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FORA.tv Series: Highlights of the Hoover Institution

Uncommon Knowledge: Christopher Hitchens & Robert Service

The Hoover Institution
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sparkmori Avatar
sparkmori
Posts: 2
Posted: 08.10.09, 09:52 PM
I love Christopher Hitchens. I'll quote a poem from a *different* Robert Service for this video:

"My Father Christmas passed away
When I was barely seven
At 21, alack-a-day,
I lost my hope of heaven.

Yet not in either lies the curse:
The hell of it's because
I don't know which loss hurt the worst-
My God or Santa Claus."

"The Sceptic" by Robert Service
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Vasil Avatar
Vasil
Posts: 46
Posted: 08.14.09, 01:52 PM
I am very surprised to discover how Trotsky's ideas evolved and became contagious in the West. When I studied history back in post-soviet state there's was hardly any mentioning of Trotsky with the exception of him being a "traitor".
The second surprising note is Hitchens' admiration of Trotsky. Yes, he's "the man of both action and ideas", but so is Lenin. It appears to me from the conversation of Trotsky confronting Stalin is in greater degree a struggle for power rather than substantial difference in policies.
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spirit Avatar
spirit
Posts: 5
Posted: 08.27.09, 11:55 PM
Great stuff , Thank You !
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one_two_many Avatar
one_two_many
Posts: 4
Posted: 10.14.09, 11:05 PM
However, the point remains that Trotsky was morally (logically) superior to Stallin. The fact that both were men of ideas and action is acknowledged and they are operating on the unspoken assumption that Trotsky is a sort of poster-boy for socialism (at least compared to Stallin, and he was the only one who was close in fame who may have been compared to establish a thorough discourse about socialist ideology and politics.) This promps Hitchens' first response to the first question.
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one_two_many Avatar
one_two_many
Posts: 4
Posted: 10.14.09, 11:26 PM
My only real question is this: Why does no one mention that even though Trotsky being the supreme leader of Russia may have increased the chances of a bloodbath in Germany, wouldn't said bloodbath have had huge odds of stopping the holocaust because it would certainly not have left Hitler in power? If so, wouldn't this mean that Trotsky certainly would have been the lesser of two evils? (not that there isn't already enough evidence for this.)
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Wilmerdon Avatar
Wilmerdon
Posts: 2
Posted: 11.01.09, 01:48 AM
Absolutely. I was surprised too of Hitchens' admiration for Trotsky. I know, though, its pure Romanticism. The same reason why I admired Trotsky since college. For all hi intellect, Hitchens is mere mortal just like me!
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Wilmerdon Avatar
Wilmerdon
Posts: 2
Posted: 11.01.09, 01:55 AM
I think that's the understanding -"lesser of the two evils"- that most Trotskyites have now - if we can put down our romanticised vision of the October revolution and the hope for Collective economy and a Just and Fair society - as against a Market Driven economy and Greed Driven society.
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