Such a hypnotic speaker, and unlike most hypnotic speakers, his comments had substance
@smotnick
4 жыл бұрын
Too much vitriol for hypnotism.
@richwiedeman3128
Жыл бұрын
@@smotnick what you're calling vitriol, is what was already addressed, as substance. Hypnotic cadence often carries an empty speech meant to sound good but convey nothing of meaning from a talented but uninformed speaker. Yet in Hitchen's case, he always had a point to convey, and often erudite knowledge to promulgate along the way inside of the disarming smooth delivery. That said, sometimes he knew when to break the spell to lob a bomb for extra impact, but he was able to deliver his vitriol just as smoothly.
@lawrencegreenwood4002
5 жыл бұрын
Almost weekly I wonder what Hitchens would have thought about the world we now live in.
@johnottr
5 жыл бұрын
I do the same myself all the time.
@vishnudestroyer
5 жыл бұрын
Are you mostly attracted to his British accent, the mere sound of which causes many Americans to attribute a full standard deviation of IQ points to the speaker? Or do you mostly miss his full throated defense of the Iraq war which killed over 1 million people, the Afghanistan war which killed tens of thousands of people, of any of the other 6-7 other countries America is intermittently attacking (Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya, etc). Or do you fantasize about Hitchens telling all who would listen why the US should attack Iran? I for one am quite glad he is no more.
@johnottr
5 жыл бұрын
@@vishnudestroyer I never did understand his defense of the Iraq war, on that issue I did not agree with him. I did however agree with him on many other issues. I am quite sad he is gone.
@lawrencegreenwood4002
5 жыл бұрын
@@vishnudestroyer No, as a non American, and someone with a fine accent myself, I recognise that he was a person with whom I didn't 100% agree with on every issue. You see, you and I must be different like that. I can disagree with someone's various views without being acidic. I understand, for example that his advocation of the neoconservative opinions surrounding Iraq were only neoconservative in a coincidental sense. They were a product of his deep appreciation for Orwell, and his anti-authoritarian absolutism that grew from it. I share that opinion, but I disagree in the case of Iraq because I don't agree that foreign military intervention is a good thing at all in the immense majority of cases. I'm sure that your lambasting of Christopher has good intentions where you come off as though you're sticking up for the oppressed, but you actually come off sounding a little myopic and fanatical. His whole point is that involvement in Afghanistan, for example, was the lesser of two evils. Google 'Taliban Treatment Of Women' if you think that the Taliban aren't objectively evil and detestable. Again, I'm not in favour of foreign wars, but I'm also not in favour of attacking those who can't turn a blind eye to the harder truths in issues. Ask the families of the gassed Kurds if intervention in Iraq was a good idea. Ask the women who were not stoned to death as a result of US intervention in Afghanistan if that said intervention was a good thing for them. It's more complex than you're portraying it. Your whole effort is cheap.
@vishnudestroyer
5 жыл бұрын
He was unapologetic for the mass slaughter of 1 million Iraqis because of “Orwell”. He continued to support the mass killing and colonization of Afghanistan until the day he died because of the “lesser of two evils”. Hitchens is an unintelligent person’s idea of what an intelligent person sounds like. Not a serious person.
@codent
5 жыл бұрын
"the narcissism of small differences" .
@johndowns3839
5 жыл бұрын
It's doubtful whether they were small differences.
@wellesradio
5 жыл бұрын
John Downs He means that the similarities were more numerous than the differences. Imagine a twin in green and a twin in red. One fat, one thin. We tend to enlarge the differences. That's the narcissism part.
@bearlytraincot4131
5 жыл бұрын
Lol. In either mind there can be only one left standing.
@johnnycook2384
5 жыл бұрын
John Downs I completely agree. As Hitchens observers, “ Their differences may have been narrow in scope but they were very deeply rooted,” and therefore they weren’t small. Their differences on religion alone were enough to define them as completely different and antagonistic.
@wellesradio
5 жыл бұрын
Johnny Cook The idea Hitchens Freud and Hitchens are trying to make is that they ARE small differences, but our own narcissism enlarges them because they form a part of our self-made identity which is very vulnerable. If it weren’t for our narcissism we would realize how trite it ultimately all is.
@randyjohnson6073
Жыл бұрын
so missed. so needed.
@notreallydavid
Жыл бұрын
Good to be granted a glimpse of Mr Hitchens' current reading pile.
@matthewvalentinas
5 жыл бұрын
Miss this dude. Would have loved his opinion on matters during this uncivil time.
@not2tees
5 жыл бұрын
Yes, you can't help but feel his absence these days.
@gouldney1
5 жыл бұрын
Matthew Valentinas As a distant foreigner, there does seem plenty in the clip that paints a backdrop to today’s US.
@frederickdahl2780
5 жыл бұрын
Hitchens would no doubt rail against the progressive assholes trying to destroy this country with their socialist bullshit.Hed hate their destruction of free speech.
@BillMorganChannel
5 жыл бұрын
I agree with you that he would see the need of love and Jesus Christ in the world today.
@icemachine79
5 жыл бұрын
@@frederickdahl2780 He would rail against them. But not because they're socialists.
@TheRealBozz
4 жыл бұрын
His mastery of the English language meant that even in brevity, Hitch could paint vast mental landscapes. What a wordsmith. Miss you man.
@MrJamberee
3 жыл бұрын
Hitchens is obsessed with religion and his hatred for it. He’s tiresome
@TheRealBozz
3 жыл бұрын
@@MrJamberee Yep. And that part of him intrigued me for a while, but militant atheism soon wore me out as well. He was correct about religion, but the incessant attacks seemed forced. You cant deny that he could turn a phrase though.
@jamiesharp152
3 жыл бұрын
@@MrJamberee Why do we cringe when the church is challenged? He is an explorer showing us a new path...with no divine light to guide us.
@TheRealBozz
3 жыл бұрын
@Jamil Ebdeen His eloquence is unassailable. I will be kind and not call your sanity into question.
@roughhabit9085
3 жыл бұрын
When you start preaching atheism then you are kind of missing the point and there is not one shred of civility in mocking other peoples beliefs.
@VesicantMorgues
4 жыл бұрын
With all the covid interviews taking place at the moment it makes me laugh how people setup up a small bookcase behind them with an even smaller amount of books to show the world how well read they are. Christopher Hitchens read so much that bookcases were useless.
@samdavepollard
4 жыл бұрын
Yes, it's fun to see all those books in all those backgrounds these days. I don't know if they exactly set them up but they for sure know what they're doing when they just happen to pick that room in their house for the interview. I read the other day that's there now a company (here in the UK) that will sell you books by the yard so you can get your Zoom background looking just right; maybe there have been such firms for a while but they're certainly having a good pandemic :-)
@habibtalukter5895
4 жыл бұрын
this is so fucking true, I was saying this to my wife earlier. its so transparent, just makes them look insecure
@kh23797
4 жыл бұрын
@@samdavepollard Amazon sells "Faux Books for Bookshelf", amazingly. We were told the Kindle, etc. would mark the end of the book era but when you're at the beach, that dog-eared old paperback in your jeans pocket is tough as old boots and won't run out of juice. Mind you, I also find having a good novel on the smartphone very handy on a train ride.
@samdavepollard
4 жыл бұрын
@@kh23797 yes, i like my kindle - read far more since i got one, for some reason, and at my age, being able to ramp up the font size is handy - but after reading ebooks for a while there's undeniably a pleasure in fondling a 'real' book once more; faux books - i imagine it won't be long before someone offers a drop down menu, listing any number of different personas you might wish to project and they'll ship you a bunch of appropriate books (well, the spines, anyway ... )
@brianfinnegan664
4 жыл бұрын
Just what he read that day
@poundshopcicero3089
Жыл бұрын
I miss Mr Hitchins very much. He was an example to us all. Reasoned thought and debate are to be cherished as it saves a whole lot of heartache and misery.
@cameroncameron2826
Жыл бұрын
He and the others cost everyone their right to THINK INDEPENDENTLY. Its a shame then that he was actually modelling the post truth era with founding father thought crime richard dawkins & his band. Due to their success with banning the christians, everyones freedom to think freely has been erased. How ? - only Christians are not allowed to pray in public / wear a cross / carry a Bible - NO OTHER RELIGION has such thought crime in place. You new atheist disciples of jesus dawkins & holy hitchens thought it would all stop there did you. NO !! - not once a model for thought crime had been beta tested with two control groups ( new atheist disciples who provided the bans consensus & ofc the christian rats in the maze ). Aside from that rarely was Hitchens even right about a political prediction as history has shown. He didn't even have the sense to see that after christianity was upended by them, the establishment would only ship in another abrahamic religion in its place! The amazing thing about fans of new atheism is that it praises and gushes at EXACTLY the persons that cost the freedom in plain sight but you still think religion ruined your lives! The whole thing is a bad joke & you people even have a metaphysical philosopher helping out who swears that this psychic art was more than adequate to search the universe by remote viewing to check for a God. Not his choice of words, but he does state all the time that Metaphysics is a reasonable way to eliminate a god. It isn't! - thats just psychic mumbo jumbo & btw i'm an atheist ( NOT a ridiculous NEW ATHEIST) Anyway - what did you expect from people who are open Radical Marxists ?
@ronaldnixon8226
10 ай бұрын
Trump would demolish this loser Hitchen's in a debate.
@karlernstbuddenbrock371
4 ай бұрын
As a Christian I miss him. An honest atheist is a very rare thing, and he shares a rare transparency with the likes of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard.
@davidantonsavage6207
Жыл бұрын
Really sad to have Hitchens gone far too soon, and to know that here in May of 2023, Kissinger will reach his 100th birthday on the 27th.
@Padybu
Жыл бұрын
I take solace in the fact that Kissinger has been dead inside for decades and Hitchens lives on
@hughjass8430
Жыл бұрын
No one will eulogize Kissinger in youtube comments when he's gone. In this way, Hitch will live on and inspire new generations
@donaldobrien9171
Жыл бұрын
Many reptiles live a long time
@infinitejest441
9 ай бұрын
@@donaldobrien9171 wonder if Kissinger can still lick his eyeballs
@Ma1q444
5 ай бұрын
Kissinger is the goat, hitchens didn’t accomplish much
@pianobanter
4 жыл бұрын
Charles Lindbergh... “a lot of people found him sexually charismatic, possibly not excluding Gore ... or Bill” and with a wry smile Hitchens says what many others were thinking.
@chrisn7259
4 жыл бұрын
Actually, I always found Hitchens sexually charismatic.
@nuqwestr
4 жыл бұрын
Vidal and Buckley were both born in 1925 and were young boys during the time of America First and Lindberg's political speeches of the late 1930's. Context is always important.
@pianobanter
4 жыл бұрын
nuqwestr Yes indeed they were contemporaries, infact they were born within a few weeks of each other. I think Hitchens already pointed out the context but it is worth noting the rumours of Buckley’s suppressed feelings regarding his sexuality. I think That was the point.
@nuqwestr
4 жыл бұрын
@@pianobanter Yes, and I agree, but believe Hitchens was unnecessarily cryptic and disingenuous, with the affect being acidic, not acerbic. More's the pity.
@pianobanter
4 жыл бұрын
nuqwestr Yes, that is a valid point.
@RileyRampant
4 жыл бұрын
i believe Hitchens had Vidal wrong on the left-right issue. GV was anti-interventionist, anti-MIC, pro public healthcare, pro public education, populist, anti-corporate power - there is no way I see that you could have parsed him as other than left, in at least the Social Democratic sense.
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry
4 жыл бұрын
An example of not very well-veiled sour grapes on H's part. Vidal rejected him after H publicly declared his support for the Iraq war. I also think that H was much more chummy with Buckley than he's admitting to in this interview, probably because it was filmed around the time he was promoting his book God Is Not Great, and doing the Atheist Roadshow with Dawkins, Harris et al., so admitting to a close friendship with Buckley might not have been good for business, which is what Hitch was really all about. Hitch did deign to enter a Roman Catholic church to attend Buckley's funeral, which suggests to me a closer relationship than is admitted to here.
@fromsurrey9538
4 жыл бұрын
You're right. Mr Hitchens only said that about GV in order to discredit him with the liberals. Hitchens lost his way, not just that, he wasted his intellect. Tell me what substantive legacy he left? Hitchens now only exists on the fringe on KZitem.
@MattSingh1
4 жыл бұрын
@@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry Vidal asked Hitchens to be his successor. Vidal then lied about it and claimed he didn't, when he did. You also make the now-boring, predictable slight against Hitchens that he was 'all about business', or that he somehow sold-out for gobs of money, which only serves to make you look infantile-minded.
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry
4 жыл бұрын
@@MattSingh1 My comment about Hitchens having sold out for, as you so eloquently put it, "gobs of money" striking you as "boring" or "predictable" in no way detracts from the truth of it. Boredom is a feeling, and neither I nor the world give a damn about how you feel about this or any other issue. You might consider growing up enough to accept that. However, if you are really desperate to deal with your boredom, I'm sure I could prove to be a font of helpful suggestions.
@BladeRunner-td8be
4 жыл бұрын
Agree.
@stoniewake125
5 жыл бұрын
Every year around my birthday I circle back around to all the Hitch videos. Almost like renewing my ideals, the truths, the hurtful facts and the joy to be a resident of earth. Thanks Christopher
@BillMorganChannel
5 жыл бұрын
Hello Stonie. Do you think the eye, optic never and visual cortex are the result of design or chance? What about the cells that make up the eye, optic nerve and visula cortex? Thank you!
@PissyKnish
5 жыл бұрын
@@BillMorganChannel Go shit in your golden undies! Thanks!
@jayt8532
4 жыл бұрын
@@BillMorganChannel They were designed. By natural selection. Which is the opposite of random chance.
@BillMorganChannel
4 жыл бұрын
@@jayt8532 Greetings. I know very well what natural selection is. Are you saying natural selection "designs" or does it only select?
@trevisonclark7135
4 жыл бұрын
I do the same thing with Buckley.
@brianfinnegan664
4 жыл бұрын
Hitchens stuffed his whole supply of that weeks reading material into the shot.
@rogerparis
3 жыл бұрын
😂
@michaelerickson985
3 жыл бұрын
That is probably not true. Given the large amount of books in the background, I doubt that a man even as prodigious in reading as Mr. Hitchens could have read entirely all those books within a week. This is especially likely given he probably did more tasks in a given week than only reading.
@brianfinnegan664
3 жыл бұрын
@@michaelerickson985 😂😂😂😂😂
@mellowtron214
3 жыл бұрын
Your joke is bad, Hitchens was famously illiterate. Furthermore, those “books” are actually printed wall paper titled “Trotskyist Nook”.
@vegaobscurax23
3 жыл бұрын
Lmao quite possibly
@bovnycccoperalover3579
3 жыл бұрын
Brilliant man. It's A tragedy he's gone. You don't have to completely agree with someone to admire their intellect and depth of knowledge.
@johnmolina3284
2 жыл бұрын
The problem was his intellectual dishonesty.
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@richwiedeman3128
Жыл бұрын
@@jeffforsythe9514 and what of those who try to fill the emptiness by copy-pasting weak attempts at character assassination on you tube comment threads of people who have been gone more than a decade? Does that fill your emptiness? It seems to undercut the very drivel you pasted by revealing a huge yawning chasm in your own being, most obviously your lack of character.
@jeffforsythe9514
Жыл бұрын
@@richwiedeman3128 You want to go to Hell, follow your alcoholic hero, truth hurts, sorry, I do not pull punches when the stakes are so high, your soul. So easy to criticize everything, how about the good things, like faith in God.
@jeffforsythe9514
Жыл бұрын
@@richwiedeman3128 So, what is it that you want me to do? Pretend I respected him, tell you how wise both of you are, that I go to bed every night with his video on Tv? Sorry, just because he had a lot of lost sheep following him, so did Hitler. But I can sort of tell that my words are falling on deaf ears, you have all ready become convinced that evil is good, poor you.
@cygnusx-1318
2 жыл бұрын
I've come late to Hitchens. I like his interviews and ideas. Worth listening to.
@Padybu
2 жыл бұрын
Better late than never
@MCPetruk
3 жыл бұрын
Amazing he was so articulate while plastered.
@abc456f
3 жыл бұрын
Other than a bit of slurring here, which gives it away, he's still quite lucid and so articulate.
@sobriquet5016
3 жыл бұрын
Hahahahah
@charlespowell571
3 жыл бұрын
Very plastered!!
@NagoyaHouseHead
3 жыл бұрын
He's so deeply and profoundly literate that he becomes more eloquent the more he drinks.
@johndaugherty7465
3 жыл бұрын
Practice, practice, practice... ;-)
@WillN2Go1
11 ай бұрын
I've always sided with Vidal, but there are two things not covered here. First of all this seemed like a battle between two old queens, one out and one still in the closet. (And of course if Buckley would refute this I'd accept his position. It's his right.) Second, a lot of what Vidal would say that seemed reasonable I would often later think wasn't really a relevant position. The isolationism is the clearest example. And Buckley seemed to staunchly insist on the most ridiculous positions about racism and personal freedom. At some point I would wonder what they were going on about. Take the way Baldwin destroys Buckley at the Oxford debate. This adds contrast to the Vidal/Buckley show. I remember being very young and watching Baldwin on the late night shows. My memory is that he was on them all the time. But I rarely ever stayed up that late. What it was was that this near contemporary of both Buckley and Vidal was so cogent, his thinking so vital to American history, our hopes and our future that they left a permanent impact on me. His words are still relevant today. Vidal's American history novels still have that value. Buckley? He's missed his legacy siding with the side that could produce illiterate presidents.
@CelestialShaman44
Жыл бұрын
Before he started talking. Look. At the books behind him. Brilliant mind. Brilliant orator. Sadly missed.
@__loafy__
Жыл бұрын
Daily reminder Gore Vidal publicly admitted several times that he was attracted to little boys.
@samludu5916
Жыл бұрын
I'd give anything to hear Christopher Hitchens discuss the American calamities we're enduring on so many fronts - politically, culturally, technically, environmentally ...
@jamescarr4662
Жыл бұрын
Have you heard of Noam Chomsky?
@cameroncameron2826
Жыл бұрын
Its a shame then that he was actually modelling the post truth era with founding father thought crime richard dawkins & his band. Due to their success with banning the christians, everyones freedom to think freely has been erased. How ? - only Christians are not allowed to pray in public / wear a cross / carry a Bible - NO OTHER RELIGION has such thought crime in place. You new atheist disciples of jesus dawkins & holy hitchens thought it would all stop there did you. NO !! - not once a model for thought crime had been beta tested with two control groups ( new atheist disciples who provided the bans consensus & ofc the christian rats in the maze ). Aside from that rarely was Hitchens even right about a political prediction as history has shown. He didn't even have the sense to see that after christianity was upended by them, the establishment would only ship in another abrahamic religion in its place! The amazing thing about fans of new atheism is that it praises and gushes at EXACTLY the persons that cost the freedom in plain sight but you still think religion ruined your lives! The whole thing is a bad joke & you people even have a metaphysical philosopher helping out who swears that this psychic art was more than adequate to search the universe by remote viewing to check for a God. Not his choice of words, but he does state all the time that Metaphysics is a reasonable way to eliminate a god. It isn't! - thats just psychic mumbo jumbo & btw i'm an atheist ( NOT a ridiculous NEW ATHEIST)
@pkaye5876
Жыл бұрын
All that time dedicated to intellectual knowledge and he still didn’t get it right.
@euphegenia
5 ай бұрын
@@pkaye5876you’re the arbiter of him “getting it right”? Sure thing, random KZitem commenter.
@karlernstbuddenbrock371
4 ай бұрын
Agreed, his views of Peterson, Shapiro and the sheer embarrassment of the new atheists in the light of the resurgence of the God hypothesis. Also the resurgence of the likes of Meloni and Milei.
@charlestaylor8624
5 жыл бұрын
Just because Vidal and Buckley are reluctant to see young people killed in foreign wars that cannot be won does not make the two authors isolationist.
@kevinjoseph517
5 жыл бұрын
go isolationism
@kevinronske9894
5 жыл бұрын
Communism being foisted on the European people by that certain minority caused misery and death and needed to be dealt with.America fought in 2 wars in Europe that made the world safer for Communism and to kill off the best of European Man.
@kiwitrainguy
3 жыл бұрын
Coronavirus has turned me into an Isolationist.
@linshanhsiang
3 жыл бұрын
Actually, it does.
@maxmeier532
3 жыл бұрын
I dont know about Buckley but Vidal even quoted Washington and Adams to justify isolationism. In an interview Vidal called WWII with the connotation of sarcasm "the just war", or something to that effect, I cant recall the exact word he used, but the intention was there. Vidal also implied that Pearl Harbor was not only induced by cornering them but also gratefully used to join the Allied Forces and join WWII. Vidal imho made no secret of his opinion that the US should not have been in WWII, which could have led to basically Hitler conquering all of Europe. Where would that have led to? Certainly Vidal would not have had his mansion in Italy.
@tigertiger1699
Жыл бұрын
I feel intelligent just listening to him…., can’t get enough of his intellect…, but then it’s probably more that he did the hard work, the reading n thinking…. What a blessing and privilege he was for us…, I’m married to a PhD… so lucky to have those around us that study
@Elvisism
11 ай бұрын
Blessed are those that have those who Labour intellectually around them, although forgive the irony of saying this in the comments of a Hitchens video aha.
@sisekomarwai1367
5 жыл бұрын
I miss Christopher Hitchens.
@ivancarlson953
5 жыл бұрын
You could be like him too if you read as much as he did.
@smotnick
4 жыл бұрын
@@ivancarlson953 And drink hard liquor and eat a lot.
@jamesa2482
2 жыл бұрын
@@smotnick and chainsmoke.
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry
4 жыл бұрын
My understanding is that Buckley did his drinking while sailing his yacht. Sounds about right for a control freak.
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry
4 жыл бұрын
@Ken HudsonA piss tank is a piss tank, Ken.
@smotnick
4 жыл бұрын
And pot-smoking. He favored legalization.
@jamesanthony5681
3 жыл бұрын
Who doesn't drink on a boat?
@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry
3 жыл бұрын
@@jamesanthony5681 Do you drink in your car? That's how the law looks at it in most jurisdictions. You don't have to be impaired; an open beer is all it takes. As for Buckley, he did his serious drinking at sea back when it far less likely to get caught.
@jamesanthony5681
3 жыл бұрын
@@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry Never have and never will drink in my car. In a boat, yes, I have had an occasional a beer or two, but I was never operating the boat. Buckley drank *AND* smoked dope in his boat, saying to Johnny Carson years ago (about potentially violating US law), "Yes, but it was outside the US maritime jurisdiction." LOL.
@embisonjones4996
5 жыл бұрын
I got to know of this after his death. I miss him as much as I would miss a family member. How crazy is that.
@BillMorganChannel
5 жыл бұрын
Kinda crazy. Focus on the greatness of God, not a deceased hater of God. Poor Christopher, great mind lacking wisdom.....
@fnaffun6921
4 жыл бұрын
Bill Moron?
@BillMorganChannel
4 жыл бұрын
@@fnaffun6921 I am not stupid enough to think the human digestive system happened by chance, and I KNOW you don't either but your emotions might cause you to say so....am I correct?
@alekz112
4 жыл бұрын
@@BillMorganChannel I'll go out on a limb and say you're wrong.
@MrLJT1
3 жыл бұрын
@@alekz112 that is not much of a limb. Let me state that I know the human digestive system evolved.
@MalteseKat
5 жыл бұрын
Hitchens drank two bottles of wine with each meal. I can't imagine he is sober at any time.
@DieFlabbergast
5 жыл бұрын
The fact that he produced an enormous amount of work while drinking so much proves beyond doubt that alcohol affected him very little. Ergo, he was usually sober.
@josha1407
5 жыл бұрын
@@DieFlabbergast you don't need to be sober to write.
@HalfB
4 жыл бұрын
His extreme high tolerance level by his 30’s would make drinking two bottles of wine with food effectively negligible. Wine having 11-13% alcohol and it reasonably answers the question why people graduate to hard liquor since the weaker drink like wine and beer becomes as ineffective as water. The tolerance that daily big drinkers have is hard to wrap your head around. I’m surprised he didn’t die of cirrhosis of the liver but would have but throat cancer from smoking got him first. Be well Carmen. R.I.P. dear Hitch
@dukadarodear2176
4 жыл бұрын
@@HalfB Yep, the noxious tobacco weed that had no good side to it (unlike the hippy weed) got him. It's a pity there's no hell to take the tobacco magnates.
@kiwitrainguy
3 жыл бұрын
Christopher Hitchens died from Oesophageal Cancer, not brought on by either his smoking or drinking (alcohol). That form of cancer runs in his family, apparently.
@crosscountrycrusader
2 жыл бұрын
I rarely listen to someone speak who combines plain speech, a relatable tone and intense intellect all in one.
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@kristinpfanku3927
5 жыл бұрын
Great commentary by Hitchens. I learned more about Gore Vidal watching this upload.
@Jim54_
2 жыл бұрын
We mustn’t forget that William F Buckley was openly homophobic, and when Aids first appeared, he suggested that gay men should be tattooed on the buttock. He was also extremely racist, and for a long time he approved of racial segregation, though later he seems to have come to understand that this would conflict with his image, which is the only apparent reason he stopped. However, he continued to write with gross insensitivity about Africans. The man was full of hatred and was little more than an arrogant bigot
@roughhabit9085
2 жыл бұрын
Fool
@HenryChinaski614
3 жыл бұрын
Always a fan. One of the most important intellects of our time. RIP Christopher.
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
David Wier Do you claim something approaching omniscience? Remarkable. But by all means let God, Who possesses the greatest intellect of all, be Judge of that matter. 'The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." '
@HenryChinaski614
3 жыл бұрын
@@marcusonesimus3400Hello and thanks for the note. My comment is the opinion of one man, myself. My comment is based on the totality of his work during his life. My focus was not on his position of atheism but on the man as a whole. I would hope that we will all be judged by this as opposed to a single point. Thanks again and take care.
@cameroncameron2826
Жыл бұрын
The most important intellects model post truth and thought crime do they ? Its a shame then that he was actually modelling the post truth era with founding father thought crime richard dawkins & his band. Due to their success with banning the christians, everyones freedom to think freely has been erased. How ? - only Christians are not allowed to pray in public / wear a cross / carry a Bible - NO OTHER RELIGION has such thought crime in place. You new atheist disciples of jesus dawkins & holy hitchens thought it would all stop there did you. NO !! - not once a model for thought crime had been beta tested with two control groups ( new atheist disciples who provided the bans consensus & ofc the christian rats in the maze ). Aside from that rarely was Hitchens even right about a political prediction as history has shown. He didn't even have the sense to see that after christianity was upended by them, the establishment would only ship in another abrahamic religion in its place! The amazing thing about fans of new atheism is that it praises and gushes at EXACTLY the persons that cost the freedom in plain sight but you still think religion ruined your lives! The whole thing is a bad joke & you people even have a metaphysical philosopher helping out who swears that this psychic art was more than adequate to search the universe by remote viewing to check for a God. Not his choice of words, but he does state all the time that Metaphysics is a reasonable way to eliminate a god. It isn't! - thats just psychic mumbo jumbo & btw i'm an atheist ( NOT a ridiculous NEW ATHEIST)
@idklol4197
2 жыл бұрын
that's an interesting commonality between hitchen's observation of buckley and the writing of michael savage, another reputed closeted conservative: the way they barricade their personal lives, or wait out the storm of their unwanted passions below decks
@kevinthompson3580
5 жыл бұрын
Sorry, but I am not buying this. His critique is superficial and aimed at inflaming partisan affinities. He attempts to trivialize the profound differences between these points of view on just isolationism. Hitchen's inability to acknowledge the blowback from European/American imperialism in the Middle East led to the zany affectations of his twilight commentary.
@philipanderson4673
5 жыл бұрын
Hitchens'
@jenkins7459
3 жыл бұрын
Incomprehensible blather.
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
kevin thompson I never felt much sympathy for the guy, and abhorred his atheism. But I do understand the abstract 'humanitarian' impulse which led a minority of left-leaning liberals to support interventionist policies abroad. When the cause was seen as 'just', it was considered no crime to marshal Western military might against a Third World country. I used to think that way, but revised my opinion as the nature of the US occupation of Iraq (2003---) became increasingly evident. Perhaps the re-evaluation was made easier by my own country's lack of involvement in that war. Desert Storm had been waged by a coalition of many partners and based on more convincing grievances. In retrospect it seems clear that oil security and restoration of American military confidence had been the overriding war aims, for Bush Sr. stopped short of regime change. I At any rate, within the spectrum of Christian viewpoints on war-waging, I am now much closer to the pacifist end than I used to be.
@spiritualfreedom5372
5 жыл бұрын
It always made me sick to watch people neglect the beautiful mind of this wonderful man
@vanguard4065
5 жыл бұрын
hardly anyone neglected Christopher. He was admired and adored by many even Catholics like myself who saw his intellectual honesty a fierce attraction apart from his vehement hatred for religion
@spiritualfreedom5372
5 жыл бұрын
I always thought his points weren't properly addressed by the religious tools that interviewed him
@Dabhach1
3 жыл бұрын
Oooohh, spit on me, Christopher.
@stephenbartlett1167
3 жыл бұрын
@Jamil Ebdeen Good point. That’s where Hitchens made the wrong turn
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@callumkohekade5396
5 жыл бұрын
Damn son, Christopher was right about Buckley being afraid of not working constantly, he was found in his study dead over his writing...
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@brando7266
Жыл бұрын
@@jeffforsythe9514 so even if God is not real, it's still good to be religious?
@jeffforsythe9514
Жыл бұрын
@@brando7266 Depends on the religion you choose, the only righteous one today is Falun Dafa.
@hvalenti
3 жыл бұрын
He often says in one sentence than many do in several paragraphs.
@zaynaabdel-rahim2035
3 жыл бұрын
a skill that I, and presumably all of his admirers, wish to acquire
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@richwiedeman3128
Жыл бұрын
@@jeffforsythe9514 lol, the unintentional irony is amazing. I wish there were pearly gates just for the humor of witnessing your epiphany as you're disabused of your lack of self awareness.
@jeffforsythe9514
Жыл бұрын
@@richwiedeman3128 Look who's talking, you have made a demon your hero. Gee, I think we disagree, Happy New Year.
@richwiedeman3128
Жыл бұрын
@@jeffforsythe9514 So you think the late Christopher Hitchens is a demon? And here I thought he was just a mortal trying to fill the hole in his soul. It turns out your demon, is an all powerful all knowing totalitarian who wants to punish those who he created instead of taking responsibility himself, because they don't humor his followers who are allergic to rational independent thought. Punish yourself for your own sins, and leave us out of it. We are admiring the works of a lost talent.
@julianmarsh8384
Жыл бұрын
Hitchens hits on some significant points but I would like to add what I found in an interview (and so many years ago I forget where I came upon it) where someone said: "To Vidal, Buckley represents all the traits he, Vidal, has tried to purge himself of for many years: so for Gore, Buckley WAS Gore, but the Gore Vidal the 'real Vidal' found appalling....
@Rezn8d0utlaw
3 жыл бұрын
I still miss his insight, humor, and commitment to truth. Thank you Christopher for being a light in the sky that burned bright but way too fast.
@dustinf49
Жыл бұрын
Truth.. my keyword right now
@cameroncameron2826
Жыл бұрын
Well you've got the post truth era and thought crime model he & the other new atheists were modelling behind everyones bacxks so whats not to like about something HITCHENS has forced you to experience in the now ? Its a shame then that he was actually modelling the post truth era with founding father thought crime richard dawkins & his band. Due to their success with banning the christians, everyones freedom to think freely has been erased. How ? - only Christians are not allowed to pray in public / wear a cross / carry a Bible - NO OTHER RELIGION has such thought crime in place. You new atheist disciples of jesus dawkins & holy hitchens thought it would all stop there did you. NO !! - not once a model for thought crime had been beta tested with two control groups ( new atheist disciples who provided the bans consensus & ofc the christian rats in the maze ). Aside from that rarely was Hitchens even right about a political prediction as history has shown. He didn't even have the sense to see that after christianity was upended by them, the establishment would only ship in another abrahamic religion in its place! The amazing thing about fans of new atheism is that it praises and gushes at EXACTLY the persons that cost the freedom in plain sight but you still think religion ruined your lives! The whole thing is a bad joke & you people even have a metaphysical philosopher helping out who swears that this psychic art was more than adequate to search the universe by remote viewing to check for a God. Not his choice of words, but he does state all the time that Metaphysics is a reasonable way to eliminate a god. It isn't! - thats just psychic mumbo jumbo & btw i'm an atheist ( NOT a ridiculous NEW ATHEIST)
@bronzedisease
2 жыл бұрын
William Buckley wasnt a worthy opponent. The stuff he spewed out were often moronic
@dionusos2
5 жыл бұрын
Buckley is an isolationist? The man who was the most avid intellectual backer of the Vietnam War, whereas Hitchens regarded it all as imperialism? I'm a liberal, but I've always regarded Hitchens as nothing more than a controversialist. The moment you disagree is the moment he wins for style.
@starsareangels
2 жыл бұрын
He was a better speaker than thinker but still a genius regardless.
@roughhabit9085
19 күн бұрын
Yes he was actually. The America First movement even started at Yale, but he also believed in stopping the spread of communism because what happens when the whole globe turns Red?
@saintbuenaventura574
3 жыл бұрын
Love Chris. Gets Buckley wrong.
@user-jt5ot4hy9q
5 жыл бұрын
I often didn't even agree with Hitch, but God I miss him now.
@MalteseKat
5 жыл бұрын
He's an atheist and couldn't care less about your feelings toward God.
@user-jt5ot4hy9q
5 жыл бұрын
Well, maybe he knows better now.
@Waltiswicked
4 жыл бұрын
You don't often agree with Hitch? You're a fool and often wrong.
@user-jt5ot4hy9q
4 жыл бұрын
@Waltiswicked. No, I mean little things--like he liked to drink wine in the morning and I prefer to get stoned.
@edmundmcgrath213
4 жыл бұрын
@@user-jt5ot4hy9q He knows as much now as he knew before he was born.
@marianotorrespico2975
Жыл бұрын
--- TOO KIND TO . . . the loser Bill Buckley, the over-schooled John Wayne of armchair generals, the draft-dodging war-monger who stayed in the rear with the gear and the girls, whilst the novelist stepped up and walked the walk during WWII. Hence, Vidal's novels and essays stand re-reading, whilst the Buckley novels and essays do not stand re-reading, because of right-wing anti-humanism; Vidal knew people and human nature, Buckley just knew white-wing ideology.
@kellyharper8072
4 жыл бұрын
A true thinker who also could change his opinions based upon his own personal growth. Wow, what a brain!
@fromsurrey9538
4 жыл бұрын
really? Mr Hitchens is a pseudo intellectual 's idea of an intellectual.
@hd-xc2lz
4 жыл бұрын
I agree, he was the rare public intellectual who could think while a camera was pointed at him.
@hd-xc2lz
4 жыл бұрын
@@fromsurrey9538 And "pseudo intellectual" is THE favorite slur for anti-intellectuals and populists everywhere.
@fromsurrey9538
4 жыл бұрын
@@hd-xc2lz What you said doesn't make sense. So the person calling other people Pseudo and doesn't think Hitchens is all that bright is Anti-intellectual? Pls go on and take your medicine.
@hd-xc2lz
4 жыл бұрын
@@fromsurrey9538 No, only that anti-intellectuals over-use the term.
@NSResponder
Жыл бұрын
Very diplomatic. He completely evades the fact that Vidal was a depraved misanthrope.
@NeoConNET7
4 жыл бұрын
RIP Hitchens.
@fromsurrey9538
4 жыл бұрын
I used to like Hitchens, until i read most of what he often talks about and i came to believe that he was quite intellectually disingenuous.
@MattSingh1
4 жыл бұрын
@@fromsurrey9538 Example? Seems like babbling nonsense.
@jenkins7459
3 жыл бұрын
Ditto
@JamesTilsley1
4 ай бұрын
I think Hitchens is kind of implying that Buckley might have been repressed homosexual, when he talks about Lindbergh and his inner demons.
@dattieo
3 жыл бұрын
Hitch was great on his feet, speaking extempore, his erudition beyond compare. I love how he casually uses the "law of enantiodromia" to make a point. He sailed over the word so quickly I thought he was mumbling; I replayed the tape with the captions to see what I'd missed. Enantiodromia is a ten dollar word, bit Hitch could make it sound colloquial.
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@philcawser
Жыл бұрын
I am at a loss as to the relevance of this post in response to the light-hearted appreciation of the rare word enantiodromia? The post suggests a link to suicide rates in a communist country which is without foundation. The top ten suicide rates in the world are mostly countries with very high religious believer percentages. Religion will certainly provide a comfort blanket of certainty, and a promise of life after death, in exchange for servility and unquestioning faith, based on zero evidence and laughably inconsistent medieval (and in some cases modern) gospel. This is an unwholesome package, even though life is difficult and a stressful process, and human awareness of mortality an unavoidable destination.
@vectoranvil
Жыл бұрын
Vidal was en elitist, an American self-styled patrician of the old republic. He wrote smart books for smart people, in the way that the Roman author Celsus would write about the first Christians, his contemporaries. And Stephan King wrote for and about the common people. So Vidal had good sales, and was bitter and a gadfly for not being widely understood (how could he be?). And King had the bigger sales. Yet I can't imagine Vidal engaging in a twitter war with Trump the same way King did. Hitchens is somewhere in the middle for me. I had almost all books by all three authors. Now I've kept only their best ones.
@jaewok5G
5 жыл бұрын
i've never heard anyone elaborate on vidal … fascinating
@robertrichard6107
4 жыл бұрын
He's pretty accurate about where Gore actually was on the pendulum. But the isolationist label was just easy to use I think. Gore Vidal never fit into an Ivy League category of old boys thinking about Foreign Policy. He knew what a White Russian was, but I doubt some one like Jimmy Carter does. He never went to a four year college. And Harry Truman, GV hated him with a vengance just like my republican maternal grandfather from Kansas. Of course, I couldn't say FDR's name in my paternal grandfathers' house. I knew FDR got Pearl Harbor to happen before I ever knew about GV. But GV was the first outspoken author/ historian who I've ever seen could say that on the air and they'd let him get away with it. Yet he could respect FDR like I do, of course the Bush' resented FDR dearly. I've found Buckley a simplistic Republican snob, but was occasionally surprised by his forays. Gore never diappointed me, and I like to think it's from my maternal Kansas Republican side. You could respect Buckleys' tea-totaling, but you could tell Hitch was a lush. Lindbergh, nor Patton, nor Buckley, nor Vidal could talk about the elephant in the room that came to rest in Israel, only beat the bush around it.
@kiwitrainguy
3 жыл бұрын
Buckleys' tea-totaling ?
@Jhghfgdcb.
Жыл бұрын
Wonderfulness of being around all those books, you are lucky. You English need to invest in air conditioning. Careful, and cheerio. I like you a lot and don't care if you aren't supposed to use the word a lot..alot..actually. Take care of yourself.
@kellyharper8072
4 жыл бұрын
Vidal ❤️ Buckley ❤️ and Hitchens ❤️
@johnmolina3284
2 жыл бұрын
three very different men.
@anthonyc7045
Жыл бұрын
I came to this video because I had thought that Mr. Hitchens was a logical, thoughtful, intelligent thinker but after hearing some of the conclusions he voices in this video, I have more questions than answers about his character and intelligence. Just one example: He declares that W.F. Buckley was "an insecure person who was afraid to be alone with his demons, so he constantly kept busy" And this is based upon Mr. Hitchens SINGLE example that after a taping of Firing Line which Mr. Hitchens was a guest, Hitchens would ask Buckley to go with him to have a cocktail and Buckley would refuse because he had a plane to catch or a column to write. And somehow Hitchens saw through that facade of Buckley's and that it was really that Buckley was afraid to entertain his demons so he constantly kept busy instead. I have followed Mr. Buckley and his career since I was 12. I am 64. I don't give any credence to what Mr. Hitchens thinks of Mr. Buckley because what I've seen of Mr. Hitchens, he is the kind of person that once he comes to a conclusion and has espouses that idea, even when proven wrong, he will defend it to the end. That is not someone, in my mind who's opinion I would welcome on any subject. And more importantly, I cannot possibly think of Mr. Buckley as someone who would say something as equally Stupid about Mr. Hitchens' character as what Mr. Hitchens said about him. Mr. Buckley was a world traveler who spent most every winter with his family in Switzerland, writing and recreating. He hosted countless dinner parties where I am sure there was plenty of drinking. That doesn't sound at all like someone keeping busy with work so that he wouldn't be alone with his demons. Mr. Buckley was a gentleman. How many Hosts would invite so many guests who were diametrically opposed to his views and allow them to speak freely ? Muhammed Ali, George McGovern, Ed Koch, Mark Green, Alan Ginsberg, Noam Chomsky. . . just to name a few. Yet, the jealous world, led by Mr. Hutchens cannot let Mr. Buckley forget the one time he lost his cool with Mr. Vidal. Did Mr. Hutchins Host a tv program ? Who were his guests ? This is who Mr. Buckley really was. . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firing_Line_(TV_program)
@roughhabit9085
11 ай бұрын
If he wasn’t the most connected person in America then I’d like to know who was. Hitchens had no hope of socialising with him . In fairness to Hitchens he was drunk here , and he did say a lot of nice things about Buckley on occasions.
@anthonyc7045
11 ай бұрын
@@roughhabit9085 You know for a fact that Hitchens was drunk during this interview ?
@graysonhoward1562
5 жыл бұрын
As a hardcore Catholic, I've always respected Hitchens' respectful demeanor in discourse. I disagree with a lot he says, but he's for sure a quality debater.
@chasetaylor2280
5 жыл бұрын
Eh, he was a better essayist.
@graysonhoward1562
5 жыл бұрын
Chase Taylor ok fair enough, but you get what I’m trying to say
@flemingcourt
5 жыл бұрын
Why fall for someone else's belief system? Why not THINK for yourself? Religion is so random, so fake, so evil.
@graysonhoward1562
5 жыл бұрын
steve hansen to be fair I’m still learning for myself, but I choose not to deal with absolutes at this point in my life.
@thatcooperfellow
4 жыл бұрын
Well... was... sadly
@lurx2024
Ай бұрын
Always interesting to see a great man's personal insights on some of the most notable political icons of his era.
@readmelancholystrumpetmaster
3 жыл бұрын
Buckley's demon: Never had an original idea and knows it. Vidal's demon: Never had an original idea and doesn't know it.
@martonradkai9115
3 жыл бұрын
Very few people have had an original idea. But I know what you mean.
@iddhisbing8092
3 жыл бұрын
Too facile. And your idea is ?
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
Weldon Mix Who among us has ever had an original idea? As the Biblical writer put it, 'there is nothing new under the sun'.
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
@@readmelancholystrumpetmaster I could go either way. I don't see why the two need to be considered in isolation from one another. How does one divide the universe so neatly into separate compartments?
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
@@readmelancholystrumpetmaster Yes, massa. But you have misread my intent. No surprise; people of your class and 'dignity' can't be expected to understand us humble folk.
@MagicNash89
9 ай бұрын
"he thought Colored countries in Africa and Asia werent quite ready to be independent and self+governing" - well he had some valid reasons to believe that at least for some of the countries as it turned out, even though I disagree with the thought, I do see where this opinion is coming from looking at the the turmoil in Libya, South Africa, Kongo, general Sahel region, Sudan etc etc etc. The great tragedy of Africa - less in Asia - is that they were vastly underdeveloped compared to the other world and became prey. However, this is unfortunately how survival works, this is not a purely white man/Europe/USA thing, since this is what the other Empire of the old did as well, as much as they could.
@vynleshmynle7372
4 жыл бұрын
Weather you agree with Hitchens or disagree with his views, He so f’ing brilliant and impossible not to admire.
@fromsurrey9538
4 жыл бұрын
Do we just now admire people who probably read English or classics but all their well formed prose turned out to be fluff.
@davidjohnson518
4 жыл бұрын
Whether
@titusmccarthy
3 жыл бұрын
He's crap.
@DanielBoonelight
3 жыл бұрын
@@titusmccarthy meaningless personal interjection backed up by nothing
@sourabhtripathi0986
3 жыл бұрын
I'm proud of you
@mellowtron214
3 жыл бұрын
Oh how I wish Hitchens was alive not only for Trump and the cultural rise of the regressive left, *but especially for Jordan Peterson.* Hitchens was such a perfect mind, wit, and wealth of knowledge to so beautiful put these figures and their concepts, in their place.
@roughhabit9085
11 ай бұрын
It’s a wonder he couldn’t put Buckley in his place then, when he went on his show
@kirkwilson1401
4 жыл бұрын
miss his insights and views greatly
@FranssensM
5 ай бұрын
Christopher gone, William f Buckley jr gone. Gore Vidal gone. The landscape is decidedly bare. The world feels it. Particularly comment against these uneducated woke students. I worry about where it’s going. Edit: I did not mean to suggest they shared identical opinions. Only that I respected their opinion on many matters, whether I agreed or not. I was always sure they had given a lot of thought to the topic.
@lorenzo6mm
4 ай бұрын
They were much better minds and human beings. All of them. The stupification of the intellectual debate pursuits is increasing logarithmically down . HS grad rates in 4 years on time is at Nationwide 50% @ 8 the Grade levels.
@NagoyaHouseHead
11 ай бұрын
We don't have public intellectuals of this caliber anymore. He was the last of a dying breed. A giant of a man.
@briangregory8223
11 ай бұрын
Agreed, they are out there but what I think has changed is the public. Society no longer has an appetite for complexity.
@HansLiu23
8 ай бұрын
He sounds drunk and he rambles.
@NagoyaHouseHead
8 ай бұрын
@@HansLiu23 He does not such thing. He was the most incisive and eloquent speaker of the last fifty years
@HansLiu23
8 ай бұрын
He literally sounds drunk. @@NagoyaHouseHead
@NagoyaHouseHead
8 ай бұрын
@@HansLiu23 He could be drunk. I said he most certainly does not ramble. He's the most concise speaker of the last 50 years.
@Blondejam
Жыл бұрын
I miss your take on god knows anything. What a loss to the world of the intelectual...
@u7angbe
5 жыл бұрын
You can tell he is very well read not indoctrinated That's what is wrong with the education system of today There is no space for thinking
@lizvill73
5 жыл бұрын
Hitch....not well read. You're trolling, right?
@connorbyers4542
5 жыл бұрын
@@lizvill73 reread it
@polara01
5 жыл бұрын
Liz, read his comment again you must have misunderstood
@vishnudestroyer
5 жыл бұрын
You can tell someone is well read by watching a 10 minute video clip? Please write an e-book about your magical savant like abilities, Id buy it for a monthly recurring payment of $9.99. Can I hazard that your magical ability to divine from a video clip whether someone is well read turns on whether the accent of the speaker is British which arouses you?
@DiogenesOfDelaware
5 жыл бұрын
Attending oxford will do that
@adamc.hardyiii1819
2 жыл бұрын
I wonder how CH versus Jordan Peterson would have played out?
@enbym1793
Жыл бұрын
Hitchens would have absolutely obliterated that smug, pseudo-intellectual cretin and left him in an endless cavalcade of tears.
@smotnick
4 жыл бұрын
He's right though, about why Vidal was anti Judeo-Christian.
@zyxmyk
11 ай бұрын
It would be interesting to hear his thoughts on the Vietnam War.
@ЭльдарИбрагимов-д9л
5 жыл бұрын
A great anglo-american thinker of our time,rip Hitch
@MitzvosGolem1
4 жыл бұрын
His mother was Jewish..
@MitzvosGolem1
4 жыл бұрын
@Ken Hudson lol...he would have been to honest with patients.
@kingsman428
Жыл бұрын
@@MitzvosGolem1 Hitchens was English.
@MitzvosGolem1
Жыл бұрын
@@kingsman428 Actually became and American citizen. From UK originally. I miss his wit and lectures.
@MitzvosGolem1
Жыл бұрын
@@kingsman428 His mother was Jewish he speaks about this several times.
@jvcyt298
3 жыл бұрын
Yes, Hitch was right, Gore Vidal, besides being gay, and a Hedonist, was an isolationist, a social conservative, and an elitist snob, but I loved the way he rode Buckley in Chicago in 68.
@ac1dP1nk
3 жыл бұрын
the implications of vidals politics would overcome all of that despite his personal beliefs and implications
@gnolan4281
3 жыл бұрын
In his book "Palimpsest" Vidal discusses his trolling for sex in public tiolets and goes on to say that he wishes he had never been born. In "Lincoln: A Novel" he stuns the reader with his ability to show how Lincoln was mocked both behind his back and in the newspapers when he arrived in Washington and how it gradually dawned on everyone that he dominated the entire scene. Vidal, a study in contradiction. Buckley was a man who possessed a prodigious vocabulary but who unfortunately was so enamored of it that he employed it more to intimidate and subdue people than to communicate with them. Honestly I don't know why Hitch would dedicate so much time to them.
@jadezee6316
3 жыл бұрын
well...better to use the time in being accurate....you think you have described the men in a youtube comment? just why would i be stunned to learn lincoln was mocked and what has that to do with his memoir....that it would create contradiction? yes Buckley used big words....but i never saw any guest run off the show intimidated by them...nor did i ever see a guest subdued by him....he wasnt using his show to interview cashiers
@gnolan4281
3 жыл бұрын
@@jadezee6316 Oh come on, don't be shy. Tell me what you really think. I'd wager though, that unlike you I have actually read the two books in question by Vidal.
@roughhabit9085
2 жыл бұрын
Buckley with the aid of his publication instigated fusionism and set the wheels in motion for the modern conservative movement. Goldwater and Reagan sought him out when they began their political careers. Kissinger said he single handedly shifted American politics to the right .He was one of the most significant political figures in American history. Surely that’s someone worth talking about.
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@gnolan4281
2 жыл бұрын
@@roughhabit9085 Fair points. I usually agreed with Buckley and because of the the fundamentals of his orientation wanted him to be an effective counterpoint to the left. Still, I didn't like him because of that gotcha vocabulaty that would set him preening. In my view it was an undesirable trait that diminished his stature rather than enhance it.
@lesleytodd3586
Жыл бұрын
Miss Hitch and his wonderfully articulate mind.
@karenkaren3189
5 жыл бұрын
Hitch where are you....we NEED you !
@m0xiemarlinspike
Жыл бұрын
Are there any modern authors or journalists who come close to being as interesting to listen as Hitchens?
@danletras
5 жыл бұрын
Hitch talks some serious bullshit about Gore Vidal. Vidal's contention was that the US only has one party: The War Party. He could have given two shits about the Democrats. Then again, Christopher Hitchens became a ridiculous hawk In his final decades. He was the greatest champion of the Iraq War I came across. For him to claim that Republicans represent the working class more than the Democrats is so laughable. Workplace safety is championed by Democrats. The union and labor movements were headed up by Democrats. Environmental standards are now more championed by Democrats more than by Republicans -- a working-class issue. It is the Republican party who is pursuing world-demolishing wars in recent decades more than Democrats. And the cannon fodder are always the American poor. Hitchens could really be a sophist.
@danletras
3 жыл бұрын
@@catenaccio_fc Only some working class white or across the board?
@MattSingh1
3 жыл бұрын
*Lots of 'I wish Hitchens were still around to analyse these extraordinary time' comments. Well, Hitchens was around for a lot of extraordinary moments, for example the attacks of 9/11, the fall and end of communism, the presidency of Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II and Obama, the prime ministerships of Thatcher and Blair, Kosovo/Bosnia, Gulf War/2003 liberation of Iraq...he covered the major and essential (and some non-essential and minor) issues of his 40-odd years in public life.*
@ZippzoppzibbiddyZoop
2 жыл бұрын
Yes, he was. I noticed these comments as well. Definitely a feeling of Wise Learned man, teacher, "Elder" in a way. Some form of comfort in trust of his knowledge as if to say "Show us the way through"?
@christophergrewe3651
3 жыл бұрын
Dumb question... what was he referring to at the end when he mentioned Chicago and Miami???
@ata5855
3 жыл бұрын
homosexual enclaves, probably
@linshanhsiang
3 жыл бұрын
Dem and Republican conventions
@citizenghosttown
3 жыл бұрын
@@linshanhsiang Yup. 1968.
@jgeorge2465
5 жыл бұрын
I miss this guy truly.
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@richmahogany1
11 ай бұрын
wonder if he's much of a reader
@joanofarc33
5 жыл бұрын
He's right about Gore Vidal but I don't think his conservatism was a negative quality in the man.
@anthonycruciani939
Жыл бұрын
Vidal had many quarrels he and Norman Mailer seemed to despise one another.
@Arareemote
11 ай бұрын
They had a very... interesting relationship with one another. To adjust Dick Cavetts comment they were both the most utterly Impolite of Friends.
@tonywords6713
3 жыл бұрын
hes bang on about Buckleys insecurity. you can see it clear as day in the Chomsky one where he was hopelessly outmatched
@ricardocantoral7672
3 жыл бұрын
Nobody wants to think that they are in the wrong.
@shauryadivya1736
3 жыл бұрын
The domino theory was personally proven by the leaders of Viet cong, i.e their hope to bring communism to laos, cambodia and on and on. Furthermore, the vicious atrocities of the communist regime in Vietnam post 1975 are also undeniably self evident now. Re-education camps, exile to new economic zones, political suppression, Chinese minorities left to die on weak boats, famines and on and on. Also they were rather fond of stalin, as indicated by their comment on stalin's birthday. So the fact that communist rule in the so called 'serene and innocent' third world, was neither serene, nor innocent. And chomsky tried desperately to defend them, along with the obvious khmer rouge.
@tonywords6713
3 жыл бұрын
@@shauryadivya1736 two debunked arguments for the price of one nice. Buckley was a fucking CIA stooge from an oil family which is the real reason these guys hate "commies". Its all MONEY ideology and human collateral damage doesnt even factor into the thinking. Nice try tho
@ShikataGaNai100
3 жыл бұрын
@@shauryadivya1736 ...and, I am sure you served in the Vietnam War, right? I did, in the USAF intelligence community and I would venture to say that you don't know jack shit about the whole deal.
@shauryadivya1736
3 жыл бұрын
@@tonywords6713 maybe look up exile of Vietnamese to re-education camps and 'new economic zones', suppression and murder of political dissidents, death of thousands in famines, leaving Chinese minorities to die or at sea in boats, before coming up with the ingenius 'oily money'. Also kindly explain how chomsky did not defend till his last chance, the communist khmer rouge that killed 40% of its population.
@Andy-hb3zp
3 жыл бұрын
Chris needs a shelf. What if he wants to read a book at the bottom of the stack?
@Padybu
3 жыл бұрын
Those are shelves, they're just slim.
@ericblair54
4 жыл бұрын
Too bad that an intellect such as Hitchens' (and countless others) has to die when the physical body fails.
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
Eric Blair Haven't you heard? 'The wages of sin is death.' Hitchens was no innocent; why should he be spared the fate which befalls the rest of us? The other half: ',,but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ jesus our Lord.' C.H. wasted precious time in mockery, and attained no lasting benefit as a result. Well, I suppose he made a lot of money, but that couldn't deliver him.
@ericblair54
3 жыл бұрын
@@marcusonesimus3400 Death is the End. There is no more. Hitchens knew that religion is a construct, invented by humans to subjugate and conform.
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
@@ericblair54 That is your PIOUS HOPE, a prime article of your faith.. Naturally no morally sensitive person wishes to have his sins revealed 'in toto', and a morally insensitive person probably wouldn't care until it is too late. Believe it or not, 'it is appointed for men to die once, then judgment.' You cannot bank on either reincarnation or total annihilation as evasive strategies. You have absolutely NO evidence that Man is a mere conglomeration of atoms. It only seems convenient for you to believe that, therefore you exclude the one alternative possibility which allows for justice to be done. I never advocate for 'religion' per se, and the Bible certainly does not! There is a great deal of truth in what you say about religion in general. But you folks are very good at pointing fingers in other people's direction. One must learn to point the finger at oneself, 'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' In short, Hitchens threw out the baby with the bathwater. Not very humane, and not in his own long-term interest.
@ericblair54
3 жыл бұрын
@@marcusonesimus3400 Your pleonasm is ludicrous and superfluous.
@marcusonesimus3400
3 жыл бұрын
@@ericblair54 Good show. man. I had to look that one up.
@carlodave9
Жыл бұрын
Hitches is a sexy mother and rightfully in love with his own powerful mind. Head & shoulders above any intellectuals I’ve known.
@Zeldarw104
5 жыл бұрын
thanks for sharing this insight, it's very interesting!🤔
@sabyasachisenapati3619
2 жыл бұрын
This is no doubt after his support of Iraq war and his declining popularity among the the american left. Classic Hitch. No quarter.
@kennethbiebighauser7984
3 жыл бұрын
At last....Christopher Hitchens...almost 8 minutes of listening pleasure
@AlekWheeler
2 жыл бұрын
To the end of my days, I’ll regret not getting the chance to see Hitchens debate onstage…and I had a chance. He came to Toronto in 2010 to do a debate on religion with Tony Blair (I’ll get shit for this, but another man I admire and respect), ON MY BIRTHDAY in 2010…alas, it was a UofT Munk School event, so unlike other UofT events, which are open to public, this wasn’t that.
@sendnoodles5437
2 жыл бұрын
He absolutely made mince meat out of Tony Blair, unsurprisingly, but I respect your right to respect him
@kiwitrainguy
2 жыл бұрын
That debate is on YT.
@jeffstone2136
4 жыл бұрын
Odd, that Hitchens could be in doubt about Gore Vidal's politics. One of the most blatant champagne socialists that ever lived.
@roughhabit9085
2 жыл бұрын
Radical Chic is a better term I think, and coined by one of Buckley’s friends.
@owlofminerva2564
2 жыл бұрын
I try and try not to idolise/apotheosise Christopher Hitchens' approach to discourse (rather than the man himself, which would be a mistake) but he's knowledgeable, deliberately provocative and polemicist, happy to lay himself open to a comeback in order that - usually - he can hit a winning backhand down the line. Now, I'm aware that because I agree with his perspective I'll be complimentary in a way that people who disagree with him would not be, but - and because he was acute enough to say that the left/right conflict is a canard in some places (especially USA), a distraction from argument and debate - I find "right-wing" commentators online tend to address their own constituencies, rather than try and persuade the likes of me that there's something to their arguments. CH took his opinions to the (haha, joke word coming) 'enemy' and was delighted to engage. He wanted to persuade, and went about it in the proper way. So even if you don't agree with his opinions, his commitment to debate, analysis, his very approach is the one thing that modern society should (hopefully) agree upon. Except that I don't really have much hope that it will. What we have online now is a type of war, sadly - everyone building trenches and hunkering down, but never really fighting against the opposition but just sending propaganda to everyone on your own side of the line. And I'm not sure this war is going to ever end because no-one really gets hurt. Nothing's going to change. I miss debate. It moved us forward, albeit slowly. But now we just have (self-appointed) 'commentators.' Who don't.
@johndowns3839
4 жыл бұрын
He seems to be implying that Buckley was a bit of a closet case. Vidal insinuated the same thing on a couple of occasions.
@Johnconno
4 жыл бұрын
Jesus! What made them infer that? Buckley was as camp as a row of tents and undoubtedly gay.
@maxmeier532
3 жыл бұрын
@Vox Quod Well he was catholic, and an outspoken, one could say too blatant, homophobe which plainly serves as substance for the claim.
@terencewinters2154
3 жыл бұрын
Getting into Hitchens own perspective he is a Bertrand Russell atheist who opts for constitutional monarchy and the world having been better under the British Empire even if he never turns his rhetoric and logic on his own mind. He is right on Vidal and Buckley in a supercilious british snobbish way. Those colonialists shouldn't sit on the fence they owe everything to the mother country england.
@MariusRiley
4 жыл бұрын
: I do find myself wondering how a panel discussion between Hitch and Jordan Peterson would go.
@YoungJoone
4 жыл бұрын
Hitch would win out against Jordan Peterson... not because he is more intelligent, but because he was brutally honest when it came to his limitations with different topics. Hitch also never seems to waver from what he feels is direct truth under scrutiny from his "following". Peterson talked frequently some time ago about what people expect of him and I think that to some degree, it makes you inflexible and at times has led to him being bitter or having his foot in his mouth. Hitchens is special in a way, I think... because he's a malleable genius that would eagerly admit he'd throw away his life's work if he were proven wrong and... I'm inclined to believe him. Also, he's dead... and that always earns a few extra points in my book. Be blessed, G.
@colewood3297
3 жыл бұрын
Hitchens would find Peterson irritating
@triluna0
Жыл бұрын
I miss intelligent debate on popular media!
@nunyabizness866
4 жыл бұрын
Robert Downey, Jr. would excel at playing this guy.
@jeremyberesford6377
4 жыл бұрын
Judging by his performance in Dr. Dolittle we can't trust him with the accent 😂 I often ask myself who could play Hitch and can never figure it out
@jeremyberesford6377
4 жыл бұрын
@Colloquial Soliloquy Damn he probably is the best option I've come across so far, though I guess that flick would have to stick to the later years
@hd-xc2lz
4 жыл бұрын
@Colloquial Soliloquy Visually Spall is a good match, but not the right vocal cadence to my ears, too languorous and sweet. Though I think Downey Jr would be worse, too much cocky frat guy vibe.
@hd-xc2lz
4 жыл бұрын
Better might be a guy like Christian Bale who will physically transform himself for a role, and can communicate contempt bubbling beneath the surface of propriety.
@dm0527
4 жыл бұрын
Roger Allam. Watch The Hippopotamus, he did such a great job at playing at a Hitch-type.
@ergbudster3333
4 жыл бұрын
Damn! If he keeps this up I'll have to stop hating him for being a.. er.. whatever he turned out to be but then it's always that way, isn't it. You know nothing about a man until he's old.. and dying.
@Ergo8152
3 жыл бұрын
Discover him late in life saw a interview near the end. Guy asks him how are u doing answer im dying but so are you. Miss him
@deesee6009
2 жыл бұрын
As a great admirer of Hitchens, I can't help but think if still around he would be hugely divorced from the Left / Democrats that he supported for most of his life. He aligned himself politically based on his moral understandings and primary amongst them were his reverence of freedom and civility - two things the modern Left have completely abandoned.
@MikkelGrumBovin
2 жыл бұрын
Yup,-
@jeffforsythe9514
2 жыл бұрын
Everyone has a feeling of emptiness that they try to fill by thousands of different means. Some of us cannot fill this emptiness which turns into despair and those unfortunate people, when the despair never ends, commit suicide. The others use, food, sports, sex, porno, I Phones, shopping, alcohol, drugs, "legal and illegal", wealth and fame, the list is endless. The ones who use wealth really prove my point by never being satisfied and keep trying by becoming ridiculously wealthy, 200 billion, for example, nothing seems to work. Others become morbidly obese and others sometimes own a hundred cars. Still unable to rid themselves of that feeling of emptiness. The evil CCP has eliminated even the word God in all levels of education and admit to over 1000 suicides a day meaning that there could easily be 10 times that number, no faith, despair flourishes. This is because that feeling of emptiness comes from missing their connection to the Divine, they all have lost their faith in God. Faith is it's own reward.............falundafa
@deesee6009
2 жыл бұрын
@@jeffforsythe9514 okayyyyyy
@Garrett1240
2 жыл бұрын
Reverence and civility; that’s rich.
@deesee6009
2 жыл бұрын
@@Garrett1240 "reverence of freedom and civility" - you're saying Hitchens did not prize these attributes?
@jkubrawl
Ай бұрын
I admire most of Christopher's thinking...but he somehow lost his mind regarding the invasion and occupation of Iraq. No matter how many times I've heard him explain it, it still doesn't even remotely justify it, and he always fell somewhat in my estimation as a result.
@richardsantanna5398
5 жыл бұрын
I wonder if Hitchens was right about Buckley's demons.
@codent
5 жыл бұрын
I hadn't thought about it, but it made perfect sense once Hitchens explained it
@nathanrobbin6341
5 жыл бұрын
I always suspected Bill was in the closet
@roughhabit9085
3 жыл бұрын
I wish Buckley had of had a social drink with him . Maybe he could have told him how he introduced Kissinger to Nixon AFTER Nixon was elected, and that would have blown some of Hitchens stupid theories out of the water.
@jamesanthony5681
3 жыл бұрын
Don't know, but that was the least interesting segment on this upload. It simply could have been that Buckley didn't like Hitchens on a personal level, despite having him on his show a number of times. Buckley *was* a busy man, a businessman who ran the National Review, and that certainly would have taken a good deal of his time, jetting here and there, etc..
@roughhabit6496
Жыл бұрын
Michael Kingsley said he saw ten times more of Buckley on set than off . Now he was a buddy of Hitchens. Maybe they drank together and consoled themselves over Buckley’s social circles.
@cliffdariff74
Жыл бұрын
So wished Hitchens hadn't smoked, it killed him young.
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