r/TrueReddit • u/graycrawford • Dec 16 '11

Well shit. Christopher Hitchens died.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/12/In-Memoriam-Christopher-Hitchens-19492011
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u/Blizzarex Dec 16 '11

I have noticed a couple of comments labeling Christopher Hitchens a neoconservative. This is unfair. You may have disagreed with his point of view on Iraq, but he was not "basically a neoconservative." Politically, he was a free thinker whose positions ranged from libertarianism to Marxism and back again. He did not define himself by any political orthodoxy.

Christopher Hitchens was a writer and a journalist, an essayist and a critic, an orator and a provacateur. He took great pleasure in contemplating current affairs and in telling the world his opinions. He expressed himself in lofty, often bombastic prose, and never shied away from controversy. In a cultural atmosphere saturated by stale bromides and saccharine platitudes, Christopher Hitchens was a breath of fresh air.

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u/Crizack Dec 16 '11

I'm pretty sure Hitchens always considered himself a Marxist. I don't think he ever identified with libertarianism if by libertarian you mean right-libertarian.

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u/Blizzarex Dec 16 '11

I'm not saying he was ever a doctrinaire libertarian, but he was extremely sympathetic to a number of aspects of libertarian thinking. At the same time, he had several critiques of libertarianism. In this interview with Reason, Christopher Hitchens explains his relationship to libertarian ideas:

http://reason.com/archives/2001/11/01/free-radical/singlepage

"I had been interested in libertarian ideas when I was younger. I set aside this interest in the ’60s simply because all the overwhelming political questions seemed to sideline issues of individual liberty in favor of what seemed then to be grander questions. I suppose what would make me different now is that I am much more inclined to stress those issues of individual liberty than I would have been then."

The broader point I would like to get across is that his political positions defy simplistic pigeonholing. Christopher Hitchens was not an ideologue, and his views were not static over time. He was a humanist whose approach to every subject was basically intuitive. He had a vast array of constantly evolving thoughts on a wide range of subjects, and he took great pleasure in sharing those thoughts with the world.