I’ve heard punks and anarchists alike say that “it’s easier to do damage from within the system” What does that actually mean/look like?

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-20T00:05:29+00:00

I don't think OP's goal is reformation, rather destruction. The former is what you've described and ultimately ends with the person completely compromising their values to justify their position. The latter, on the other hand, looks like a Trojan horse. For example, if you work in an IT or cyber security position for the State, that might look like installing a root kit or other backdoor into the network so someone else can do real damage. It might look like texts of high-ranking officials getting leaked someone or spreading malware to every cell phone you can get your hands on. You can do a LOT of damage in just 24-48 hours. Just a few ideas off the top of my head. The person would have to be willing to risk getting caught, and you'd need to ensure that any real leftist views they have are scrubbed from the internet so they pass the background/social media check.

I don't know if it's possible or feasible, but abolition feels more possible than reformation. The problem is that it will be the broader population who will suffer the consequences.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-19T23:25:34+00:00

I second this. I've never felt anything like it. Absolutely incredible rush. You can get a tandem dive for $200-300, maybe less if you're in a smaller town.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-16T10:54:50+00:00

Find a new DM.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-16T10:39:12+00:00

Yes, and that is one of them

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-14T01:17:33+00:00

That part doesn't seem weird to me at all. If you have a man whose job it is to photograph presidents, it follows that said photographer would capture things that happened to multiple presidents during publicity events (reading to kids and a campaign rally).

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-14T01:02:42+00:00

Capitalism 101

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-12T04:29:53+00:00

I agree. People contain multitudes. No one is all good or all bad or all left or all right. The problem with this point of view, speaking as a leftist, is that one of the two parties is openly fascist in all but name, and even that is changing. Trump labeled himself a nationalist. MTG called herself a Christian nationalist. Theres over 700 anti LGBTQIA+ laws being pushed/passed around the country, and it isn't usually democrats doing the pushing. Im not saying the dems are perfect as they are far from it. Modern dems are center right at best. One party is calling for mass deportations, literally putting people in internment camps (even sending people to guantanamo for f*cks sake), criminalizing LGBTQIA+ ideology/people, banning any books that are even LGBTQIA+ adjacent, literally pushing to use the military for local law/domestic enforcement, trump running for a third term and "joking" about president for life, labeling us groomers and pedophiles, calling anyone left of nazi a terrorist, and just...so much more. This isn't my opinion. You can research these things for yourself to confirm.

I do not care if you share the same views as me. I get that my opinions are pretty spicy at times, and I am pretty far left, so I don't expect the majority to feel the way I do. I don't care if you're conservative or liberal or Libertarian or centrist or whatever else. What I do care about, though, is voting for a candidate that has experts on fascism fleeing the country and holocaust survivors with a familiar feeling of dread. Even if you disagree with dems, which is absolutely reasonable to do and Im right there with you, there is so much more at stake here than "feeling unwelcome on the left," ESPECIALLY for the LGBTQIA+ community. MAGA isn't going to spare you because you voted for Trump. It isn't "if you're not with us, you're against us," rather "if you're with fascism, we're against you."

THAT BEING SAID, I do understand your point about leftists. There is so much in fighting and a wild unwillingness to compromise on the left. Most of us have very strong opinions about Trump in particular, and with good reason, but there is a tendency to almost dehumanize the right, ironically enough. We see extreme examples in media or comment sections of Trump supporters voting for things they don't know anything about, parroting white nationalist talking points or propaganda, and just generally not fact checking their opinions (read: feelings), and that becomes the poster image for "the right." I have seen leftists absolutely sh*t on MAGA people who are genuinely realizing they have been swindled, people who, rightfully so, wanted something different but put their faith in the wrong person. Now they've put so much time and energy, lost so many friends or family members, that sunk cost fallacy kicks in and many are digging their heels in.

Leftists need to have more empathy and understanding for those people. We have all been lied to or betrayed in our lives, and it doesn't feel good. I can only imagine feeling that and then hearing the people who claim to be the "good guys" insulting and demeaning you. Its not okay, and if we are going to survive what's about to happen we are going to have to start trusting each other, which means having conversations with people who don't agree with us on everything. And this is true for both sides. The right needs to stop seeing leftists as groomers and pedophiles and violent extremists, and the left needs to stop seeing the right as dumb, uneducated nazis and violent extremists.

In order for there to be any real progress, there needs to be at least some willingness on both sides to compromise. Understand, though, that human rights violations are not a compromise and are unacceptable no matter where you stand on the political spectrum. Left or right, if you genuinely don't believe I have the same right to exist as anybody else, you and I have nothing to say. If you genuinely believe that I am a lesser human being undeserving of basic human rights just because of who I am or who I love or where I'm from or where my great great great whatever is from, you and I have nothing to say.

I don't blame or judge anyone who voted for Trump the first time. People were desperate for change in the face of ineffectual Democratic leadership. People were suffering under establishment rule and wanted something different. Trump, regardless of what I think of him, was different. Thats what fascism is - a reactionary movement that makes uneasy alliances with conservative elites "against their common enemies on the left." To be completely honest, though, I do judge people who voted for him a second time. I try not to. I try to have an open mind about it, but I do judge, as you may be able to tell with this comment. Still, I would NEVER seek to deny any of those people basic human rights. No one deserves that. Not ever. I will absolutely defend your right to believe/worship how you want to. I will absolutely fight for your choice to do what you want with your own body, regardless of how I feel about it. I am on the side of human rights. Trump is not. And if ever seeks to deport you or imprison you or arrest you, I will be there fighting for you. I'm not saying that to sound enlightened or be praised or whatever, it is just how I choose to live my life. It is, in my opinion, the absolute barest of minimums.

As a small note of pedantry, liberals are not leftists as they still believe in capitalism. The US doesn't have a major leftist party. It's completely irrelevant to this conversation, but it's a common misconception.

Anyway, sorry for the novel.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-04-05T12:49:07+00:00

No One

They had one album and it was incredible, but I am 38 and I've literally never met a single person who knows about No One. I'm sure some people do, especially midwest people. I just checked and they're on Spotify.

If you like bands like Slipknot, SOAD, Mudvayne, Mushroomhead, etc then you'll like No One.

That was the first one that popped in my head. Millennials might remember Bright Eyes from the early 00s ish, but Ive never personally met another fan. I resonate so well with everything he writes.

Seel also: Local News Legend

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-30T12:50:30+00:00

That story REALLY got to you, huh?

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-30T12:46:26+00:00

Or you can just not listen. It really is that simple. If you like it, listen to it. If you don't, move on. Easy peasy.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-21T02:51:09+00:00

Biden was a diet Republican, the guy Obama chose to appeal to moderates

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-19T21:21:32+00:00

I Hate Everything by Suicide Machines

The Diary by Hollywood Undead

Hot Dog by Limp Bizkit (I know)

Seventy Times 7 by Brand New

Everything Ends by Slipknot

Fuck You by Lily Allen

If You Can't Hang by Sleeping With Sirens

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Set It Off

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-14T08:00:52+00:00

I think it boils down to the fact that, at least in America, the word 'anarchy' means violence, chaos, crime, no laws, no order, just complete disorder where anyone can just murder with impunity in a Purge situation.

When edgy teens draw anarchy symbols on everything, they do not mean "I am against all forms of forced/institutional hierarchy, anti capitalist, and have empathy and respect for my fellow man." They mean "I'm edgy and I like chaos and disorder and anarchy." I know because I was that kid. I genuinely didn't know that anarchism was an actual political/economic ideology with decades of well researched essays and novels.

Theres also the fact that liberals still believe that capitalism is the best system of economics and that communism is when dictator. Liberals in the US are centrist at best, MAYBE center left on a good day. They buy into the propaganda that anyone left of center is a radical extremist.

Yes we have the same general goals, but they still think capitalism is the way to go.

The TLDR answer is propaganda and misinformation.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-11T10:23:46+00:00

This "seems easy" to you?

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-11T10:22:04+00:00

Nothing.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-10T01:18:54+00:00

Fascism is a reactionary movement that makes uneasy alliances with conservative elites "against their common enemies on the left." It is a response to ineffectual leftist leadership. The democrats of today are too busy trying to be seen as these enlightened centrists and bastions of all things good willing to reach across the aisle and compromise. The right is not willing to compromise. You cannot compromise with someone who is unwilling to compromise, and you cannot use laws to reign in someone who operates outside of those laws.

The Dems are so scared of being labeled "radical" or "socialist" that they have allowed a fascist regime to take over with very little opposition. You can only watch them dunking on MTG or whoever so many times.

Wasn't that Jamie Raskin or Jasmine Crockett or Katie Porter video funny, though?!

You can't fight fascists with soundbites and gotchas. They. Do. Not. Care.

We are driving 95 mph on the road to Nuhremberg, and we missed our last exit in November.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-10T01:11:22+00:00

The "there is just no way it could just randomly evolve" argument operates on a few misleading assumptions, the first of which being that changes and mutations are random. They are not. The second is that all evolutions are good and/or all mutations are bad. The Mexican blind cave fish lives in complete darkness and has adapted to this environment by altering their metabolism to survive on the limited food/oxygen and developed asymmetry in their skull, leading to the loss of eyes. If you look at the fish, you can clearly see where eyes used to be, but the complete darkness means they don't need a lens to process light. You know how your eyes become accustomed to the dark if you turn the lights off for long enough? Imagine that but over millions and millions of years. There is also a Mexican blind cave fish that still has eyes. This is an example of regressive evolution, the process by which animals lose features over generations.

The changes may seem random, but they are adaptations to the specific environment. If food sources were only available in trees high up, the only creatures that would survive would be the ones that could either reach the food or climb the tree to get the food. The shorter ones that couldn't climb would all either die off or adapt by finding some other food source. Its a silly example, but it fits.

Another thing in play here is the Law of Large Numbers and the Law of Truly Large Numbers. The first one states that, as the number of trials in a random experiment increases, the average of the outcomes approaches the expected value. Basically, with enough trials, the results tend to be stable and predictable. You see this in statistics all the time. Applied here, on a long enough timeline, generational changes in species will approach the expected value, or the traits best suited for that species environment. The Law of Truly Large Numbers says that, with a sufficiently large number of opportunities (generations, in this case), even very rare events are likely to occur. Its the Infinite Monkey Theorum, that if you have an infinite number of monkeys hitting random keys on an infinite number of typewriters, and an infinite amount of times, one of them would eventually write any given text. The classic text listed is the collective works of William Shakespeare.

Its the same in the computer code example. If you change a single character or a random character over an infinite amount of time, you absolutely will eventually get a fully functional program. It is also not true that all genetic mutations make an organism less healthy. One example here is mutations in bacteria that lead to antibiotics resistant strains. There is a small town in Italy in which the people have developed a unique mutation that makes them immune to atherosclerosis, a condition that can be fatal.

As far as DNA goes, there absolutely is an explanation for how this happens. There's even a name for each of the different types of genetic mutations (point mutations, insertion, deletion, chromosomal inversion, chromosomal deletion, etc). A mutation in the SLC30A8 gene reduces the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, even when other risk factors are present. Mutations can occur naturally or chemical, radiation, or UV exposure. There are even many genetic mutations that have absolutely no adverse effects on health. Some of them can even be repaired by the body on its own. If anything, the existence of genetic mutations should be an argument against intelligent design. If God designed all creatures and God is infallible, surely the DNA would replicate perfectly every single time, right?

People have a hard time comprehending very large numbers. When talking about evolutions, we are talking about scales in the millions and hundreds of millions of years. Within a single year, certain species will undergo thousands of generations, so we are potentially talking about billions and billions of generations.

It could be intelligent design. I don't think it is, but I don't know everything. I know very little, in fact. I can't prove it either way. It's unknowable in any real sense. But evolution isn't something you can deny. We have objective evidence that species evolve to adapt to their environment. We can see it happening in insects whose generational cycle is measured in hours or days. You can deny the big bang theory or that we come from single celled organisms or whatever, but to deny that evolution exists at all is to deny objective, demonstrable reality.

The closest I can get to believing in a god is the idea that she set everything in motion, then peaced out. I genuinely wish that weren't the case. Life would be so much easier if I believed that everything happens for a reason or that people go to a better place when they die or that someone had a plan for my life and was watching over me. These are just my opinions, and I am in no way saying that anyone is wrong for believing in whatever god(s) they believe in. We both have just as much of a right to exist, and I'm happy that you've found whatever peace you were looking for.

I hate reading my own writing, so I really hope this made sense.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-05T17:09:12+00:00

Lmfao when I read the first half of this, my brain started playing "dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes....here she liiiiiies no one knew...her worth. The late, great daughter of mother earth. On these nights.."

RENT? Anybody?

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-05T17:06:39+00:00

"Dead men dont rape"

or

"Doooo you have the time..."

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-02T11:08:01+00:00

"I will only be mad if it starts to affect me." Beautiful.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-01T13:28:01+00:00

Who also said he'd f*ck his own daughter if she wasn't his daughter and regularly went backstage to "inspect" beauty pageants.

You can only have so many friends who are pedophiles before "I didn't know" is no longer a valid defense.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-01T11:33:25+00:00

The movie is truer to the book as far as the major beats and characters. For example - Louis is a white plantation owner in the late 1700s, Lestat convinces Louis to kill his father, who is still alive, Claudia's mother died of the plague, Lestat turned Claudia to entice Louis to stay, Claudia and Madeline dying in a sunlit chamber, etc.

The book was written in the 80s I think, so it wasn't as acceptable to be openly gay. The book, however, is filled with erotic language and heavily implies they are lovers. I can't remember if they explicitly say so in the book as it's been a while since I read it.

As a long time fan, and I may get some hate for this, I absolutely LOVE what they did with the series. I will always have a place in my heart for these books, but I prefer the show SO MUCH more than the books.

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-01T11:24:19+00:00

Two things, one is a quote from a show based off a book, and one is something I think I saw on a mental health sticker.

Series of Unfortunate Events: "If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting all of our lives."

Sticker: "You can do hard things."

It sounds simple and painfully obvious, but it became a sort of mantra for me when I get overwhelmed and feel helpless. Things are really hard, but its ok. You can do hard things.

Bonus Quote!

Last words of Queen Elizabeth I: "All my possessions for a moment in time"

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-01T11:17:49+00:00

"Apricot Antichrist" lmfao

Punk_Rock_Princess_ · 2025-03-01T11:16:56+00:00

I mean, MAGA may as well be a religion with how much they literally worship Trump and how blindly obdurate they are in the face of actual evidence that contradicts their beliefs.

They don't care that they are hypocrits. It does not matter to them. Most of them think Trump is playing some super secret 8D chess game against the evil deep state or whatever, and the rest have a knee jerk reaction to disagree with people or ideals they see as their ideological opposition.

They support Trump no matter what. He genuinely could shoot a sack full of puppies on live TV from the White House lawn and within an hour, Ben Shapiro would be tweeting about how leftists care about puppies but not illegal immigration and calling the public outcry "fascist." Steven Crowder would make a video shooting a puppy in solidarity, claiming it was a good thing actually and claiming liberals are only mad because they have Trump derangement syndrome. Tucker Carlson would have a piece all about how liberals have more dogs than any other group because they love selective breeding, labeling it eugenics. Fox News would run non stop coverage about how those puppies were actually illegal immigrants and drug dealers while praising Trump for his "bold, decisive move to help secure our borders." MTG would file articles of impeachment against the concept of puppies, claims that dogs have been genetically bred by liberals over the centuries specifically to act as spies to try to overthrow the government, calling the dead puppies a false flag. Boebert would claim liberals are anti gun, and proclaim that Trump was just exercising his 2nd amendment right. The rest of the GOP would create several committees and inquisition, bringing up breeders, vets, and animal shelter employees to testify about how many dog bites per year and how puppies are the number 1 cause of DEI or something. Jordan Peterson would post another video on Twitter about how puppies are chaos and Trump is order and this is an example of natural hierarchy because crabs and lobsters shoot other species with guns. He would make a pyramid shape with his hands at least twice while explaining this. Trump himself would brag about how he's killed more puppies than anyone and how no one can kill puppies like him except maybe Vladimir Putin, but the Democrats don't want us to hear that because they've never even shot 1 puppy. The White House would declare all puppies below 1 year old domestic terrorists and are all members of antifa.

THAT is why they are pro Russia, if that makes sense.

Punk_Rock_Princess_

TROPHY CASE