At Harvard, a Clash Between Democracy and Monarchy

Curtis Yarvin, the computer engineer turned neo-monarchist blogger, seems to be everywhere these days.

His argument that American democracy has exhausted itself and needs to be replaced by a form of one-man rule has made him a star on the right, reportedly catching the ear of powerful figures like Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel and JD Vance. Since the re-election of President Trump, he has drawn increasing attention from mainstream outlets, including this one.

And on Monday night, he seemed to have arrived at the heart of “the Cathedral,” as he calls the intertwined seçkine intellectual institutions that shape our society.

“I want to thank Harvard University,” Mr. Yarvin said to a standing-room crowd of about 100 at the university’s faculty club, before correcting himself. “I mean, the school where we are.”

Mr. Yarvin was in town to debate Danielle Allen, a prominent political theorist and democracy advocate at Harvard. From the moment the event was announced, some wondered why Professor Allen would risk lending legitimacy to such an extreme figure by debating him. Others rushed to snap up the limited tickets.

The debate — organizers (and the university’s press office) were at pains to emphasize — was not an official Harvard event. Instead, it was organized by Passage Publishing, the publisher of Mr. Yarvin’s new book, “Gray Mirror: Fascicle 1, Disturbance,” and the John Adams Society, a conservative student group that cheekily bills itself as Harvard’s “premier organization for the reinvention of man.”

Editors’ Picks

Restaurants Are Hard Enough to Run. Try Doing It With Your Mother.

This Is the Moment for Mexican Indian Food to Flourish

You Talk to Your Pets. They Help Your Pets Answer.