Political Science Yale vs Harvard

Trnscndr
Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:20:46 +0000

Avrah is right that Yale is more politically influential and successful in Presidential politics than Harvard but more importantly, should that be the case? Clearly, the ideological differences at Yale favor a more Republican form of Patrician politics while Harvard is more Nobles Oblige.

You may say, what is the difference? Well, in directly comparing Bush with Kennedy we can typify it easily. Bush believes it is not necessary to care about what the people want, as he believes he and those of his ilk are more informed and endowed by God with wisdom to lead; “Father Knows Best”.

Kennedy believed he had a responsibility to serve as a direct result of the fortunes given him by society (admittedly unearned). He and other Harvardians feel a social obligation for service and though they do believe in leadership as opposed to followship, there is a sense that they must first lead public opinion before they simply inflict their superior will.

Bush and other Yalees clearly believe (as evidenced by their styles and actions) that the people are ignorant and may always be, so ‘why bother’ to change their hearts and minds before inflicting political will? This is reflected by many Republican administrations and even those of the Dems who studied primarily at Yale. This type elitism is unique to Yale and we even saw it in the styles of the Clintons and Kerry.

Kerry, despite the knowledge his vocabulary was incomprehensible to most Americans, pushed his message forward with the assumption that the masses would be impressed with his superior intelligence and would consequently defer.

Bill and Hillary have regularly ignored the will of the people; Bill with NAFTA and globalization per se and Hillary with immigration.

Yale’s internal socialization emanates from the philosophical differences within their Skull and Bones chapters. Yale more often aligns with the nouveau riche Western counterpart, USC (Haldemann and Ehrlichmann) the center of West coast nouveau riche conservatism.

Harvard is more often old money and represents a more royal approach than that of a dictator.