why don't you take some time to stop and smell the flowers?
| WHY DO THIS? |
| >A number of reasons. First and foremost being: the cypherpunks were really cool, and I believe that there need to be more aesthetics in the world that don't just exist as pretty pictures and dresses, and exist as a connection point for a group of people who all want one thing. Second, I want to be able to have that connection for myself. I want to find people who can share in an interesting aesthetic with me and also overthrow the government club. >The most important reason is that I have become disillusioned with the idea of modern "aesthetic" as a meaningless set of standards to follow and not an energy one carries with them. This aesthetic is not about wearing the right clothes or listening to the right music. It is about embodying an ideology and letting it bleed through into more than just your fashion sense. If you can't cut it with the politics, you're free to take part in the fashion, but there are likely other modern aesthetics that you would prefer. |
| THE INHERENT AESTHETIC OF POLITICS: DISCUSSING CYPHERPUNK |
| > I may hear you asking, "what is cypherpunk and why was it such a large influence on the creation of this aesthetic?" Cypherpunk was a movement of sorts in the early internet era comprised of hackers that wanted to maintain the free and open nature of the internet and secure freedom for themselves physically as well. They were inherently an anti-government pro-liberty movement, but one that was restricted to hackers (programmers) of the time. Ever since I first learnt about them I've admired the way they decided to do something and committed to it; the way they were unafraid to speak their mind and be honest. > I may also hear you asking, what does politics have to do with aesthetic? In the past, aesthetics and appearance were inherently political in many situations. One would know a punk's ideals from the dress. It is only recently that aesthetic has become a romanticized concept of fashion, another word for a fashion sense. Aesthetic no longer symbolizes anything meaningful, which I view as symptom of a decline in meaning in society as a whole. Everything is broken down into easily digestible chunks, stories need not contain themes, a message must be fewer than 280 characters. Twitter, in specific, has contributed to this breakdown in communication and discourse in general. >But don't let me get too akin to good ol' Teddy K around here. That's for next section. This is not my manifesto, that can come later. The idea, here, is to create something that once again brings politics to aesthetics, and bring it there beyond a bland commitment to being "eco-friendly" whilst buying sweatshop sneakers. |
| THE POLITICS |
| >"So if politics are so important, what are these politics? Must I adhere to them to be of this aesthetic?" Addressing the second question first, there are many ways to adhere to the politics I will lay out following. Anyone; left, right, center, can hold these opinions. Ascribing them to only one "side" is reductive and ensures to me that you've not yet allowed yourself out of your echo chamber, and as such will have no interest in what I'm about to say. That said, yes, if you don't ascribe to the following ideology in some way, you're only coopting a fashion, not an idea, and I will treat you with the disdain you deserve if you try that. >Let me make another thing completely clear: this has no religious affiliation. Though some of what I may discuss will come across religious, it is not intended that way. Please take everything I say and think about it for yourself, every single individual piece. Thinking for yourself and allowing yourself free thought is the greatest possible virtue. I have broken the politics/ideology down into three core tenets. They are as such: >"Pursue liberty at all costs." This is the part that will end up the most political. This is an inherently political statement because there will always be people that want to take your liberties from you. They should have to pry them from your cold, dead hands. Because without your freedom, what left is there? Without freedom to choose where to go or what to do or what to say or what to think you are little more than a robot, perjoratively called a "bugman" by those twitter thinks are too far gone. The government certainly cares not about your freedoms, and it has long overreached and abused its power, and it's about time to knock it down a peg or fifteen. Contrary to much of popular belief, that is still possible, the problem lies in getting enough people together who are willing to do something. >"Respect the natural cycle of life and death." This ties in to one of the greatest themes of the aesthetic: things that are rotting, abandoned, being reclaimed by nature. Everything will die one day, it is an inevitability, and there is no sound way to deny this fact. Respecting and appreciating this cycle is a way to appreciate the life that we are given. This is not a nihilistic aesthetic; in fact it is quite the opposite. Things can get better and they will, so long as we treat things seriously. In a similar vein, acknowledgement of inevitable death allows one to truly treasure the life they now live. This is not an aesthetic for the terminally nihilistic, as various philosophers tend to be right when they state that nihilism is baby's first philosophy. >"Respect nature." The easiest on this list, and certainly the one most people feel that they are already doing. The fact of the matter is, though, that they know nothing about nature or that which it contains. Instead, they only know that which they think they know from a life experienced through manicured lawns and the brief experiences they may have with invasive plants. The way to respect the earth is to use it, understand what it can give you and thank it by using it in your life. This is why one of the major skills that should be practiced is foraging wild plants, and an ideal to be cultivating native plants in their natural habitat. Because the government can't regulate the plantain that grows in your lawn. |
| THE THEMES |
Major themes can include, but are not limited to:
Minor themes can include, but are not limited to:
Colors can include, but are not limited to:
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| THE FASHION |
| >Fashion here ideally is akin to other internet aesthetics focused around grungy looks and "sustainability". There's no attention to looking gendered, clothes run oversized, they're often thrifted or otherwise secondhand. The focus is on reusing and preserving things that were previously discarded, the actual appearance of aesthetic comes after. It's good for one to repair their own clothes or modify clothes to suit their needs instead of simply discarding it. Fashion could readily be considered "edgy" or "alt" by tiktok kids, but it's better to take cues from the original punks but give it a getting lost in the woods twist than take any inspiration from a young adult on tiktok. Remember: the tiktok people do it for the aesthetic, for the appearance; whereas the original punks did it to support their idea of offending as many people as possible at once. >It's also important to consider that your clothes may become damaged in some way, whether because there's a plant that needs imminent inspecting or because someone thinks it's okay to throw a milkshake at you because of differing political views. You may also want to be prepared for self defense. After all, being open politically in a way that twitter people wouldn't support is downright dangerous in some areas. You have a right to self defense, use it. >One's batbelt may have things like a knife, another knife, a third knife (joking... or am I?), a place to store edible plants or seeds one finds, either mace or a gun depending on your jurisdiction and confidence, and maybe a found object or two. |
| THE ETYMOLOGY |
| >You may be wondering where the name came from (you probably weren't but here we are). I'm going to tell you. >The first part came because I wanted something edgy, mostly, but the idea of rot lines up perfectly with a lot of the ideology. The government has rotted from the inside out, and now it is we the people's job to ensure that new life can grow in its place. >The second part is because cypherpunks are cool. But more specifically, punk as an idea that "the system is bwoken uwu" and a desire to offend and a lack of caring what anyone else thinks. Calling something punk implies that it is going against the popular opinion in a major way, and I like to think I'm doing that. |
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