince people of that every time an alum decides that it’s really cute to humblebrag about their Harvard pedigree by defending it in an incoherent way.
Take this Washington Post article by Alexandra Petri on Occupy Harvard, for example, which is getting a lot of sharelove by Harvard folks, and especially by some of the 46 (!) mutual friends we have on Facebook, so I clicked on it. This article is so fucking asinine and badly written, I don’t even.
It’s true that Harvard is no longer AS elitist as it once was. Its wonderful financial aid opportunities have resulted in a much more diverse student body, but that does not allow THE (TAX-EXEMPT) INSTITUTION of Harvard (the first corporation in the United States!) to be relieved of all social duty to its neighbors, staff, and aforementioned students.
Say what you will about the methods and the constituency of the protests, but their claims are very legitimate. Pay the janitors a living wage like they’ve been demanding for ten years. Stop investing in awful companies that are wrecking the world. Stop teaching our undergrads that neoliberal economics is the end all be all. While we’re at it, maybe we could also do a better job of being respectful while colonizingexpanding our campus, next time that comes up?
I became particularly aggravated when the writer started talking about the Econ 10 walk-out. She writes that the students protesting the narrowness of the economics curriculum are in the wrong because: “surely the events since 2008 have been a vivid and painful reminder of how dangerous it is to entrust the world economy to people without a firm grasp on economics.”
HEY, GUESS WHAT. Those people without a firm grasp on economics that fucked up the world economy? A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THOSE PEOPLE sat quietly through Econ 10 or its analog at another top college, and then graduated with good grades in the department! Talk about intro to irony!
My favorite part is: “The tents aren’t there because of any definite grievance. Sure, the movement lists several. It is always possible to generate a definite grievance no matter where you turn up. Harvard, for instance, does not pay its janitors enough, or at least this is what I hear from the protests. “
How the fuck did homegirl pass Expos with writing that could have come out of a Rick Perry speech?? And she’s a HUMOR writer? I guess this was funny, in that it didn’t make any fucking sense.
I graduated from Harvard College, I stand in solidarity with the 99%, and I am so fucking embarrassed by this dumb shit. I don’t normally think long-winded rants are productive, but in this case I think we need to show people that not all Harvard grads are clueless. Other Harvard grads who are still capable of reasonable thinking and competent writing, I encourage you to throw your voice into the mix as well!
AMEN SISTER. PREACH IT!
But no seriously, I just read the article and I have no idea what sort of a point she was trying to make, close to an incoherent ramble.
haha! the article was plain awful.
the econ thing was idiotic. She didn’t bother to pay attention to the reason they walked out. It’s because this class- required, I believe- is taught by one of the main & most dogmatic preachers of the ideology and vision of econ that DIRECTLY LED TO THE ECONOMIC CRISIS. So it’s the opposite of her point. just like all the rest of her points. What, maybe she’s right about Harvard’s standards, they let her in with reading comprehension and logic skills that bad?
Awesome!
My favorite line:
“This article is so fucking asinine and badly written, I don’t even.”