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I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Levy along with William Kristol and Francis Fukuyama at John Hopkins University last night (http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pubaffairs/media_events/Media_Advisories/MA2006/americanvertigo06.html)
The first segment of the program was fairly slow moving: Levy discussed philosophy and intellectuals, and to the point of redundancy his metaphor of 'ordering the whole menu'. Levy also to a certain extent defended some conservatives and conservative principles (and where I tend to agree with Levy the most about how while there is a substantial though disagreeable conservative movement in the neoconservatives, there is no parallel leftist movement in America presently).
The most interesting tid-bit about the forum began when somehow all three talked about Marxism. William Kristol, the EDITOR OF THE WEEKLY STANDARD, talked about Marxism & Leninism, and displayed some historical prowess by concluding that Lenin was right and Marx was wrong. This was centered on whether Marx or Lenin was right about where communism would develop (Marx believed in Western Europe, Lenin believed in underdeveloped nations).
There was a small question and answer session that provided one amazing piece of fodder (apart from lots of bumbling graduate students "uh excuse me I read de Tocqueville and I'm a student and uh oh god im so nervous"). This was a question asked by a rather elderly man that went verbatim: "Does Europe have a future else than being an appendage of North Africa?". I think the question took everyone off guard and there was a fairly long gap between when the question was asked and then answered. But it was worth the wait, as Levy replied "Europe will be no more of an appendage of North Africa than America a suburb of Mexico". Levy then used that to delve into the arena of immigration and integration in society, notably America and French methods of pursuing integration.
The forum ended there and I'll share with you some brief conclusions. At first I got the impression that Levy was a blow hard -- he seemed to talk in an exaggerated Jacques Casteau-esque fashion, was round about in his discourse, and seemed overly eager to defend the right when he is a self-proclaimed Leftist. However, as the discussion continued, he seemed more substantial and his off the cuff responses that were relevant and thought out made me think more of him. I also enjoyed Kristol, but he comes across as a conservative tucked into a little shell that will sometimes make an insightful remark but then quickly retreats back into his party shell.
