A few months ago, we missed an opportunity. But “we,” I mean us anarchists—the ungovernable kind. And by “opportunity,” I mean an opening.

It was when uncharacteristically, in primary “season,”liberals in droves—from progressives to Democrats—started openly expressing fears that no matter who they voted for, fascism would win. And so they essentially engaged in an open “rebellion” of sorts against the limitations of electoral politics, especially to stop a genocide, using the primaries to write things like “uncommitted” on their ballot. Big percentages of liberals made their discontent visible, albeit in a mild act of disobedience.

Yet it felt like an opening that we anarchists should have thrown ourselves into, engaging in a massive educational and agitational “campaign” to show those liberals all the beautiful forms of nonstatist self-determination and self-governance that are not only possible but also already here. We could have pointed to myriad times in the long arc of human history when people lived quite well—thank you—without states, without nationalism and colonialism and capitalism, without borders and cops and prisons. And we could have shared visions of the liberatory lifeways we dream of, and invited people into the many places where we experiment with autonomy and self-organization.

We could have openly tried to hold out the warm hand of “the beautiful idea,” with the aspiration of being a bridge from liberalism to anarchism—far further away from fascism.

We could have been loud and proud about other ways to outsmart fascism, from community self-defense to collective care to always deciding for ourselves, together, through countless forms of direct democracies that have no need for states—relegating electoral politics to history’s dustbin.

Maybe little of this would have happened. But we need to try.

Because now, quicker than the blink of an eye, “Kamala” has boxed liberals back into their delusional world of thinking a day in November will make fascism disappear.

It’s not enough to grumble that we anarchists don’t vote. It behooves us to pry open spaces of possibilities far beyond ballot boxes and fascism.

(Photo: Sticker seen in Asheville, NC, in June 2024 while on a #FuckFascism walk)