Views from Crestmont Drive

• Jerry Coyne on Harvard vs the US government and the idea of “viewpoint diversity,” with a response by Steven Pinker;
• Why do conservatives think themselves under-represented in academia? Because they promote ideas that are not true;
• Will there ever be a new consensus? History is moving in a very different way from the standard science fiction vision.
• Robert Reich on the two tipping points for becoming a dictatorship;
• Short takes about federal employees being told to snitch on people with Pride flags; yet another Christian wanting to impose “don’t say gay” on every classroom in America; how “Made in America” dreams are a fantasy; and a ludicrous conservative claim that fluoridated water causes autism.

A long-running theme here, and in American politics, is that conservatives think themselves under-represented in academia. Don’t send your kids to college, the MAGA folks especially say, or they will be become “indoctrinated” [meaning educated] and become lefties. My short explanation of this was at the end of yesterday’s post. Today, Jerry Coyne covers the recent kerfuffle between the Trump Administration and Harvard. The former wants to impose — on a private university — all sorts of ideological guidelines, or else lose government funding for research. This isn’t about the nature of the research, it’s about ideological indoctrination. Harvard must think proper thoughts, and conduct themselves in a way the government approves of, or else. Harvard responded admirably.

Jerry Coyne, 15 Apr 2025: Administration to Harvard: Fix yourself; Harvard to Administration: STFU

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