In Christopher Hitchens’s interview with EconTalk about his book Why Orwell Matters, Hitchens praises George Orwell on his “plain honest speech, transparent political positions, detestation for euphemism and falsification” and argues (1:00:54~):

The job of the intellectual, the so-called public intellectuals as we are now for some reason doomed to call it, is or ought to be to say something along the following lines: “It’s more complicated than that… You mustn’t simplify this… There’s more complexity to the subject.” That’s what an intellectual should be doing to public discourse, one thinks. But then there are occasions when it seems to me that the reverse is the case. That actually what the really thoughtful person should be saying is actually: “It’s simple! Do not make complexity here, where none is required.”

You can listen to the above quote (and a bit extra) straight from Hitchens below:

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What an excellent point. Often I find myself exasperated with commentary on the internet which frequently represents the extreme and the childish, with no indication of understanding or nuance. The short-form of the blog only exacerbates the problem. It is almost enough to abandon the enterprise altogether. But all hope for public discourse on the internet is not lost! The point made by Hitchens, that sometimes things are just that simple tempers my irritation. It is a useful aphorism to keep bias in check.

Of course, the problem remains of proper application. The non-complexity argument cannot be used for every issue, and one must recognize its misuse and call it out. Truly complex issues should be handled in other forae, such as academic journals or conferences. But there are issues that can be broached in shorter formats. For example issues of morality or principle. Abandoning relativism, properly defining terms and being transparent in speech (as Orwell advises in his classic essay Politics of the English Language) should lead to clearer understanding in general. Casting off complexity is not drawing an arbitrary line in the proverbial sand (eg. moralizing), but stripping away the unwarranted and getting at the core of an argument. Often simple is not easy, and complexity is used to obfuscate. Nobody ever said being a public intellectual would be easy.

Listen to the entire Christopher Hitchens interview with EconTalk.

Last summer Michael J. Totten — intrepid independent foreign correspondent — interviewed Robert D. Kaplan. Last week, over “glasses of Johnny Walker Black Label” he got a chance to talk to another hero writer of mine: Christopher Hitchens.

Most people annotate their introduction of Hitchens with such a comment as: “I don’t agree with everything he says, but…” I, on the otherhand will be less furtive in my introductions by saying that I greatly admire Mr Hitchens, and believe him to be universally respected for his rhetorical ability, both in speech and in letters. A good man to have on your side, but you must never assume that he will be. But I digress.

Totten’s interview is entertaining: religion, morality, censorship, terrorism, democracy, and travel stories abound. I mean who wouldn’t want to read an interview with a quotes such as:

• Islamophobia is vague and linguistically clumsy. A phobia is an irrational fear. My fear of Islamic terrorism is not irrational. It’s quite well-founded.


• I don’t want to be sitting on a plane in Detroit and wondering if some craphound is going to blow me up.


• … occasionally, carving up grandfathers and granddaughters with an axe on New Year’s Eve can be okay if it’s done to protect the reputation of a seventh century Arabian man who heard voices.


• If you can give the name Mohammad to a shitting, screaming, nuisance of a kid—which somebody does 5,000 times a day—then I think you should be able to give it to the class’s favorite teddy bear.

Poor Totten can barely get a word in edgewise! Though it must be said that it is a rarity that Christopher Hitchens does not let the world know what he really thinks. Enjoy!

I look forward to part two. Part II is now live!

Christopher Hitchens’s latest book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything is available in fine online bookstores everywhere. I believe he is currently working on an autobiography.