Would you describe HST as politically apathetic?

>>8784835
why anon

just why

No? He was a staunch leftie who admired Marx and Guevara and endorsed George McGovern back in '72.

>>8784841
His writings seem to not really base themselves on any kind of moral system, so it seems odd that he would be interested in politics as anything more than a pastime.

>>8784854

It's good to enjoy the stupid things in life; safe way to be always entertained.

>>8784877
I don't know whether or not you're calling me stupid or Hunter S. Thompsons interest in politics stupid but personally entertaining (both of which may be accurate)

>>8784912

Nah anon, you know i love you, i'd never call you names baby.

I was just in agreement. HST liked to fuck with politicians in a consistent basis, and have some radical views on society, mixing both left and right, to the point of incoherence.

It wasn't because he was stupid, but because politics as we know them today are fucking moronic, so why not have a laugh?

>>8784921
another hst "libertarian" or god forbid conservative fanbase that likes to depoliticize him because they cannot stand any hint of progressiveness

hst was a good old socialist with some anarchistic leanings. he was not centerist, not right wing, not incoherent in his views

>>8784936
HST comes from a lineage of lefties that includes men like Hemingway and London. Hard-drinking, sport-loving, masculine types. This is a breed of leftist that's all but extinct in the west today, so when modern readers encounter it they tend to get a bit confused.

>>8784835
>>8784854

Fear and Loathing on Campaign Trail I assume you did not read it.

>>8784936
I'm not depoliticizing him, you imbecile.

But you have to be jerking yourself out of a brain if you think that HST took ideologies seriously. He knew the corruption of a settle idea system, left or right. And that is misconstrued as incoherence.

He cared about humanitarian principles, and the preservation of freedom above all else. Socialist? fucking idiot.

He was an anarcho-jester if anything.

>>8784921
I like this, thank you. I'm pretty insecure about my /lit/ knowledge rn (just started seriously reading a few months ago, however people have already forced it onto my identity.) Sorry if I come off as a bit defensive.

>>8784949
I didn't, you're right. Sorry. I made too quick an assumption.

>>8784953
No worries bubu.

Here is a good very light intro of what HST was all about: http://www.businessinsider.com/hunter-s-thompson-on-finding-meaning-2014-5

Just inner confidence and unbreakable tenacity, with disregards of anyone else's way of thinking.

The above comparison with hemingway, london, maybe even fitzgerald is quite solid.

>>8784936
I agree. I didn't understand his gun-loving when I was a """left-centre""" liberal. But then when I soon came to realise that leftists are pro-gun, HST wasn't an outsider on lots of leftist issues.
I remember reading that his time writing Rum Diary was a time where he changed his views a lot on the world, especially poverty and exporting capitalism. And his friend Oscar made him rethink the radical left in Latin America. Got a link on him admiring Marx though?
There's really nothing wrong with "Don't Tread On Me" types, as long as they're not inadvertently bootlickers. That's why I think libertarians can become our brethren.

>>8784952
I suggest you read "Raggedly Trousered Philanthropists" if you don't understand what socialist always used to mean.

>>8784835
other than liking guns the dude was a hardcore liberal

>>8784842
>endorsed
Clearly you didn't read that book. Not exactly an endorsement.

>>8784952
you don't seem to know what socialism or anarchism is about

It seems to me that Hunter was equally disillusioned by all politicians of the time, the exception being perhaps McGovern in '72, whose crushing defeat brought about by stupid campaigning further deepened his loathing for the way American elections worked.

He liked neither the Democratic Old Guard led by Chicago's Mayor Daley, nor the new blood like Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown. He wasn't a particular fan the so-called progressives like McCarthy either.

On the other side, he hated Reagan and Nixon more or less equally in '68, and thought another Nixon win in the '72 election would trigger the apocalypse.

I feel like his support for McGovern stemmed from personal feelings about the man - not only did Hunter genuinely think he was a guy with America's best intentions at heart, but was also on a first name basis with him, even though no one else called him George.

Then there's also McGovern's non-interventionist attitude and liberal stances on social issues like drugs and abortion. When you think about it, Hunter liked McGovern for the same exact reasons he lost.

So no, l wouldn't say he was politically apathetic. He was just against the grain on most issues. I also don't agree with the people who say he was doing it all for fun because the modern political landscape and the left/right dichotomy is so different that it's unimaginable for a radical leftie to be pro-gun or anti-PC.

>>8786029
Oh please you pedantic faggot, he respected McGovern and wanted him to defeat Nixon. That's endorsement enough.

>>8786392
I've been a radical lefty for 10 years and have always been pro-gun and anti-PC. The workers should have the means of defending themselves and political correctness is always a top-down false consciousness, made necessary by the very own dichotomies the capitalist socieyt does.

I mean, this isn't even new, people have been saying the first since Marx himself and the later since the 1960s.

How can propaganda go as deep into the human soul as it did with the american population is something I will never understand. The only reason you people keep this "left nd right is outdated" meme flying is pure fucking ideology. No, the left isn't outdated, you just don't have any mainstream left that's not outdated.

File: LEtranger.jpg (43KB, 515x518px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 515x518px

>>8787154
>I've been a radical lefty for 10 years and have always been pro-gun and anti-PC. The workers should have the means of defending themselves and political correctness is always a top-down false consciousness, made necessary by the very own dichotomies the capitalist socieyt does.
MY NIGGA

>>8784835

Hell no, he was a self described: Political Junky.

He loved politics, not for the issues or impact it had on society, but he loved elections and races just like a football game. It was a great spectator sport to him.