Over the past century, the revolutionary types seem to be getting less and less satisfying. Take Lenin, aka Vladimir Ulyanov. Now we can say he did the job when it came to regime change in 1917. Of course, I understand that the aftermath was disastrous. I’ve read The Great Terror, and many others. What I mean to say is, there was some good. Let’s not forget about Mao… now that was another incredible overthrowing of a government that ended with an equally horrifying set of atrocities.
From this perspective, there was another spectacular overthrowing of a government that ended with an equally horrifying set of atrocities in Mao. His rule was one of China’s most infamous periods, and culminated in numerous atrocities such as the Cultural Revolution. Some kids enjoyed spectacles, like the 1968 riots, but those have little enduring significance. In the U.S., counter culture showmen fun Abbie Hoffman, alongside Jerry Rubin, captured important free-speech posts even following the chaos of the Chicago Democratic National Convention.
In the twenty-first century, the so-called radical seems to have freed himself from being trapped in either right or left wing ideology. However, as is the case with many of these individuals, they reveal themselves as fascist clad in anarchist attire. Directed by Adam Bhala Lough, “The New Radical” starts off with a profiling of Cody Wilson, a Millenial who invented a 3D printable gun, amusingly named “The Liberator” by him.
On a segment from some show on Glen Beck’s “The Blaze” media, Beck is questioning the ever so young and sometimes beardo-ish bro Wilson saying, “Are you a hero or a villain?” Wilson answers saying, “Good question.” A lot of what the movie covers is Wilson’s unnatural intellect. “My mother and father met in the same county,” he nostalgically remembers before proceeding to state, aside from being a pastor, his father was a hermeneutics professor. Apart from Wilson claiming John Milton’s Arepoditica to be an essential text in developing his PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM, he also shares entertaining stories with sentences such as, “The state department shut me down during exam week.” “Information should be free,” is another statement he carelessly places out there.
And it wants to be.” The weight of the matter appears like it was said by him, “Wikileaks was about showing that it is the only game in town.” When asked once more the famous question of hero or villain, he goes “I do not like the dichotomy. What paradigm? Whose conception?”
There’s nothing and I mean nothing Wilson possesses remotely impressive or intimidating intellectually. In fancy terms, Wilson’s rhetorical practice is termed sophistry. In more legitimate terms, it is termed bulls**t. He is what Tucker Max would have been if Max had for some reason decided that anarchism, firearms and other variations of women and booze were more fun than the myriad of options at his disposal. When he states that the work he has done has brought negative attention towards his parents, the only reasonable response is, “too bad, bro.” Talking head lawyers display concern, with some reason to believe, that if Wilson were convicted of breaching a certain legislation he would end up in a prison that was not to pleasant. One would add, “Good.” (He co-founded a website called “Hatreon”, and as of this writing he has claimed to walk the earth a free man).
This movie has okay direction from Adam Bhala Lough, but still relies greatly on and goes overboard on its subjects including Amir Taaki, a mouthy British Bitcoin evangelical who collaborates with Wilson on something referred to as “Dark Wallet” ( these guys and their projects are way too reliant on comic book imagery). Julian Assange footage has a lot of talking headz, but we should not forget that he is cooped up in an embassy due to the fact that he is unwilling to rape charges.
Cory Wilson’s voice on the soundtrack made me want to throw up. The film relies on so many boogity-boogity docu-clichés. There’s the relevant music with the bizarre boogity-boogity editing. While he incredibly intercuts Wilson’s whining with accounts of mass shootings that occurred during Wilson’s 3D printed firearm saga, it’s not enough.
At the end of the day, this is a frightened film of frightening people, but focusing too much on these people akin to “Nazi Next Door” newspaper story. Mao was heard to have said that “political power begins at the barrel of a gun,” and there’s a saying which I presume Cory Wilson is familiar with. In my estimate, he knows it, but how well does he understand it?
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