Civic Virtue and Technocracy at Harvard Kennedy School
by Sam Downing on February 25, 2009 in Opinion
It is a surprising paradox of Kennedy School life: the harder we work to save the world, the lazier we become about improving our school.
Now that we’ve elected President Barack Obama, however, the world can forgive us a bit of navel-gazing since we installed its savior in the White House. In the glow of our optimism about the president we helped elect, our Kennedy School Student Government was right to turn inward last week to survey the students on the state of the school.
The “I am HKS” student survey measures our satisfaction with computer facilities, career planning, and the ease of surfing the Web from the bleacher seats in Starr Auditorium, but we should also take this opportunity to ask deeper questions about the direction our school is headed. I’m referring to the big philosophical questions that a Kennedy School education - in what Ted Kennedy called its “preoccupation with technique” - too often ignores. Read more
Declare Your Independence from the Professional School Uniform
by Sam Downing on December 10, 2008 in Culture
I come from the land of the polar fleece. Seattle, the capital of politeness, has a culture of courtesy, but not one of formal wear. We Seattleites would never think to jaywalk, even in the pouring rain, but we don’t hesitate to wear Birkenstocks and shorts to the symphony. Read more
Latin America is Leading the World in Linking Alternative Energy and International Development. It’s Time the U.S. Paid Attention.
by Sam Downing on October 29, 2008 in Opinion
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (MPA ‘84), speaking at HKS last week, declared the global climate crisis “the defining issue of our time.” This strong pronouncement is not without its critics. Many among us believe our generation’s primary rendezvous with destiny is not to reverse global warming, but to end global poverty. The effort to reverse climate change is important, but it is the global war on poverty that constitutes a truly unprecedented humanitarian challenge and a moral imperative that is, to paraphrase our own Prof. Dani Rodrik, within reach for the first time in human history.
In fact, the two challenges are tightly intertwined. The global climate crisis is fueling research and development into alternative energy sources that have the potential to propel economic growth and cut poverty across the developing world. Read more
Obama’s Kennedy Problem
by Sam Downing on September 17, 2008 in Opinion
Too often political punditry traffics in trash, but this election season, recycling is in vogue. For every new catchphrase, an old saw reminds us that the more campaigns change, the more their storylines abide.
For every flip-flop, there’s a comfortable pair of shoes; for every swift boat, a familiar horse to carry us across the stream. You’ll find a crony capitalist for every earmarxist and a wedge issue for every wide stance. You’ll even hear tales of limousine liberals munching arugula alongside paleoconservatives, but only at the Harvard Faculty Club.
In the flurry of pithy phrases recycling through election commentary this year, two themes deserve credit for offsetting the most carbon emissions:
(1) The battle between experience and change, and
(2) JFK. Read more
