Radical for many decades meant revolutionary (as opposed to reactionary)/anarchist/green/counterculture/etc. It's where calling something 'rad' as a compliment

Radical for many decades meant revolutionary (as opposed to reactionary)/anarchist/green/counterculture/etc. It's where calling something 'rad' as a compliment came from. A wide category in which the pirate party firmly fits. Anything sufficiently outside the mainstream business-as-usual. It wouldn't be inappropriate to refer to the Sanders campaign in the US as 'radical'. I don't think it's Orwellian at all -- I think assuming 'radical' == fascist is eyebrow-raising and missing historical context.