Writer
Guillermo S. Hava
Latest Content
Dissent: At Kempner, Zuckerberg Buys Harvard and Destroys Humanity
We have reason to be skeptical of Zuckerberg as a good steward of ethical AI research, and of the funding system that empowers him to pose as one under the legitimizing Harvard brand.
Bickering with Bok: The Pitfalls of Embracing Philanthropy
That might be the most frustrating thing about the pro-philanthropy worldview: Bok and his supporters never deny that there’s a legitimate moral debate at hand, they never reject the pitfalls of relying heavily on donations (even if they undersell the costs and overrate the benefits). They simply lack the imagination or the will to view beyond our current funding system, discarding concerning trends as “troubling” but “inevitable.”
Mike Bloomberg: The Good Philanthropist?
But because he’s only human, Bloomberg can also be a self-interested agent, one vulnerable to flaws, excessive ambition, and stamp-your-name-on-everything narcissism. He is a perfect example of the dangers of overly concentrated power, of how massive wealth can excessively enable the whims of a single individual.
The Greatest Show: Harvard’s Trip to Saudi Arabia
So Harvard put together a glamorous trip to Saudi Arabia, one that was characterized by soft propagandistic efforts and the reflexive self-imposed boundaries on the participants' speech. That much is as obvious as it is predictable; a logical continuation of our University’s outreach to a number of less than democratic countries. The more relevant question is whether such ventures are ever a net good.
Tax Avoidance 101 with Leon Black and Jeffrey Epstein
But our institution and its counterparts are trapped in a gold-plated version of the prisoner’s dilemma. Harvard — along with the MoMA and other Black-financed enterprises — could benefit from the increased levels of federal funding afforded by equitable, grift-free taxation. More crucially, they have, or perhaps should have, a duty as society-minded institutions to protect the public’s well-being against the excesses of exorbitant inequality.
A Turkish Academic Bastion Is Collapsing. Who’s Listening?
It’s undeniable that universities are an essential part of any functioning democracy — and that any attempt at dismantling liberal democratic institutions necessarily passes through (or rather over) independent-minded educational institutions. They occupy a dual role, canaries in a coal mine that can also, through their powerful institutional call, help thwart the advance of authoritarian, illiberal policies at home — as our own University did, to its credit, under the Trump administration when it sued to halt new visa policies that would have evicted and barred international students.
McKinsey, Snakes, and the Purpose of a Harvard Education
We have a campus culture that instills a very specific set of normative values. We tell our students what we value — money, power, influence.
Arthur Sackler and A Victim’s Legacy
Arthur M. Sackler might have passed before the Oxycontin was first commercialized — but his innovations in the field of medical marketing were crucial in shaping the aggressive marketing approach that made it a success first, and a tragedy later.
If He Wins
Our University’s politicization (or rather, its acceptance of its unavoidably political character) is crucial to the survival of academia in an increasingly hostile national environment.
Why I Regret Stealing From the Vatican
Even before my Vatican mini-heist, I’d grown used to dealing with the values that such a religious background creates, particularly when it came to queer issues.