This is kind of a cool tribute video with at least some eye candy to keep the easily bored attuned and who might, by some accident even, hear something they hadn't heard before. That, to me, was one of Christopher Hitchens strong points as an essayist and debater: you were almost certainly going to hear something you hadn't before about everything from history to politics.
He woke a lot of people out of a slumber that came over them usually as a result of inculcated fear and meaningless traditions whose sole purpose was to enslave their minds and make them uncritical thinkers. He was willing to raise the alarm on many social topics that, if left unchecked and unnoticed, would be the decay of freedom in intellect and freedom in self-expression...speech. On the point of an invented bigotry (e.g. "Islamaphobia' ) designed to keep good people silent so theocrats can control others through the destruction of their freedom of speech, I think very soon we will understand, unfortunately, that much more acutely and mostly for doing just what he charged; staying silent in the face of sharia law and those who let it gain ground ( prince charles, guilty as charged ).
A man of more true conviction and real principle than many of his opposers and more faithful to the idea of freedom and the morality it demands, to protect it at all costs, than his objectors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xeK7R-TgHI
There are many, many videos on Youtube with Chris in them. And as he might even say, you cannot claim to have a right to remain ignorant or that your ignorance is unavoidable if the information is laying right there in front of you. At some point we each have to take responsibility for those cynical, cowardly moments when we purposefully choose NOT to know a thing simply becasue we worry it will contain a truth that forces us to face living under the bliss of ignorance ( i.e. the self acknowledges it's betrayal to the mind "I have or am choosing ignorance and the destruction that comes with it..." ).
Any grief I feel, all the grief I feel, is a supremely selfish one and waking up to this news today, though you know it's probably going to be coming, was, for me, very sad indeed. I feel it because as someone who has read his books and eassays and followed his debates, though thankfully not all of them, it's the understanding that there will be no more new stuff issuing from him. So, I say 'thankfully' because in having missed a few of his things, I can see them now, and will for sure. But I'll purposely span that out and be slow to doing it.
For those unfamiliar with his fluid and personal writing style, there are many articles online via Vanity Fair, Slate, and the New Statesman. And Stephen Fry, a friend of Christophers, did a show recently with guests like Richard Dawkins and Sean Penn and Salmon Rushdie, reflecting on Chris' impact or value to them as a friend. That's on YouTube as well. I mention this for the very faithful Stephen fans who are more inclined to watch anything with Stephen in it than they are to purposely bother to avail themselves of anything to do with Mr.Hitchens. It's a nice tribute and the entire effort seemed, well, quite sweet actually. I only wish each person had had a bit more time to share what it is or why it is they were so attracted to Chris but if one purpose was to reveal that Mr.Hitches was NOT a dour, stern, angry man to those who ever thought it or think it they did, imho, succeed. It's clear Chris' friends were very fond of him.
Here's that link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taOBFURZvcA
Do allow yourself the pleasure of caring about things bigger than your own life occasionally and don't be afraid to have your beliefs challenged. If they are as solid as you may say, then nothing will move you and if they aren't, then you can shed them for something else. That's the great flexibility of REAL free thought and self-expression.
Please bear with my obvious fondness and respect for Mr.Hitchens. I don't feel all that uncomftorable posting about him here because I know that Mr.Fry and he were friends and so think it's safe to assume that Mr.Fry himself feels Chris' loss, but on a much more personally acute level and I extend my condolensces to him as well. Losing a friend just plain hurts. And while most of us never knew him in person, he felt like a friend and a safe harbor to 'take a thought for a walk' around. That aspect of him, in particular, pricks my heart pretty bad.
He was such a brave guy....thank you Mr.Hitchens...
