Spike Magazine

Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com
to the rug…’”
Hunter still seems to believe in the ideal of the American
dream, as evinced by his last book, Better Than Sex,
which charts Clinton’s inexorable presidential campaign.
You seem to take a distinct relish in propagating
the image of yourself as a son-of-a-bitch Republican.
Yet much of your writing is distinctly humanitarian in
places… “Well, both of those things are true. People
on this side of the Atlantic get confused about political
conservatism. It is not an excuse for selfishness. I don’t
think that a person is left wing or right wing according
to whether or not they are compassionate. A lot of
people on the left, especially the more po-faced ones,
have worked that angle. Lots of people are right wing
because they’re selfish, there’s no doubt about that – I
can’t defend that, I can only point out lots of people
are left-wing because they’re selfish too. The Hilary
Clinton world-view is bossing people around on the
basis of a supposed virtuousness – ‘I care more than
you care – therefore I’m going to boss you around.’ If
they couldn’t operate that system, then no other system
would suit.”
Your concern about American politics is evident
from the most recent pieces collected in Age And Guile.
Does this mean your interest in globetrotting is waning?
“I am a little tired of the Third World travel, part
of it’s just age, it’s tough on the system, tough on the
gastro-intestinal tract. A little bit of it is facing different
BUY P.J. O’Rourke books online from and
kinds of suffering that I really don’t know what it is I
could do about it. I’ve written about it to the best of
my ability. I don’t think the causes of it are too mysterious.
Particularly the sort caused by human folly.
After finishing All The Trouble In The World, I took
some time off from my commitments to Rolling Stone.
I knew I’d had a good summer because I had tanned
feet. It’s always a good indication of having done fuck
all. The next thing I want to do is about economics,
which also involves travelling, but it should be slightly
more pleasant. At least here I’m dealing with human
endeavour to better oneself and one’s time, rather than
the human endeavour to whack each other over the
head. It should be a bit more optimistic. I’ve never read
an actual explanation of economics that was fun to read
So I’m going to pick out different economies around
the world that represent different attempts to organise
socially: socialism that works, socialism that doesn’t
work, adaptation to a market economy that’s successful,
adaptation to a market economy that’s troubled.
There’ll be a Holidays In Hell aspect to it, but at least
people won’t be shooting at each other – much.”
Do you think your writing has any tangible impact
on its readers? For example, the ecological chapters in
All The Trouble In The World (lovingly titled ‘We’re
All Going To Die’ and ‘We’re All Going To Die Anyway’)
provide an excellent retort to eco- hysterics – it
might change a few minds… “I just don’t know. So few
390
More
Spike
email
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z