Historian Eric Hobsbawm stayed loyal to Marxism until his death at 95 . Timothy Snyder says Hobsbawm 's beliefs formed as a Jew living in 1930s . Comment: There is something to be said , after all , for defending the weak , even today , especially today . Hobsbawm defended Soviet state that no longer exists , and other dead ideas . Wrong as was , Snyder writes , it did embody certain virtues that are valid today .
Historian Eric Hobsbawm stayed loyal to Marxism until his death at 95 . Timothy Snyder says Hobsbawm 's beliefs formed as a Jew living in 1930s . Comment: Hobsbawm defended Soviet state that no longer exists , and other dead ideas . Wrong as was , Snyder writes , it did embody certain virtues that are valid today .