=== ANCHOR POEM ===
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 │ CW: uspol            │
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 I am a patriot, through and through. What does that mean, to you? To me, it
 means I think of the streams - the mountains, the trees. I love the dirt
 beneath my feet, from sea to shining sea.
 
 We are a nation of all peoples. Everyone here was once from somewhere else,
 and that includes those who were thrust somewhere else by genocide - into tiny
 patches of dirt with no minerals, no farmland, no bountiful rivers, no
 towering pillars of rock.
 
 Our flag is the flag of genocide. But it is also the flag of liberty, justice,
 and freedom for all*
 
 (*most)
 
 We changed our flag once before. It made us stronger. We can change it again.
 Perhaps it will make us kinder.
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=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===

--- #1 fediverse/4695 ---
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 hey ya'll remember that thing we all swore to when we were in kindergarten and   │
 we were told to pledge our loyalty to a piece of cloth? what if we were          │
 actually speaking to the thing behind the cloth, the values and virtues it       │
 represented? liberty, truth, justice, equality, freedom, dignity, honesty,       │
 utility, wisdom, respect, kindness, charity, foresight, diligence, spirit,       │
 passion, or whatever else guides you in your brightest moments. Flags are just   │
 cloth, the design on them matters even less - it's just the land made flesh,     │
 here in our eyes we see colors.                                                  │
 Truly, all religions pray to the same god, and all flags wave in the same        │
 wind. The lines we draw in the sand are our way of saying "here's where one      │
 place ends and here's where another begins". But we all lie under the same       │
 dark sky, gazing upon the splendor of the moon and her children.                 │
 I once dreamt of a dark future where the world was conquered by Subway and       │
 Pizza Hut. There's no beauty in homogeneity, queer people exist for a reason,    │
 I don't confess                                                                  │
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--- #2 messages/1061 ---
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 Look, I'm a fan of small government. I think each state should be its own
 nation, and the federal government should essentially just coordinate trade
 between them and organize a common militia that they use to contest outside
 threats. How unfair is it that we don't get snap funding because they couldn't
 resolve their differences? And how big of a problem would it be if suddenly
 everyone in red states suddenly lost their government benefits... And yes it's
 true that i love America, through and through. These States have stood United
 for several hundred years, but the American United States deserve a bit more
 freedom than is currently granted to. They need to know where they stand, we
 need to prove to each other why we need each other. To that end, we must
 weaken ourselves, as a weight lifter weakens her body by lifting, so that we
 might grow and heal our wounds and bind new accords as her body does do with
 her muscle fibers. We will come out of it stronger for it, if we truly desire
 unity. I think we do, on an abstract level, but practically we're constantly
 fighting. Luckily, the past is soon fading, and we have new tomorrows upon
 which to write our boons and our sorrows, so let's make the most of each new
 light and try for something that might awake, remake, and refine us. We shall
 define us, we who are yet hoping.
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--- #3 fediverse/1417 ---
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 a 4th dimensional entity would exist at about the same speed we do
 
 sometimes... it feels like what I do is my responsibility to the universe
 
 like, I had been commanded 
 
 the reason nations are important is because they are an allegiance based
 solely on geography. something we can all agree on is the material, so why not
 define ourselves by it?
 
 but that's all they are
 
 just words we pray to our star
 
 so look around. Your allegiance is to your neighbor, and theirs to theirs, an
 endless fabric of trust. We are all neighbors on this ball of sticks and mud,
 so come along with me and see the ways it could be.
 
 Much brighter, by far, to orbit our star, than to give up on life's precious
 notions.
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--- #4 fediverse/4200 ---
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 │ CW: drugs-mentioned  │
 └──────────────────────┘


 "doing too many drugs" is a traitorous act, abusive really, to your past self,
 and their hopes and dreams.
 
 or maybe your past self owes you a debt, for they never thought to think of
 you. What are you to aspire to if not the dreams of your past?
 
 and now you're here. wherever "here" is here...
 
 ...
 
 ... wait, you wanted me to talk? it's now! It's the present!
 
 ah nevermind. you were twelve years old when you first set eyes upon this game:
 
 https://youtu.be/qeNhQQXvpxQ
 
 bam, there ya go, there's yer story, he was gonna give all the imp balls to
 the last one at the end, to say "you were truly the strongest, here, have
 these precious stones of your kin"
 
 but he never got there, so they died with him, a thief.
 
 ... the end...
 
 (too final, I think - maybe we could spin it into a "part two"?)
 
 ah, I'll try I guess? dunno how. maybe he could wander the spirit world and
 find his traitorous body, the one that kept his soul as a home. Somewhere
 it'll turn up, and then he'll be ready and free from his roam...
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--- #5 fediverse/3158 ---
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 │ CW: patriotism-mentioned-politics-mentioned-slavery-mentioned │
 └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘


 patriotism is not about the 4th of july.
 
 it's about believing in the virtues they've told you.
 
 trusting that they are working with their own arms.
 
 and checking back every once in a while, to make sure it doesn't get... frayed.
 
 the constitution was supposed to be rewritten every 20 years
 
 they were trying to make the best out of a conflicted situation. As all
 writers of constitutions often do. why would you need a document forcing
 yourself to agree, if you are the only one who is there to agree with your
 self? it's circular.
 
 however, with companions, that worked with you to resolve your crisis (like
 the 13 colonies pitted against the global superpower of great britain, aka the
 baddest fucker out there (also France, and the rest of them, like...
 colonialism was a purely european sport.
 
 but england was the best at it, and America finally kicked them to the ground.
 Buncha jerks, charging taxes without representation.
 
 ...
meanwhile, everywhere south of the equator was *enslaved, and we're over here pissed off about *taxes*. It's just paper dude. who gives a shit.*
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--- #6 messages/1019 ---
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 The insightful but unaware liberal's perspective on war quickly changes from
 "what are we even fighting about?" to "holy shit these people actually want to
 kill us"
 
 [the learned liberal who knows history and who follows along with politics
 will say "we are fighting him" until they say "we are fighting American ISIS"]
 
 The leftists fight for liberty. More and more of them join every day. The
 blacks fight for freedom, *even still*. Everyone else has cause, and I'm sure
 some just do it for the thrill.
 
 Do they work together to build a world where everyone gets what they want?
 Even their foed? Or do they splinter, and let intelligent sabotage guide their
 fates? I know I'd rather trust my own will, and the will of those who believe
 with me. I know I'd rather make space for everyone, rather than shove some out
 into space.
 
 It's cold up there! You can't even breathe!
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--- #7 fediverse/3891 ---
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 "no, you're the opposite of a yes-man, AKA a gatekeeper. I don't know how else
 to explain mentally disabled and barely keeping it together to you, but
 frankly if you want to take away my house or my weed then why would I do what
 you say?
 
 ... oh right, the state's monopoly on violence [can compel me to do what you
 say]. Sure seems like a "well regulated militia" is supposed to be a
 counterweight to that monopoly, to prevent people from harassing and
 exploiting and destroying. Too bad any "militias" I can think of tend to want
 me dead.
 
 like, seriously, if you live in America, you implicitely trust that your army
 will be able to protect you from the right-wing bozos who spend all their time
 drinking and shooting in the woods. Otherwise, if they couldn't / wouldn't,
 then why wouldn't or couldn't the right wing bozos just decide to wreck
 everything in spite of our past?
 
 We were a proud people once before, and we may be again. If only we fight at
 the last.
 
 [ever since I fell off my bike my body feels strange]
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--- #8 messages/337 ---
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 How do you preserve liberty while also ensuring freedom and justice for all?
 How do you grant people the power to determine their own fate, yet also the
 rights and freedoms that protect them from the cruel injustices of their
 fellow man, and the state? It's not an easy question to solve. National
 identity is not something you can demand, and yet it is necessary for the
 interim period between our cruel despotic past and our bright united future.
 Though I dream of a future where the nation-state is irrelevant, that future
 is still yet to come, so we cannot act as if it is here already. We must lay
 the foundation that the future we desire may be built upon, and to that end we
 need to utilize the structures that are present. Structures such as nations,
 which provide us a sense of protection from those we cannot know - a sense of
 dedication, to our collective community - a sense of safety, that implies our
 liberties and freedoms will be ensured by a mechanical organization that is
 larger than our community. Essentially, nations give us the hope for our
 present while we wait for the day when they are no longer needed.
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--- #9 fediverse/4003 ---
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 │ CW: politics-mentioned │
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 republicans are upset because they think democrats are so mean
 
 they don't understand why we're so intense about this election... or the one
 before
 
 they don't ever really think about what losing democracy means
 
 "democracy... that's where we vote, right? That's a democrat thing, I don't
 really like their way of doing things. Whatever our way is, is probably
 better."
 
 meanwhile everyone has a friend from high school who ran off to the mountains
 to learn how to farm or hunt as a pack
 
 (with rifles and weed, of course)
 
 you can get a lot done if you just... spend your whole life working. Like most
 humans did for most of our existence.
 
 well, except for that period where we were the tribe of tribes. That was
 probably a highlight TBH because we mostly just chilled out, danced in public,
 ate blueberries and munched seeds... It was idyllic. Truly, the garden of
 eden. There was music and laughter in the air everywhere, in all places that
 humans did wander on earth.
 
 what a thing to aspire to.
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--- #10 fediverse/2976 ---
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 │ CW: uspol            │
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 on our current trajectory, the presidential election is already won.
 
 now we can get back to on-the-ground organizing, the part that actually
 improves life instead of maintaining our current (unethical) state.
 
 As long as our allies (liberals) continue to work, perhaps there may come a
 day when we can stand against them as friendly equals in the ballot box. But
 for now we are best known through friends and community rather than TV.
 
 I am optimistic in a way I haven't been for a while. I know that the more we
 speak, the more we share, the more they falter, the more people we can save
 from their vice grip of despair. There is no better world than the one we
 build together!
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--- #11 fediverse/2593 ---
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 ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: re: politics-fascism-sexual-assault-mentioned │
 └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘


 He skuffed up my water bottle.
 He tore pages from my journal.
 He made me lose my necklace.
 He damaged my knife.
 
 And still, I followed him all night.
 
 Why? Because I knew it was important. I needed him to tell me what he was
 doing and why. And I think I know, now.
 
 To all the federal agents reading this, please understand that I am a patriot,
 and he is not. Who do you serve?
 
 To all the leftists, punks, anarchists, queers, and anyone else who's cooler
 than me, please understand that they will try and make it hard. But our love
 will win.
 
 Don't abandon your friends. If someone you know goes missing, they're probably
 buried in the trash-dump or human trafficked.
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--- #12 fediverse/5198 ---
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 ┌───────────────────────────────┐                                                │
 │ CW: capitalism-doom-mentioned │                                                │
 └───────────────────────────────┘                                                │
 what if the corporations all unionized and started working together to           │
 understand what "profit" really means in a world where "profit" may or may not   │
 but probably does imply the death of all humanity?                               │
 what if we demanded it?                                                          │
 --                                                                               │
 dear canvassers: don't visit so many different suburbs                           │
 visit the same one, more than once, continuously, so people can get to know      │
 your presence                                                                    │
 they will talk to their friends about it, who live elsewhere.                    │
 thus ensuring it spreads.                                                        │
 knock once a day, eventually they'll know it's you and will simply ignore it.    │
 Don't be rude and knock 4 or 5 times, just once, with several taps so they       │
 know it's someone trying to get ahold of you, and not just some random noise     │
 in the background scenery. then, when they sometimes answer, talk to them        │
 about what you believe in. answer their questions. encourage their questions.    │
 pose dichotomies that are explained by some value or virtue you express to       │
 portray. you can do "good" things in any programming language, just type~~       │
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--- #13 fediverse/2317 ---
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 ┌──────────────────────┐                                                         │
 │ CW: uspol            │                                                         │
 └──────────────────────┘                                                         │
 "My friends, I come to you now bearing a copy of the US constitution, among      │
 other writings. On the front cover, is our American flag. On the back, is the    │
 flag of our thirteen colonies. I speak to you now as a dedicated advocate of     │
 peace, hope, and change - we changed our flag once before, and it made us        │
 stronger.                                                                        │
 I have come to you to ask, hope, beg and to plead - I beseech you: lay down      │
 your weapons, and teach us how to use them. We have Nazis to kill.               │
 And now, with your permission, the kindest amongst us will lead you to a place   │
 where you can be alone - to a homeless shelter nearby, or perhaps two if you     │
 don't all fit.                                                                   │
 There I ask of you, select from amongst your number those of us you'd like us    │
 to judge. Take as long as you'd like, we will be waiting in the park for you.    │
 For those of you who see light in our shared future, for those who seek a        │
 brighter truth, there's a greater fight yet coming, and we'd love for you to     │
 join us. Teach us the ways of your arms! We are voracious learners.              │
 15m later:                                                                       │
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--- #14 fediverse/5377 ---
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 ┌────────────────────────────────┐                                               │
 │ CW: extreme-rhetoric-mentioned │                                               │
 └────────────────────────────────┘                                               │
 something tells me they'd only send their "most loyal" to a what, 500 person     │
 strong gathering of strength displayed for the nation?                           │
 and we exist in every city                                                       │
 so... 500 is a lot less than 2000 which is a lot less than 10,000                │
 hey remember when millions of people marched for women as a concept              │
 like, had time in their day? were sufficiently aligned and motivated bia         │
 social media [redacted]? or were just not kidding around...                      │
 I tell ya what I'd rather see on the streets and the ground, a well regulated    │
 militia that's what I'd say.                                                     │
 isn't that the military?                                                         │
 oh yeah haha whoops sorry we forgot that it's democracy versus those losers.     │
 I mean, look at them out there prancing around and wearing tactical gear. I      │
 heard they even go after the worst criminals the least of all. buncha cowards    │
 hiding from the will of the people. good thing we got plenty of ten              │
 thousands...                                                                     │
 ICE CAN END yeah so can the polar ice-caps if we're not quick and thorough       │
 ICE CAN END yeah that's like step 1 I hear~                                      │
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--- #15 notes/semblance-of-remembrance ---
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 hello down there
 how's it hangin'?
 
 been a while since
 you've been sang-in'.
 
 got something to hide?
 or are you too ashamed?
 
 there's no callous curses
 or otherwise hard services
 
 who can shape and compare to
 deserve-us. (Sorrowful is not
 
 a pillar of our misbegot trust
 and longing has broken meanings.
 
 cherish thine hair, a smattering
 beyond compare, and learn everfar
 
 of those tenembrarious of conflicts
 it pays to align to our sibilancings
 
 shivering heights and towering frights
 condemn all sense of fine desperation
 
 compulsions have we, of our fineries,
 but moss and the soil do flatter-us
 
 it's not as they say - bastards!
 it's not confined to our way,
 
 yet who are we to profess?
 confess! tell us your way
 
 that none may beyold it
 confounded as they are
 
 civil and kind to our
    star, who holds
                us
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--- #16 messages/339 ---
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 In this era, there are sentiments that Texas should desire to secede. This is
 just used as an example here, for the future may bear such sentiments from any
 land for reasons similar or dissimilar. So, say there is a state that wishes
 to secede in the way that Texan mythology describes. What would compel them to
 stay? What would compel them to stand united for our collective gain? Perhaps
 they could be swayed by gifts of gold or bloodshed, or maybe they simply could
 be allowed to do as they please. All three of those options are not desirable,
 for reasons that should be apparent. So, to ask again, how do you ensure
 national unity in the face of the desire for liberty from unity? Liberty
 implies a resistance against oppression, a pushback against the enslavement of
 another's will thrust upon an unconsenting subject. So, to resolve this issue,
 there must be a reduction in oppression. Ideally, elimination. However,
 defining oppression is difficult when so much of our interactions are
 determined by trade, national interests, and cultural contestation. There is
 no easy answer, but by redefining what a nation implies perhaps we can make
 the question irrelevant.
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--- #17 fediverse/5628 ---
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 │ CW: -mentioned-      │
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 I'm not fucking around and nobody takes me seriously. guess I'll just "waste"
 the day getting stoned. "there is nothing left to analyze" yeah well there's
 nothing I can do except analyze, so... do it for me then? I'll even tell you
 how.
 
 I have a strange kind of patriotism. It compels me to fight for my country,
 not for the current administration.
 
 Yes, it's true, that if we can't trust the political victors, then we can't
 trust that we all [deserved to be used, but pronounced like deserved to get
 food]
 
 but we can't trust our political victors, because of simple facts.
 
 Last summer the conservative majority supreme court removed several
 restrictions on the exectutive branch - essentially giving the political
 victors the ability to rule with more authority than a despotic monarchy.
 
 This summer they are maximizing their armed forces (ICE, not the military,
 which will soon be dissolved)
 
 Next summer they will claim you. What do you do this summer, with the consent
 of the army, navy, and air force?
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--- #18 fediverse/5257 ---
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 ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: protests-mentioned-then-communism-mentioned-then-ghosts-mentioned │
 └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘


 what if everyone at a protest is showing up for their first time
 
 like, c'mon don't be that dull, just make plans with the people standing next
 to you.
 
 gosh why is everyone shouting I can't plan out how to divert water down a
 hillside because some jerks are singing protest chants
 
 ... wait is no-one else talking? gosh I gee sure wish someone told them to not
 do what you're told and to instead do what will get you [gold/told]
 
 the first communist internationals were basically people sitting down and
 going "okay what kind of communism should we make and where" and I think about
 that a lot while making signs to let the surveillance know what matters
 personally to me and exactly how much pressure they can apply before your
 demographic swings to contest their brutal fascist facts.
 
 --
 
 who is them and why are they watching theea provisionist's [screed/creed]
 
 --
 
 what the heck is a tryptaminea boomer aunt and uncle out on their honey/versary
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--- #19 fediverse/2009 ---
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 │ CW: re: politics     │
 └──────────────────────┘


 @user-1126 
 
 Yep. I am not concerned though, because of that map I shared. Whosoever shall
 draw the sword (of the people's will) shall be the righteous leader of US
 
 We can build a world where democracy flourishes and we don't need to remain
 vigilant. It is within our power.
 
 And we shall. I have faith.
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--- #20 messages/782 ---
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 The truth is 
 
 The reason none of my revolutions have yet succeeded 
 
 Is that the only way 
 
 To secure peace and love on planet earth 
 
 Is that all the governments 
 
 Of the world must topple 
 
 Or relinquish their nuclear arms 
 
 Each all at once 
 
 And i was too quick to slay my false duke 
 
 Who plays at king 
 
 While i build real power 
 
 While i know nothing 
 
 Some day i will be eaten by crows. This is what it means to be buried where
 you fall. This is my fate as all warriors yearn for. To be eaten by crows
 implies that you are either a coward who fled a fight, and i know I'm not, or
 you fought to the last for a phyrric defeat, which is honorable. But shouldn't
 it be better to fight for victory? Ah, but the gods cherish the fools who face
 death with glory, and i am cherished still.
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