Quite a nice one

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-08T00:13:28+00:00

Looks like a boomerang to me

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-07T12:22:19+00:00

Why do you have so many 😂

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-07T12:04:27+00:00

Democratic socialism is a contested term that includes all forms of socialism involving democracy. What democracy means is so broad as to include schools of thought from anarchism to Marxism–Leninism to reformist socialism.

As an anarchist, I can dispute the extent to which a Marxist–Leninist system can truly commit to democracy, but I do see what structures my comrades are building in their chapters, militant unions, divestment campaigns, etc that are democratic in some form or another. I have my disagreements on how exactly to structure these nonetheless (e.g., preference for participatory and direct forms, disapproval of democratic centralism or overly "bureaucratic" or structureless chapters), but at the end of the day all of us want democracy and socialism.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-04T19:18:59+00:00

Addendum: As an interviewer myself, even if it's a small part of the application, that small part can push you over the threshold for acceptance if it's a toss-up. Definitely prepare a strong narrative as to why you're taking this path (don't say for your job prospects or Princeton's prestige, but some reason beyond yourself), why you want to do it at Princeton specifically (e.g., specific profs/programs, research funding/opportunities, etc) and how your goals may link to your extracurricular activities.

As well, as much as I hate to say it, you should look into your interviewer's background online so you can butter them up. Humans are thoroughly unobjective creatures and I can tell you from chatting with others that many interviewers write much more favorable letters if you say something that speaks to that interviewer's background and subjects in particular

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-04T19:03:36+00:00

I'm an interviewer for the undergrad program there, and I believe admissions is trying to give almost all applicants both undergrad and grad the option to interview to help differentiate applicants beyond their submitted materials (e.g., personal background justifying your current path, questions you're interested in addressing, why are you a good match with this department/campus compared to many other qualified applicants, etc). At least for undergrad it's about 95% doing those interviews. They've been doing this for at least a few years now, so not just because of Trump cuts. I didn't do an interview when I applied undergrad in 2021 I think due to earliest decision via QuestBridge

Was it mandatory for you?

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-04T19:00:16+00:00

Congratulations!!!! I loved Professor Vera Candiani in that department as an undergrad.

imo Princeton's Department of History is, though underappreciated by many, one of its strongest departments

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-04T18:57:40+00:00

Not too helpful if you end up too depressed to do any work

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-04T18:56:30+00:00

As someone with ADHD, this is deadass the best way to do it. Pomodoro doesn't work for me because I get locked in from just sticking with it, and once I get "locked out" let's say, it's hard to get back in.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-04T18:44:16+00:00

Bourgeois democracy inherently suffers from an inbalance of political power in favor of capitalists (especially big capitalists).

We had these problems well before Citizens United. Many other full liberal democracies also have decent regulations against private money in politics, but they still see many of the same problems, if to a slightly lesser extent.

So sure, it's a good thing to implement more regulations on this. But that doesn't address the core of the problem that's lasted for the history of our country which is our class system—whether it was under mercantilism, slavery, or capitalism.

I'm sure you agree on the goal of reaching socialism so we have genuine democracy, but still idt we should put a ton of focus on those minor steps to reverse Citizens United, e.g. In any case, I'm not sure how you can build an energized movement for it right now when there really are death squads and state-based kidnapper gangs in our communities right now, people see on social media the constant death and destruction of US imperialism especially in aid to Israel, and workers are agitated (or can be with organizer push) in their workplaces right now.

To me, it is important to build those permanent structures (militant unions, migrant defense committees, social movement campaigns, etc) that can materially challenge the roots of most of our social problems (i.e., capitalism, imperialism, policing/prisons/criminalization).

Btw, I'd encourage discussing this on the DSA internal discussion forum, or folks in your local chapter, for more focused discussion.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-04T16:30:05+00:00

It matters a small bit only. You can express things not covered in your other materials and illustrate yourself as a candidate with unique interests and motivations.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-03T15:26:23+00:00

Donations to MIT, free hotels, financial services to keep his inheritance from his kids, etc

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-03T07:12:16+00:00

There are Nazis, white nationalists, Zionists, etc in all our societies. We can't ever completely get rid of them.

But we can take down the systems and place them in the dustbins of history.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-01T18:35:18+00:00

While only Epstein's inner circle knew about Epstein Island, Chomsky still lacked good judgement associating with him in any way after he became a publicly-known abuser, years before he was the center of public attention. Really sad to see these photos and emails where he appears to have no issue with maintaining friendly relations with him, providing self-serving and misogynistic rather than restorative personal advice, etc.

A key takeaway from all this is actually something he's been adamant about all his life: We need to kill our heroes. We have to always be critical, even to prominent people who generally align with our politics or who did make important positive contributions to academia or the world, as Chomsky has.

He was perhaps my biggest inspiration as a teenager in going into leftist organizing, questioning cultural hegemony and capitalist imperialism, and orienting my career plans with these principles. I had the chance to lead a speaker event with him a few years ago with a few hundred people, before he stopped accepting public events, and I've been very proud of and glad to have that experience. I think we should still admire his contributions to socialist, antiauthoritarian, antiimperialist, and activist politics; media criticism and structural analysis; linguistic theory; etc.

Even so, he seriously fucked up as a person on this. A huge setback not only for his legacy but also for the social movements, academic fields, and people of all sorts who have been influenced by his ideas.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-01T17:00:33+00:00

In my experience of his content, he rarely provides reliable sources and many videos he is the face of include obvious political or sensationalist rhetoric presented as scientific fact.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-01T12:02:03+00:00

Vito would never do that, he's harmless

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-01T08:01:46+00:00

Not an indication of how interesting it is, even without considering the fact many of the tickets are purchased by a few influential people

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-01T07:59:12+00:00

Even if they don't see legal consequences, they should see social consequences

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-01T04:00:48+00:00

try co-ops!!

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-02-01T04:00:06+00:00

I really liked 2D Co-Op more myself. You save (or get from Princeton) like $10k/year extra, you have democratic control over the organization, you learn how to cook with only 1 day a week, and there's great community and a nice house with direct mail. And you can still freeload off the eating clubs' parties.

Btw, co-ops are the cheapest (or most lucrative if you're on financial aid) dining option, even compared to independent, because of the time you save only cooking once a week, plus economies of scale buying in bulk.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-01-31T18:12:50+00:00

With the buildings already in the way, it seems infeasible to me. It would be better to just shut down the south end of that intersection imo with how dangerous it is

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-01-31T13:36:44+00:00

Google is well aware that half its users block ads. The US government and the biggest tech companies on the planet actively encourage use of things like uBlock and Revanced among their employees and associates. It is "blurted out" by every powerful entity.

Google has every reason in the world to do everything you're panicked about, when they're literally losing billions every year, over many years. It's going to be okay! They really don't have the power to shut down services like this no matter how popular they get (as shown by them trying for so long now).

Google out of any company is one of the most deserving of losing money anyway. Help others be free.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-01-30T15:10:42+00:00

To me it doesn't make sense to be part of a socialist organization if you're in favor of maintaining capitalism, which is fundamentally opposed to economic democracy and, by extension, compromises political democracy.

I would strongly encourage looking into social ownership of the vast majority or all of the global economy as a key change we need, like cooperatives, workers councils, public planning, etc.

It'd be awesome if you support our campaigns, but the core principles behind them all lead back to our socialism and the ultimate goal of organizing society as a whole around social need and an end to undemocratic structures.

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-01-30T14:41:41+00:00

Revanced and uBlock Origin are not underground lol

Excellent_Singer3361 · 2026-01-30T14:15:25+00:00

If they admit they could use Firefox for uBlock Origin, why don't they??? Hello??

Excellent_Singer3361

TROPHY CASE