Speaking of Germany in 1933, I don’t think you can remove yourself from politics when, in so many countries – the United States, Poland, Hungary, and many others
ADAM HOCHSCHILDHow many really great writers are there who are totally non-political? You can hear the French Revolution in the poetry of [Percy Bysshe] Shelly and [John] Wordsworth
More Adam Hochschild Quotes
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And tens of millions of Americans will feel a similar revulsion for the politicians and generals who were so spendthrift with others’ lives.
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Because they wanted a sympathetic ally in power. So I think it really was the opening act of World War II.
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I can certainly sympathize with writers who don’t want to put themselves or their loved ones at risk.
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Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.
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How many really great writers are there who are totally non-political? You can hear the French Revolution in the poetry of [Percy Bysshe] Shelly and [John] Wordsworth
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And yet the world we live in-its divisions and conflicts, its widening gap between rich and poor
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Zachary Macaulay, who once traveled on a slave ship across the Atlantic, taking notes.
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Many of the principle weapons that the Nazis used during World War II had their first trial in combat in Spain
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I think [George] Orwell is right. There are certainly moments when political differences appear minor, and someone can claim to be non-political or to want to stay out of the fray, but today is not one of those moments.
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After all, where else in the world at this point did you have Americans in uniform who were being bombed by Nazi planes four years before the U.S. entered World War II?
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Things have gotten openly more extreme in the last few years. I was lecturing in Hungary, whose prime minister, Victor Orban, is an example of this trend.
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I think one thing writers can do is point out that you don’t have to say openly racist things, like [Donald] Trump, to be a racist or a xenophobe.
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Growing inequality is a huge problem, and of course is intimately connected to xenophobia and racism.
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Newt Gingrich seldom misses a chance to note that he is a historian.
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In Canada, the U.S. and most of Europe it may be easy to take political stands, this is something for which you can be forced to pay with your life, or your freedom, in many other parts of the world, from Iran to Russia to Pakistan to China.
ADAM HOCHSCHILD