Chris in Simpler Times, Acting as Security for the Hallowkeene Dance Party in 2014.
In my last article about him, written shortly after his arrest in Charlottesville at a white nationalist hate rally, I explained that despite Chris’ libertarian activism being covered by this blog in the past, he had never been a blogger at Free Keene, nor was he ever invited to be. When he came to Keene in the early part of this decade, he was just crass libertarian comedian Chris Cantwell from Long Island. He wasn’t a racist, but still caused much controversy for his hatred for the police.
Today, Chris has embraced the police as his potential tool of oppression, even though they recently threw him into a jail cell for months in Virginia. As he revealed in our conversation Tuesday night, he literally wants to become the state. Shortly after 2 hours, 22 minutes in he actually says he wants to force his beliefs on others, and then moments later says, “I want to be the government, yeah.”
His dramatic shift to statism isn’t a first for the Free State Project libertarian migration, which was the original reason Chris chose to move to New Hampshire. Early mover to Manchester Amanda Bouldin went from being an anarchist to a hostile-to-libertarians leftist. Conversely, Chris has gone from being an anarchist to a actual NAZI. There’s not a shred of a libertarian left in him. Libertarians, voluntarists, and liberty-loving anarchists believe people should be judged as individuals, by their words and actions. Chris is obsessed with race and admits in the conversation that it’s lazy to judge people based on the group into which they are born, but nonetheless runs with the idea anyway, as he considers the laziness of racism to be an efficient filter for his ideal society.
Previously a libertarian against the war on drugs, he’s now for prohibition.
The conversation we had on the Twitch-only show (though I’ve since exported it to Youtube here) had some particularly bizarre moments including Chris holding the confusing position of having used cannabis while supporting continuing prohibition against it. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth by acknowledging the benefits of harm reduction and decriminalization but refusing to advocate for policy changes in that direction. It’s a perplexing perspective. Despite his own personal knowledge of the ineffectiveness of prohibition and the various studies proving it is an abject failure that creates the opposite of its intended results, he rejects all that on the near-religious belief that outlawing something reduces its use. It’s a belief wholly at odds with how he used to think on the issue.
At one point in the conversation he actually refers to himself as a caricature. What does he really believe? Outside of another total personality shift to a communist, that which he currently hates, or perhaps maybe going transgender, it’s hard to imagine where Chris will go from here.
Speaking of transgender, Chris also had a segment with the Anarchist Shemale, Aria DiMezzo. Aria wrote about it on her blog, and was disappointed she didn’t get more time on-air to fight with Chris. I’d invited her there with the expectation that Johnson wasn’t going to stay through the whole show and that Aria could take his chair later. Turns out, Johnson stayed the whole time. She was also upset that we didn’t go toe-to-toe with Chris on trans issues, which I honestly know next-to-nothing about.
Only advocates of peace are allowed to blog at FreeKeene.com
Others, like me, can see the value in giving enough rope to Chris to verbally hang himself. We don’t think that bad ideas should be shut down, but instead they ought to be countered publicly. The answer to ugly speech is more speech, not de-platforming or censorship. If you don’t think I was the best person to counter Chris’ ideas, that’s fine. If you hate me because I’m kind to Chris, that’s fine too. Hate only hurts the hater. That’s ultimately the true irony here, that hating Chris only makes you more like him.
Chris has become what he once hated – an arch statist. He has rejected the libertarian principle of non-aggression and instead embraced coercive, institutionalized violence as his tool. Of course, violence begets violence and he will reap as he sows.
Though Chris is certainly responsible for his horrible beliefs, he’s ultimately a creation of a society that has long embraced the aggression of government as a tool to control their neighbor. If you hate Chris but you support the coercive state, you ought to look in the mirror. People cover their support for state violence by believing in nonsense like the “social contract” and refusing to see the threats of violence that back all government programs. They hold conflicting positions, like supporting the state while believing they themselves support peace. To his credit, at least Chris is honest about his reasons for supporting the state. He knows it’s a tool for the violent to control others and is eager to use it for his purposes. If you support the state, you helped make Chris into a monster.
Here’s the full, unedited, over three-hour show:
“he’s ultimately a creation of a society that has long embraced the aggression of government as a tool to control their neighbor”. No he isn’t. He is a mentally ill person with a delusional disorder and possible paranoid schizophrenic. “Delusional disorder, previously called paranoid disorder, is a type of serious mental illness — called a “psychosis”— in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. The main feature of this disorder is the presence of delusions, which are unshakable beliefs in something untrue”. He needs very serious help and that is no joke. He is on… Read more »
Pop psychology is very, very exciting, isn’t it Jacks? Say pookums, did they teach you that stuff in nursing school or did you pick it up by watching marathons of A&E’s “Intervention?”
Thank you for bringing this dirtbag to NH, Ian. I remember him talking about how you begged him to come. The Free State Project has brought so many high quality people to our state. Muni Savyon, Brandon Ross, Ian Bernard, Mark “some people like abuse” Warden, “Michael “someone had too much time on their hands” rape apologist Sylvia, gun felon Max Abramson……and so many more.
And why does Free Keene care about Cantwell’s latest tergiversation when FK itself is running around in “liberal” drag these days? Just think him as another kind of “transperson”! “hate rally” – you can’t be serious. “Chris is obsessed with race” – well, some whites might as well be since the entire establishment is openly declaring war (even more than usual) on the majority race of Americans, New Hampshirites, Libertarians, freedom activists, and undoubtedly Free Keene members. This has the charming effect of inciting “anti”-racist terrorists to the kind of brutality THEY initiated and offensively perpetrated at Unite the Right.… Read more »
Ian I think you’ll find Twitch has guidelines prohibiting anti LGBTQ hate speech I mention this as you might get slammed foi some of the shit Duntwell belches
Fascinating journey to watch. Thank you Ian for this terrific report and for having Chris on what was a very entertaining show. I like that Chris, right or wrong, says what he thinks. His views have evolved over time as his experiences have changed him. He, like the rest of us, will probably continue to change as we learn new things and develop new relationships and defeat old demons or aquire new ones. Hopefully one of his friends who he trusts can connect with him on a level that helps him see the world thru a different lens. One that… Read more »
^ Should read “One that is *both* practical and moral.”
Susan, you are wrong. I did not know Cantwell before he moved.
He’d never heard of Free Talk Live, and I’d never heard of him. Please stop making things up, Susan, thank you.
hey everybody chris cantwell’s life and evolution is super important. .. sry
on the show he called himself a charature . .. he’s a creation.. for attention . .. he’s a racist for attention. .. so for Fame $ and attention he’s selling and fanning the flames of racism and hate. .. and Ian is rooting him on by posts and publicity. .. . Ian doesn’t want to be a racist but he’s giddy to ride the coattails is of it
I miss the old libertarian Cantwell. Maybe he’ll come back someday.
I’m not making anything up, Ian. Luckily the members of the FSP have done a great deal to scrub the internet of stupid things you’ve all said over the years.
Cantwell came to NH. He left. You begged him to come back. He did. I remember it clearly. Then again, being accused of lying by a Free Stater always has an amusing, ironic aspect.
As Ian states, Cantwell is a Nazi who has been nationally reviled since Charlottesville. He talks endlessly about gassing Jews, throwing people out of helicopters, and he says horrible things abour Blacks and the LGTBQ community. He celebrated the murder of Heather Heyer. Why would he be given a Forum by Free Keene? Ian even had him on the show when he was in Jail in Charlottesville and referred to him as a “political prisoner”. People can change. But, unless Cantwell renounces all of his racist nonsense, he should never be given a public forum, in my opinion.
Its really disappointing to read people misuse and abuse labels for clinical mental illness. Schizophrenia is a terrible degenerative organic brain disease. Misunderstanding this disease and other organic mental disorders has led to such flip “diagnosis” such as what Jumping Jacks jumps into here. Cantwell’s issue is behavior and emotional. His delusions, if he indeed has any, have more to do with deep emotional and identity disturbances, as Ian interestingly alludes to, than any organic brain disease. There’s no doubt that Cantwell knows everyday what he’s doing, where he is and who he is — in a physiological sense. Millions… Read more »
Oh Gosh Darn It – Cantwell shows many signs of mental illness. Paranoid Schizophrenia is one of them. He lives in a constant delusional state. He tries to attach himself to the negative social group of people so he can spread his delusional thinking and maintain it. There is no misuse of labels on my part. I work with mentally ill people all the time. Show me your proof of your statements regarding Cantwell.
Say Jacks, since you’re obviously the expert here, can you identify any mental illnesses which include mythomania as one of its primary symptoms?
It’s amazing how similar those who are attacking Ian for giving Chris a “platform” are to Chris himself. Hate is a problem. The people who have severe emotional reactions are the biggest problem. You guys don’t use rational logical arguments where Ian does. And you just can’t handle that. Ian was right to call Chris a “political prisoner”. A sign you are a libertarian is ones ability to recognize that just because you don’t like the views of a particular group doesn’t mean they can’t be victims too even of a state that they support for which you do not.… Read more »
kk. . .good people that arent racists have left. .. let that sink in. .. Ian seems fine with that and keeps bringing Cantwell around. . And Cantwell has dated Jews and blacks. .. what cantwell does he does for money and attention.. what Cantwell does he does for attention and money. . you sound like a girl that takes on project guys “oh but i can fix him” spare me .. .good people get thrown under the bus because Ian wants to ride Cantwell’s racist coattails. ..
Ian always liked to say “Chris you are a hard person to be friends with” … well yes.. . now Darryl is talking about splitting. .. so. …. smarter people tell Ian but he doesn’t listen
One trait that I find particularly wearing in many self identified libertarians is their love of academic arguments. Academic arguments at the expense of real life consequences.
Make no mistake the woman who was killed in Charlottesville is dead because someone of less than stable mentality was agitated and manipulated. People like Cantwell are selling the idea of genocide. The “edgy” talk of throwing people out of helicopters as one example.
Trace the connections and it comes back to people enabling people like Cantwell.
You guys are nuts. While I have no doubt there are crazy people out there- I mean- look- I’m talking a half dozen here- you can’t credit Ian or Cantwell with these peoples actions. Dialog is a critical component of a democracy and a free society. There are going to be crazy and violent people period and you can’t let that emotional reaction steer you because it’s illogical and irrational from any sane point of view. And it is a poor excuse not to have the discussion. People die and it’s part of life. The bigger issue is not Cantwell,… Read more »
I don’t doubt that there was manipulation of the mentally unstable coming from both sides, Mr, Disillusioned. But our dear, dear friends on the red side of the spectrum certainly have their fair share of wheelers and dealers amongst them as well, now don’t they? Take University of North Carolina’s Dr. Dwayne Dixon, for instance. An absolutely fascinating fellow by all accounts. And it turns out that, by his own admission, he was running around with his Antifa buddies at the very place James Fields was driving his car. And get this! Dr. Dixon was waving a rifle at him!… Read more »
Boy your manner is irritating isn’t it? Oh course that is your intent.
Yes, the Antifa assholes and the Neo-Fascist assholes are trying their damnedest to start a real shooting war.
Experience through out my life has shown me that we create the world around us. Some times small inputs have large outcomes. Helping these assholes to fan the flames will not help make things better.
Now, now Mr. D., my intention here was not exclusively to irritate you. I was much more interested in reminding you that there was another party of assholes fanning the flames of discord here: the City of Charlottesville. Did you know that they had ample opportunity to prevent this catastrophe outright, yet instead purposely precipitated the conflict by refusing to honor the stipulations outlined in their own permits? Worse, they refused to take ownership of the disaster afterwards by dishonestly shifting the blame to only one of the offending parties! Your obvious resentment of these sorts of facts is very… Read more »
Drac: James Field was convicted of murder by 12 of his peers because he is guilty. Before killing Heather Heyer, he twice posted pictures on Instagram of a car striking a group of people. Video showed him slowly driving towards the group, then reversing, and then speeding into them. Like Cantwell, he is a Nazi who was looking for trouble and got it. I am not defending Antifa, who I despise. But, only one person was killed in Charlottesville. Your hatred of government doesn’t interest me.
And your insistence on disregarding other plausible explanations simply because you hate “Nazis” doesn’t interest me either, LFoD. Juries can make bad decisions my dear, and don’t forget – James Fields’s guilt was presumed by the media long before his trial started. As for Fields’s Instagram habits, it’s been argued that memes or photos like the ones Fields posted could also be considered as merely amusing or interesting items and should not necessarily be associated with criminal intent. False bravado on the internet is a fault of many people and shouldn’t necessarily be construed as premeditation in Fields’s case. Also,… Read more »
I don’t have to try again. Fields was convicted and will be serving life without parole. Your theories obviously didn’t sway the jury. If he was innocent, I would want him freed whether he is a Nazi or not. But, he isn’t innocent.
And yet despite your assertions, Fields may very well not be guilty, LFoD. Remember, Dr. Dixon admitted to waving a rifle at Fields. And Antifa thugs were recorded on video attacking Fields’s car,. These aren’t theories, dear. They’re demonstrable facts. Worthy of consideration, even if a jury refused to do the same.
Juries aren’t perfect, LFoD. This is one of the reasons why appeals are a thing.
Yes, Drac, appeals are a “thing” but only if there is judicial error or an error with the trial procedures. Dixon was a witness and he testified about contact with Fields about 30-60 minutes before Fields murdered Heather Heyer. Yes, Dixon was carrying a rifle. The jury heard this testimony and convicted Fields of murder. Juries aren’t perfect, but they are usually right. They sat through 10 days of trial and have a lot better command of the facts than you or I do. The result was a 410 year jail sentence.
A jury’s decision is inviolate, LFoD, not unerring. For some reason you’re trying to conflate the two. Remember saying this little gem, LFoD? “Like Cantwell, he is a Nazi who was looking for trouble and got it.” I wonder how many jurors were thinking the same thing when they voted to convict James Fields? Puts things into perspective, doesn’t it LFoD? So what does all this mean? Well, it means that jurors can carry personal biases, which can and probably will affect their judgment in any case – good or bad. Of course, this is precisely why we have juries… Read more »
Drac; I am a Republican and I doubt that I would have liked Heyer or her politics. Similarly, I don’t like Cantwell’s political beliefs. But, that is all irrelevant. You seem to have forgotten that Mr. Fields killed a 32 year old woman and injured almost 40 other people. In addition to being convicted of first degree murder, he was convicted of 9 other crimes and is still facing federal hate crime charges that could result in the death penalty. I really don’t know why you are defending this animal.
I’m a republican myself, DFoD. But unlike you I have no doubts about my opposition towards Heyer’s politics. It’s strange that being what you are, asserting disapproval of a militant leftist’s politics would actually be a question in your mind, isn’t it? But you’re missing the bigger picture here. Heather Heyer would be alive right now had the City of Charlottesville honored their agreements outlined in their own permits. Because they didn’t, they’re now making use of the criminal court system to divert attention away from their own misconduct and negligence. They’re not being held to task for this by… Read more »
I think Cantwell’s a perfect example of a fucked up situation where a man with a minority view which I myself don’t agree with was abused by a system that didn’t like his views rather than him having been prosecuted for actual violence of a just kind. If it had been someone else doing the act there would have been no charges and that is how you can tell it wasn’t a just arrest but one of bias from the other side. Both sides are wrong in one way or another- but neither side can see it. Screaming “Nazi” might… Read more »
Drac: I hve always been a Conservative and a Republican whether you believe it or not. My vague wording was only because I don’t know Heyer at all or her politics. I assume that she was a liberal or a leftist but I don’t really know or care. She is a young woman who was senselessly murdered by a white supremacist who talked about running people down, threatened violence, and then delivered violence to Heyer and 40 others. The City of Charlottesville may have messed up as you suggest. And maybe you would like to defend Dylann Roof or Robert… Read more »
To be honest LFoD, I don’t believe that you are a conservative. You really seem more like a RINO to me. Especially the way you keep accusing me of defending “animals” like Fields and the like when all I’m doing is expressing doubt in the Charlottesville prosecutor’s case against him. Also, considering how you keep confessing how little you really know about Fields, Heyer, Heyer’s politics, or the circumstances leading to Heyer’s death, should you really be surprised that I’m not lending you much faith in your opinion? Let’s be clear here, LFoD. There’s video evidence that shows Fields might… Read more »
I feel the same way about that, kk. Interpreting an act of self-defense (using harmless pepper spray of all things) as a criminal act was a serious misallocation of Charlottesville’s legal resources. Especially when you consider the number of people deploying pepper spray that weekend. But I’ll bet Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney can expect to be reelected for all of those good deeds he committed on behalf of the people of Charlottesville for his successful “Nazi” hunt.
Drac, yes-there is a “possibility” that Fields isn’t as guilty as he appears-that he was scared etc. If you remember the “loud music” case in Florida, Michael Dunn tried a similar defense. In both cases, they argued self defense. In both cases, juries listened carefully to the evidence and convicted them of murder. As you know, the standard is “reasonable doubt”. I tend to agree with your other point,though, about charging Right Wing people over Left Wing people in Charlottesville for trivial stuff like shooting pepper spray at each other. And, yes, Cantwell was a victim of that. His conduct… Read more »
Those possibilities makes Fields less of an “animal” now and more worthy of defending, doesn’t it LFoD? And as for whether those jurors “listened carefully” to the evidence or not, no one can really be sure of that. Jurors decisions can be based on a variety of things. Reasonable doubt is only one of them. And that can be ignored. That’s where the concept of nullification comes from. I don’t doubt that Fields’s label as a “Nazi” played a role in at least some of the jurors decisions. Yes. He’ll spend his life in prison. But I still don’t believe… Read more »
So apparently Cantwell is changing format to a less edgy show called Outlaw Conservative. “Sadly, the Radical Agenda has not proven successful as a business venture, since the content of that production is too controversial for payment processors and advertisers. Since radio is my passion, and my actual ideas are none so edgy as those of the character I play on the Radical Agenda, I recently launched a separate production called Outlaw Conservative. That show is off to a great start, and the audience feedback has been very positive so far. We manage to keep the show fun and exciting,… Read more »
This cover up is weak. Anyone who lives here in Keene knows this neonazi dirtbag lives in your property
@kk being a Nazi apologist isn’t going to take you far in life. Many of us saw this neonazi dirtbag on Vice
You know DD darling, Vice isn’t so much a source of truthfulness as it is the Acme Corporation for impressionable left-leaning millennials.
Drac, in your defense of convicted murderer James Fields, you gloss over something. Yes, I certainly agree that Fields didn’t plan this months in advance. But, the jury saw clear video evidence that Fields sat in his car idling for over a minute, then put his car in reverse, and then accelerated greatly into a crowd of people, injuring dozens and killing one. He then fled the scene. His Instagram posts of running over protesters weren’t critical but they showed what he was thinking. From a legal standpoint, premeditation occurred in the minute that his car was idling and that… Read more »
So LFoD, have you ever stopped to wonder why everyone must presume Fields was idling his car exclusively with the intent of lining up a shot? Does it occur to you that Fields might have viewed this as a standoff situation and was hoping that the crowd of baseball-bat-wielding thugs closing in on his car would smartly back off and let him out without further incident? I guess we’re expected to believe the former because “Nazis” possess a frame of mind completely different from our own, aren’t we LFoD? And as for Vice’s depiction of Cantwell and the UtR marchers?… Read more »
Drac-I have no problem denouncing Leftist scum like Antifa. And you may be right about Vice. It isn’t something that I watch. However, I also have no problem denouncing White Supremacist/Nazi scum like Fields or Cantwell. Why do you??
I’m curious, LFoD. Why are you assuming that I share the same views as Fields or Cantwell just because I don’t think they’re guilty of the things Charlottesville’s attorneys, Vice’s journalists, or you tell me they are? I’m certainly under no obligation to trust that Charlottesville’s interpretation of these events is the correct one. And considering their past history of deception in handling these matters, I have every reason not to trust them at all. Oh, and LFoD? Can’t I just turn your question right back on you? After all, conservatives are usually the guys who nurture a healthy mistrust… Read more »
The Vice interview on video was cut from nearly 3 hr. of recorded video. Chris played the complete audio on RA I listened to the complete audio, and that showed a less whacked out Cantwell.