Notes from a Relative Nobody
In general, I try not to highlight posts that rip into me, but since I also try to run this blog fairly, once in a while I'll break with my policy of self-preservation.
For example...
An anonymous poster below writes:
You do realize that your obsession with Larry Summers is really weird, right?
Another thing - man, you have a huge ego. "I could have lived without" you, a relative nobody who didn't even go to Harvard, passing judgment on a man who's infinitely more qualified and accomplished than you ever will be.
A relative nobody who didn't even go to Harvard. Ouch!
That smarts.
It's true that, like the last three presidents of Harvard, I didn't go to Harvard College. I did, however, go to the graduate school, although I left (voluntarily) before finishing my doctorate. But I was there for three years and still have several good friends and lots of warm memories from that time. Though I wasn't an undergrad, I did date one pretty seriously (though not, just so you don't get the wrong idea, one of my students).
As to the matter of obsession, well...no. But thanks for reading the blog enough to think so.
Larry Summers is a very interesting character, and he's hardly been laying low since leaving the presidency. So, since this blog is in large part about Harvard, I cover what he's up to. Summers is also a powerful man, and the record of his use of power is deeply mixed—if you don't believe me, read Joe Stiglitz's book, Globalization and Its Discontents—which is another good reason to pay attention to him. Simple as that.
Do I have a huge ego? Nah. That's one reason I post Monday Morning Zen—to remind myself that we humans are all small and insignificant creatures on this planet, no better and frequently worse than many of our fellow animals. (Also, seals are cute.) It's a good way to start the week.
But because of my professional training, I do read pieces of writing from an editor's point of view. Summers' paragraph on why he cared more about social justice than Friedman did started to turn a warm remembrance into a piece that was more about Summers, and in my most humble opinion, that paragraph should have been trimmed or deleted.
