Took me 2-3 days to find enough spare time to complete watching this movie. I am impressed with the filmmakers for giving an accurate picture of Ross Ulbricht. Ross was not a drug peddler or a scammer. He never cared about money. All he wanted was to stand up for his Libertarian political beliefs and create marketplace where anything can be purchased anonymously. This is not the picture FBI want you to believe. The FBI want you to believe that Ross was a hardcore criminal, who wanted to flood the US with drugs.
I was worried that the movie would miss this important aspect of the DPR persona. Heres an interview with him published in Forbes Magazine,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/08/14/an-interview-with-a-digital-drug-lord-the-silk-roads-dread-pirate-roberts-qa/?sh=6d2562b05732He was a believer of a true free market, with very minimal state interference.
At it's core, Silk Road is a way to get around regulation from the state. If they say we can't buy and sell certain things, we'll do it anyway and suffer no abuse from them. But the state tries to control nearly every aspect of our lives, not just drug use. Anywhere they do that, there is an opportunity to live your life as you see fit despite their efforts.
I'm hesitant to specifically declare the direction we'll take next but let me give you a couple of examples. Firearms and ammunition are becoming more and more regulated and controlled in many parts of the world. We actually had a site up called "The Armory" at one point that specialized in the sale of small arms that ultimately was unsuccessful, but if we can find a model that works where people can get the equipment they need to defend themselves and their families despite what the state wants and often in defense of the state itself, I would be more than happy to provide that. Also, any place the State places large tariffs or taxes, there is an opportunity to circumvent their blockades. Consumer electronics are much more expensive than they need to be in many parts of the world, for example.
One inaccuracy I noticed was that the rogue FBI agent (Shaun Bridges, depicted as "Rick Bowden" in the movie) is being portrayed as a family man, who stole money from Ross to fund the school education of his daughter. A robbery is a robbery, no matter what. But tell me who need $800,000 for the payment of school fees? Tell me the name of the school which charges this much as tuition fee.
But apart from a few minor inaccuracies, the movie was more or less unbiased.
For drama, and to not make the Man of the State look like a typical fiend. Haha.
Where/how did you watch the movie? Online?
