I've documented Glenn Beck's anti-intellectualism crusade here before, so this little number should come as no surprise. Beck rails against tier one colleges, and Harvard specifically, for having huge endowments. He swears that it has nothing to do with what he sees as liberal indoctrination, even though he can't seem to help himself from mentioning liberal indoctrination throughout the piece. No, no, that's not it. It's just that he wants to "level the playing field," as he puts it. Let's tax the wealthiest universities, and give the money to struggling schools, so that all institutes of higher learning have equal resources. Beyond the fact that it's a little suspicious that a raging capitalist is pushing for educational socialism, what doesn't seem to occur to Beck is that we don't want all universities to be the same. The reason there are top-tier universities is that there are top-tier students. Top-tier students should face greater challenges than lower tier students. Make all universities the same, and you've furthered the notion that higher education is nothing but generic job training, something I'm sure Glenn Beck would love to see codified.
The reason Harvard University and universities like it have large endowments is that it allows them freedom. Their endowments protect the universities from have to cave to political, social or parental pressures. In a capitalist society, anything can be bought, including the principles of higher education. Being worth more than is practical to purchase keeps Harvard University from being bought out by politicians who want to artificially alter campus politics, religious zealots who want to teach intelligent design, and wealthy parents who think their child deserves a higher grade for less effort. So Harvard can go about producing high-quality Harvard graduates from both full-paying students as well as the over 400 students per year who receive scholarships directly from the school.
This is my favorite bit from Beck's piece:
Harvard University, which has the largest endowment in the country, has a total of $34.6 billion. To put into perspective just how much money that is, consider that the largest charitable foundation in the world, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has a total endowment of $37.3 billion.
But while their financial statements may look similar, their missions aren't. The Gates Foundation is working to cure malaria, develop new tuberculosis vaccines, and stop the spread of AIDS. Most of our colleges and universities are only working to spread the radical political views of some of their professors.
Who exactly does Beck think is doing to gruntwork behind these medical breakthroughs? Apparently he's forgotten that, in between all of their classes on enabling the lazy and hating America, Harvard students graduate with degrees. Degrees in things like medicine, molecular biology, chemistry. Who does Beck think is doing that research? $37.3 billion dollars doesn't cure malaria on its own. A quick look at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation site shows that the charity doesn't quite view Harvard with the distaste Beck does, given its donations to the school.
The Change Leadership Group at Harvard Graduate School of Education - $3.6 million
Civil Rights Project at Harvard University - $.2 million
Construction of the Harvard Computer Sciences Center - $10 million
And, as if to prove that Beck doesn't know what he's talking about, the foundation also gave:
$45 million to Harvard Medical School for Tuberculosis Research
$25 million to Harvard School of Public Health for AIDS prevention in Nigeria
Huh. Apparently, the resources available at Harvard University help establish it as a major player in exactly the work Beck lauds the Gates Foundation for doing. So much so, in fact, that the charity gives money to the school. Who'd have thought? Apparently not Glenn Beck.
So, it's a depressing day on the anti-intellectualism front. Can't anybody cheer me up?
Chris Matthews? REALLY?
I guess so. Go Chris. If journalists did this with any regularity, the entire neo-con agenda would be discredited in a week.
1 comments:
Its amazing to me how CNN keeps this guy on the air. More amazing is that he is on the air in 2 prime time slots. I watched him about 2 times over the past 3 years and he is a GIANT BORE!! He should be back on the radio where we do not have to watch him. Actually if he wants to be on TV, it is my understanding that the BOZO the CLOWN character recently passed away. Wow! Glen Beck could easily take over that role except that like many parents of small children, I would not let my children watch his show because I would be afraid that they might hear his half baked and clownish theories on the economy, race relations, running of the government, etc. His views show that at the very least Harvard or any other major University would allow him entry into their schools. Umm...maybe he could go to Sarah Palin's old alma mater ...the Univ. of Idaho..naw..they wouldn't let him in either...maybe he could go over to Mexico to attend the Juarez Mexico University school of economics -- the Mexicans have a bunch of half baked economics programs like sending all their poor people here to live.
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