press "E" in grub, then add init="/bin/busybox" to the kernel command line. Then apt-get purge systemd (mounting may or may not be necessary). That way you can

press "E" in grub, then add init="/bin/busybox" to the kernel command line. Then apt-get purge systemd (mounting may or may not be necessary). That way you can still claim "the first thing I did was to remove it". But contrary to pulse, it will also be the last ;)