A central premise of conservative ideology is that free markets are better than government at allocating societal resources.
A case in point is offered this week by the government’s absurd decision to grant coronavirus bailouts to extremely wealthy universities such as Harvard. President Trump is lamenting the fact that Harvard, which has a $40 billion endowment, received $9 million in federal coronavirus funding, even as it was letting go its cafeteria workers. Trump has demanded that the university repay the sum. Harvard says it will not.
But here’s a suggestion that should earn favor from both sides. Why doesn’t Harvard ask its patron and friend, the Chinese Communist Party, to offset the grant?
OK, I’m being slightly tongue-in-cheek. But only slightly. Because under the premiership of current Harvard President Larry Bacow, Harvard has fully enveloped itself under the loving care of the CCP hammer and sickle.
As I’ve noted, Bacow used a March visit to Beijing to celebrate Harvard’s partnership with Peking University. There, Bacow lauded his academic hosts for their cultivation of a university “where individuals are encouraged both to listen and to speak…” Bacow apparently does not care that Peking University is headed up by a senior Chinese intelligence officer, Qui Shuiping. Qui isn’t there to cultivate free thought. He’s there to ensure that China’s formerly finest university becomes a breeding ground for new intelligence service officers and agents, and a source of absolute loyalty to the Communist Party.
As I say, I don’t seriously expect Harvard to ask China to pay back the U.S. government. Still, we should use this moment to remind ourselves that Harvard chose Xi Jinping’s China as an ally. We should also note that this delusional and dangerous decision has reverberated through Harvard’s once hallowed halls.
In January, we had the Harvard chemistry chairman, who was charged with lying about his secret ties to China.
We’ve seen the university embrace that most awful of scholarly failings, allowing emotion and political bias to destroy academic prospect. Harvard simultaneously entertains lesser minds who have, to borrow from Orwell, more equal attitudes than others.
When it comes to commencement speeches, Harvard’s celebration for the liberal world order seeks presentation over principle.
So yes, Trump may be kidding himself that Harvard will ever pay the government back. But Harvard has a far deeper problem. Kidding itself that academic curiosity and open-mindedness are compatible with Xi’s totalitarian state.
