August 17, 2013

Christopher Hitchens on Václav Havel



At 2 minutes in the video here and above, Christopher Hitchens talks about Václav Havel. He said:
"Václav Havel. Perfect for my profession and yours. Ironic. Understated. Non-fanatical. Non-violent. By folding his arms an putting on a smile, a knowing smile on his face was able to ridicule the whole edifice of totalitarianism."   
Czechsolvakia was invaded in 1968 and 20 years later the Civic Forum movement was formed in Prague during the Velvet Revolution of 1989 in the Czech part of Czechslovakia. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence. The purpose of the Civic Forum was to unify the anti-authoritarian forces in Czechslovakia and to overthrow the communist regime.

Christopher Hitchens continued:
"The Civic Forum and its allies, by putting on plays, by writing poems, by publishing essays, by making jokes, by demonstrating the value of the written word, life lived in truth and by nothing else - no car bombs, no bullying, no fanaticism - just brought the ogre to a halt and let the air completely out of the bag. 
Nobody who lived through this will ever forget it and the personal symbol of it will always be Václav Havel." 
And indeed the pen is mightier than the sword. Do not doubt the power of poetry, writing and lyrics. As Eminem said:
"But I'm more toward droppin' an acapella to chop a fella to mozzarella worse than a helicopter propella."

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