Whether or not the environment in which one participates in an intellectual activity has much effect on the activity in question is something I can’t properly assess. But recently, I’ve been grazing over the contents of the Harvard Political Review in the bathroom—the eventual resting place for most of these sorts of publications and, not insignificantly, the place where I have the most time for idle reading. I contextualize this not because I suppose anyone cares what I read on the john but because I hope that it is not a confounding variable in my assessment that HPR is a total piece of crap.

Let me back up on this a second: all in all, HPR has its moments. It’s home to some fantastically well-written pieces and some very polished analysis. What’s incongruous to me, though, is the fact that this is a magazine that’s actually distributed nationally—my Barnes & Noble at home actually purchases it and stocks it on their racks. That’s pretty hard to buy: for all its little gems, HPR is overwhelmingly mediocre. It’s not a horrible magazine in the grand scheme of things, neither is it even vaguely near national-distribution quality. Much of its content is rudimentary, much of its politics banal, and much of its design amateurish. How is it that it makes it onto the national stage?

The answer is prominently displayed on the magazine’s cover: Harvard. We oftentimes speak of the ‘Harvard mythos’ and how it’s useful in attracting attention. The truth in that intuition is fairly potent. But what it means is that we’re all able to use the Harvard name as an intellectual crutch, a badge that exempts us from putting in the hard work of producing and editing high-quality product. What the Harvard title affords is an elision of the connection between quality and recognition by way of a pre-built recognition that exists a priori of the content.

My point in all of this is not to tear down HPR. It’s to offer a quitclaim deed on the Harvard title. It is my sincere hope that what I say and do will live or die (likely die) on the grounds of its merits alone. I cannot offer up my intellectual material as anything other than a human; the fact that I attend Harvard is inconsequential. May the armor offered by Harvard be easily pierced, so that we each have to discover our responsibility on terms measured out according to the naked standard of ourselves.