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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 21, 2023

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He said he went to Harvard on scholarship? I’m fairly certain non of the top 15 schools offer academic scholarships. Though need based exists. And only the ones that play D-1 sports offer athletic scholarships. Possible he got a private scholarship of some sort.

Fwiw I’m not a huge fan. He lacks experience and does have some grifter qualities. I’d still vote for him if he’s the one who can beat Trump in a primary. Desantis is far more battle tested for the governing part. But Vivek is far better at running the circus and entertaining that a lot of the gop base seems to want.

I do think against Biden he would win the election and be against the ideologies I don’t like. The gop base in my view would show up. 1.35% of America is of Indian descent I assume he would get 90-100% of that vote. Plus, better performance with all middle/east and Asian voters which in tight elections should be enough. And do better with other PMC parts of the current dem coalition.

Vivek might be the leading VP candidate now. They will want to add color or a female for the spot. I don’t see Desantis wanting to be Trumps VP. It just seems like career ruiner unless you are a grifter.

all middle/east and Asian voters

His ancestry might get him fewer votes from Chinese-Americans than if he were just another white guy. There's some animosity there, especially among tech workers. Indians are overrepresented in management roles and will sometimes reward their other Indian friends while scapegoating their Chinese workers.

Maybe I still think on net it would be a plus maybe more for not Chinese and some Middle East.

Ivy league is D1 but does not offer athletic scholarships. Yes need based and many merit ones exist at harvard and other ivies. All the top Ivies and Stanford and other elite schools boast about how high % of their students receive at least some aid

I am seeing zero merit based scholarships from Harvard.

https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works/types-aid

https://scholarships360.org/scholarships/ivy-league-scholarships/#:~:text=Harvard%20does%20not%20offer%20any%20merit-based%20aid%2C%20and,you%20might%20qualify%20for%20almost%20a%20full%20ride.

This one says no merit based scholarships. Based on parents job descriptions he would not have been eligible for need based scholarships. Though Wikipedia said he got a post grad scholarship from some Soros foundation so maybe that’s what he referred to.

I just assumed that saying he got a scholarship to Harvard was boasting about how smart he was at that age, to be academically able enough to win a scholarship to a prestige institution. Not that he needed the money or whatever to get in.

The details do seem to be fuzzy; the Soros Fellowship that helped pay for Yale Law School is clear and traceable, but the 'Harvard scholarship' isn't defined anywhere, so maybe it is confusing the Fellowship to Yale with him going to Harvard:

Ramaswamy’s opposition to affirmative action has been one of the main pillars of his presidential campaign, alongside his fight against “wokeness.” He has criticized race-based admissions as a “cancer on our national soul” and pledged to end them if elected president. Curiously, Ramaswamy received substantial support from the Soros Fellowship for New Americans in 2011 during his time as a graduate student at Yale Law School, according to The Daily Beast. The fellowship, backed by the family of George Soros, is intended to provide opportunities and equity to immigrants and children of immigrants, aiming to level the playing field for historically marginalized groups.

Despite receiving support from the fellowship, Ramaswamy seems to have attempted to distance himself from it. The media reported, citing a Mediate story by Isaac Schorr, that he paid to have information about the fellowship removed from his Wikipedia page. This move raises questions about the candidate’s discomfort with his own association with a program that aligns with the very principles he opposes.

The fellowship’s selection process reflects a holistic approach, considering factors beyond just academic grades, aiming to support students who have overcome obstacles and demonstrated potential for success. This approach bears resemblance to the admissions process used by institutions like Harvard, which considers various aspects of applicants, including race, to create a more equitable environment, the Daily Beast reported.