You completely missed the point of the video. He clearly said smoking 'kept him going' and helped him write. He didn't regret it because at the end of the day he was a writer above all else. Anyway, tobacco, alcohol and gambling have for many centuries now been the very definition of the bohemian lifestyle. Modern art was born in the late 19th century's Parisian cafés and cabarets. Jazz was born in smoky rooms in New Orleans. Hitchens is saying that you can't have art and literature without having a Bohemian atmosphere and whether you like it or not, being a smoker has always been associated with the Bohemian lifestyle. You certainly can't have a Bohemian atmosphere with dull people who think they're holier than thou and who look down upon smokers, drinkers and gamblers. I would go as far as to say that the decadence of modern culture has much to do with the spread of anti-smoking, anti-alcohol and anti-fun legislation in the West. There are no longer truly Bohemian cafés which quite never close and where one is free to passionately discuss literature and art while indulging in one's vices without being chased away by the holier than thou crowd who have imposed totalitarian smoking bans, who seek to control the hours during which bars can be open, who seek to restrict the hours during which alcohol can be sold as well as its price, who seek to control what one can or cannot say, etc. Hitchens is just stating a fact, in order for culture to flourish, vices, moral liberty and an intelletual bohemian atmosphere, must be allowed to exist. He was a Bohemian himself, he knew there was a risk involved in such a lifestyle. However, he didn't regret taking said risk as, at the end of the day, he thought it had been 'worth it'.
A true bohemian. He lived a great life, which is more then most of us, with our salads and iphones. He traveled the world, drank with high & low society, eat in the best restaurants and loved a bar. Nothing wrong with the avant garde life
HE-ROW!
equating the "bohemian lifestyle" with being a chain-smoker is idiotic.
You completely missed the point of the video. He clearly said smoking 'kept him going' and helped him write. He didn't regret it because at the end of the day he was a writer above all else.
Anyway, tobacco, alcohol and gambling have for many centuries now been the very definition of the bohemian lifestyle. Modern art was born in the late 19th century's Parisian cafés and cabarets. Jazz was born in smoky rooms in New Orleans. Hitchens is saying that you can't have art and literature without having a Bohemian atmosphere and whether you like it or not, being a smoker has always been associated with the Bohemian lifestyle.
You certainly can't have a Bohemian atmosphere with dull people who think they're holier than thou and who look down upon smokers, drinkers and gamblers. I would go as far as to say that the decadence of modern culture has much to do with the spread of anti-smoking, anti-alcohol and anti-fun legislation in the West. There are no longer truly Bohemian cafés which quite never close and where one is free to passionately discuss literature and art while indulging in one's vices without being chased away by the holier than thou crowd who have imposed totalitarian smoking bans, who seek to control the hours during which bars can be open, who seek to restrict the hours during which alcohol can be sold as well as its price, who seek to control what one can or cannot say, etc.
Hitchens is just stating a fact, in order for culture to flourish, vices, moral liberty and an intelletual bohemian atmosphere, must be allowed to exist. He was a Bohemian himself, he knew there was a risk involved in such a lifestyle. However, he didn't regret taking said risk as, at the end of the day, he thought it had been 'worth it'.
A true bohemian. He lived a great life, which is more then most of us, with our salads and iphones. He traveled the world, drank with high & low society, eat in the best restaurants and loved a bar. Nothing wrong with the avant garde life