[mindslight]

The reasons for his regrets are ultimately irrelevant from an impartial position. They're only compelling if you've bought in to the reactionary yellow journalism narrative.

He played his part while authoring the thing, and then went on to join with the system that he was rebelling against. He's now fat and happy, has internalized the rules of the system he once hated, and is now examining his previous behavior using the framework of said system. This doesn't change the message of what he once wrote, or why it continues to resonate.