Mirabile Dictu: Haahvaahd Discovers the Joys of Capitalism!

Zohran Mamdani hardest hit? The Democrat nominee for mayor in New York told CNN yesterday that he doesn’t like capitalism because of its ‘distribution of wealth.’ Mamdani wants politicians to become “actors” and to use government power in wealth redistribution more directly: 

CNN: “Do you like capitalism?”

MAMDANI: “No. I have many critiques of capitalism.”

“There must be a better distribution of wealth…” pic.twitter.com/Vaj2mj6qFx

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) June 27, 2025

Socialists love redistribution of wealth by government … right up until non-socialists get elected and redistribute wealth away from the socialists. That’s when they start filing lawsuits to claim entitlement to that wealth, issue panicked statements about the consequences of not allowing them to suck at the government teat, and so on. Eventually, they rediscover the private sector and start wooing capitalists to support them instead.

You might think I’m talking about Bernie Sanders, AOC, and MSNBC. And fair play if you do, but this time it’s Harvard’s turn to rediscover the joys of capitalism:

Harvard University and other top research schools are seeking corporate funders to support their science labs following sweeping cuts to government grants. 

The T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard, which typically gets more than 70% of its annual research dollars from the federal government, lost nearly all of the funding after the Trump administration canceled hundreds of the university’s research grants and contracts. The school expected to get more than $200 million this fiscal year. …

Looking to fill the funding gaps, faculty, trustees and administrators at Harvard, New York University and other large research universities are ramping up conversations with big technology and pharmaceutical companies in efforts to drive more corporate funding so research stays active.

This looks like the penultimate act of desperation at Harvard. The ultimate act of desperation would be to spend its own money, from an endowment reportedly worth more than $53 billion. The potential gaps from the Trump administration’s ‘redistribution’ amount to only $10 billion, which would still leave Harvard’s endowment as the largest educational endowment in the US … and still larger than some sovereign wealth funds or their equivalents around the world. 

Actually, let’s walk that back. The truly ultimate act would be to comply with the Trump administration’s enforcement of Titles VI, VII, and IX, end DEI programs, and put an end to anti-Semitic violence and intimidation campaigns on their campus. Harvard could get that ball rolling by stripping Ibrahim Bharmal and Elom Tettey-Tamaklo of their credentials after assaulting Jews on campus in October 2023. Harvard refuses to do even that, however, and insists it’s still entitled to government funds because they’re Haaaahvaahd.

That does raise a question for their prospective corporate partners, however. What major corporations will be willing to kick billions of dollars in donations to a wealthy leftist outfit that rewards anti-Semitic violence on their campuses? What happens when, say, Proctor & Gamble has to answer questions from stockholders about why their funds went to a school that refuses to address their discrimination and bigotry in any meaningful manner? Does Harvard expect Microsoft and Apple to fill in the blanks while the faculty cheers on the “globalize the intifada” crowd? Will Google or Merck want to help cover the gaps while Harvard’s admissions policies penalize Asian-American students?

That’s the funny thing about capitalism. Capital responds to incentives, even if sometimes a bit slowly and imperfectly, where the beneficiaries of socialist ‘redistribution’ just defend their entitlements. Corporate America has already begun abandoning the DEI policies that Harvard is championing in their defiance against the Trump administration. Even Hollywood has quietly backpedaled this year, for the same reason: people hate discrimination in all of its forms, and pressure from both stockholders and consumers have made DEI support untenable for capital. 

So how well has the corporate begging gone for Harvard? Two days ago, the New York Times reported that Harvard wanted to find a face-saving way to capitulate to Trump:

Harvard University, battered by a devastating conflict with the Trump administration that has jeopardized its elite standing, is facing a problem as it weighs a possible truce with President Trump: how to strike a deal without compromising its values or appearing to have capitulated.

The conundrum has bedeviled law firms, tech and media companies and even one of the school’s Ivy League peers. According to three people familiar with the university’s deliberations, it is now shaping internal debates around the school’s freshly resurrected talks with the government. The three people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing negotiations that are supposed to be private.

They’d better come up with something soon, because Harvard’s public-sector school staff will be experiencing the joys of capitalism in the employment market soon:

The Harvard Kennedy School of Government will lay off staff after federal funding cuts and endowment tax threats on Wednesday, according to an email from the dean of the school that was obtained by Fox News Digital.

Without mentioning the Trump administration directly, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein announced in an email to faculty and staff that the cuts were in response to “unprecedented new headwinds” creating “significant financial challenges.” These included a “substantial proposed increase in the endowment tax” and “massive cuts to federal funding of research.”

He also cited the impact on international student enrollment after the administration eliminated the student visa program due to “pro-terrorist conduct” at Harvard’s campus protests. According to the Kennedy School, international students made up 59 percent of the school’s student body last year, and 52 percent on average in the past five years.

Six in ten of the enrollees at the School of Government are foreign students? Hmmmm. Could that be part of the reason why Harvard refuses to comply with the law, end its discriminatory practices, and deal with its anti-Semitic campus environment? I’ve heard of coincidences, but I’m not a big believer in them. 

Anyway, we should all applaud Harvard’s new, and entirely desperate, embrace of capitalism. Maybe they can admit Mamdani to teach him its value, even to socialists. 

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