Imagine walking down a busy street on a warm afternoon. The sun is shining, but there’s a heaviness in the air. Groups of people are discussing political scandals, high healthcare costs, and the failing system. You can feel their frustration and exhaustion. They’re tired of broken promises, corporate greed, and environmental decline. Many are starting to question if the institutions they’ve trusted—governments, corporations, the police—can solve the crises we face. There’s a growing sense that these systems aren’t just failing but working against the people. For the first time, they’re open to something different.
To read our co-article and accompanying zine written to appeal to people who are not yet anarchists, check that out here.
To get this article in zine format go here.
Many people, even those not identifying as anarchists, resonate with anarchist principles by questioning authority and seeking alternatives to hierarchies. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the rise of mutual aid groups embodying solidarity, self-governance, and mutual support. Left-leaning individuals oppose capitalism’s exploitation and may gravitate toward anarchist critiques of systemic oppression. Rising authoritarianism has many worried about concentrated power, aligning with anarchist ideas about decentralizing power.
Now is a prime moment for all forms of community organizing amid economic collapse, political instability, and social unrest. Disillusionment with traditional structures opens the door for new models of social organization. It also presents a potential for people to get drawn into fascism, political cults, or try to tune things out in their own way. This is our competition.
Examples:
Economic Hardship and Exploitation: Under capitalism, workers face significant challenges including precarious job markets, stagnating wages, and cycles of debt. This manifests as entire communities of unhoused individuals, with those of us in houses knowing we are likely one missed paycheck away from being in the same position. We take what jobs we can, what they offer for pay. As organizers the workplace is a ripe ground for organizing. Unions like the IWW can offer a different way for worker’s to seize power within their workplace. This and proliferating worker owned cooperative models of business can demonstrate to our neighbors that there are other effective ways to structure organizations of all kinds.
State Violence and Oppression: Police brutality in marginalized communities is rooted in a desire to maintain power through violence, rather than being solely the result of individual corruption. This manifests in violence in our neighborshoods enacted towards Black, Indigenous, people of color, the unhoused, and transgender. People need to get to know their neighbors and develop relationships with their community. Projects that bring people together are an opportunity to build community reslience that can prevent calls to the police when things go wrong. Host deescalation and mediation workshops. Learn these skills yourself and pass them on.
Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed: Capitalism exploits the environment for profit, as seen in the oil industry’s widespread devastation of ecosystems, prioritizing financial gains over sustainability and the well-being of the planet. This manifests as increased so called natural disasters in our communities. Things that we must again come together in grassroots networks of care to resolve. When the power goes out, food systems break down, or wildfire threaten to engulf your home. It will not be the government coming to our aid. We must be well versed in trauma and first aid, disaster relief, and mutual aid.
While it’s crucial to highlight the failures of the current system, we must also offer a compelling vision of a post-capitalist, anarchist world. People need to know what they’re fighting for: a future where power is shared, oppression is dismantled, and communities thrive in autonomy and cooperation.
A Just, Self-Managed Society
Direct Democracy: Communities govern themselves through local assemblies, making collective decisions about resources and education. Nothing about us, without us means that no decisions are made affecting anyone who didnt have a say in that decision.
Mutual Aid: Society is built on mutual aid, where communities pool or resdistribute resources equitably to meet everyone’s needs. No one works for profit; we work for the community’s benefit.
Resource Sharing: Resources are shared equitably. Food, shelter, and healthcare are basic human rights, not commodities. Housing, health, and education are communal responsibilities.
Practical Alternatives: Anarchism in Action
Worker Cooperatives: Businesses run democratically, where employees are owners. Profits are shared equitably.
Community-Run Spaces: Abandoned buildings are transformed into free schools, health clinics, and shelters. These spaces prioritize people’s needs over profit.
Decentralized Networks of Mutual Support: Grassroots efforts replace state intervention in times of crisis, proving communities can meet each other’s needs.
Inspire Hope: The Power of Collective Action
People need to believe in the possibility of change. Historical and contemporary examples, like the Spanish Revolution, the Zapatista Movement, and local anarchist initiatives, demonstrate that radical transformation is achievable. These movements inspire hope by showing that ordinary people can bring about extraordinary changes by rejecting systems of oppression and building new ways of living together.
Here are some key areas where anarchism offers concrete solutions:
Criminalization of Homelessness: Homelessness results from economic inequality and the criminalization of poverty. People without homes are often punished simply for existing in public spaces, facing police harassment, fines, and incarceration. This approach treats homelessness as a crime rather than addressing its root causes.
Anarchist alternative: Resources are shared and managed by communities, offering shelter and support without criminalization. In an anarchist society, housing would be considered a basic human right, and communities would work together to ensure that everyone has access to safe and stable living conditions.
Police Brutality and Self-Defense: Police violence is a tool used by the state to maintain control over marginalized communities. This violence is not just the result of individual bad actors but is inherent in a system designed to preserve the status quo through force. Marginalized communities, particularly those of color, often bear the brunt of this oppression.
Anarchist alternative: Community-based security and justice, focusing on restorative justice rather than punitive systems. Instead of relying on police, communities would develop their own methods of conflict resolution and protection, ensuring that justice is served through collective, non-violent means.
Privatization of Healthcare: Treating healthcare as a commodity leads to significant inequality, where access to medical services is determined by one’s ability to pay rather than need. This results in a system where many go without necessary care, exacerbating health disparities and contributing to broader social inequities.
Anarchist alternative: Communities manage healthcare services, ensuring free and accessible care for all, prioritizing well-being over profit. In this model, healthcare would be a communal responsibility, with resources pooled and distributed based on need, thus eliminating the profit motive that drives up costs and limits access.
Environmental Justice: Capitalism’s relentless pursuit of profit leads to the exploitation of both people and the environment, with industries like oil causing severe ecological damage. Governments often support these harmful practices, prioritizing corporate interests over the health of the planet and its inhabitants.
Anarchist alternative: Sustainability and ecological balance, with local communities managing resources to protect the environment, guided by movements like the Zapatistas. By shifting the focus from profit to sustainability, communities can implement practices that ensure long-term ecological health and justice, emphasizing the importance of local stewardship and communal decision-making.
Starting with local initiatives can be a powerful way to bring about significant change. By focusing on community-driven projects like housing cooperatives, neighborhood patrols, community health clinics, and local environmental conservation efforts, individuals can address immediate needs while building a foundation for broader systemic change. These localized efforts not only provide tangible benefits but also demonstrate the effectiveness of decentralized, community-based solutions. Engaging people in these initiatives helps to build solidarity, empowers communities, and showcases the practical application of anarchist principles in everyday life.
When engaging with individuals open to alternatives but not fully committed to anarchism, it’s crucial to meet them where they are. Engage with their concerns, fears, and aspirations without imposing ideology. People are more likely to be drawn to anarchism when it addresses their real, immediate needs.
Start by listening to issues they care about, listen to and value their expertise on their own lived experiences. Do not simply wait for your turn to speak and educate them. Really actively listen to them and what they need. Discuss police brutality and state repression with those frustrated by systemic racism and government overreach. Highlight corporate greed and economic inequality, showing how anarchism critiques capitalism and offers alternatives. Engage on climate change by discussing the current economic model’s prioritization of profit over the environment.
It’s important to recognize that many, especially liberals or progressives, are already questioning core systems of power. Focus on justice, solidarity, and decentralization to show how anarchism aligns with their concerns. Justice involves dismantling systems of oppression for equality. Solidarity emphasizes mutual aid networks and community support. Decentralization advocates for local communities making their own decisions.
Approach them as potential allies, offering support and small steps toward deeper involvement. Engaging in mutual aid builds trust and demonstrates how anarchism addresses real-world needs. Organize community events to support one another and show that change can be made without the state or corporations. Creating safe spaces for open dialogue is essential. Build environments where people can express doubts and explore anarchist principles without fear of judgment. Facilitate study groups, discussion circles, or workshops to make exploring anarchism accessible.
Example: Organizing a community cleanup shows how people can take action without relying on the state or corporations, demonstrating that they can make change together.
When educating others about anarchism, it’s essential to start small, make it relatable, and focus on practical actions that people can experience directly. Engage them through accessible actions like community gardens and direct relief projects. These initiatives allow people to see anarchist principles, such as mutual aid and self-management, in action and realize their immediate benefits. It also builds trust and community, which means that they are far more likely to care what you have to say.
Telling stories, rather than giving lectures, helps make anarchist ideas tangible. Share historical examples like the Spanish Revolution, where workers took control of factories and self-organized through direct democracy. This shows how anarchism can work in practice, even in challenging conditions.
Using pop culture, books, films, podcasts, and social media can make anarchist ideas more engaging. Recommend books like *The Dispossessed* or *Demanding the Impossible*, and use films like *The Matrix* to discuss themes of freedom and control. Social media platforms can be used to share quotes, articles, and memes that highlight mutual aid, direct democracy, and anti-authoritarian struggle.
Facilitate study groups and reading circles to encourage deeper exploration of anarchism. These groups can discuss anarchist texts and their practical applications in everyday life. Highlight the direct impact of anarchist-inspired actions, like community kitchens that provide meals to those in need, demonstrating that solidarity and cooperation can create real change. By starting with practical, relatable approaches, you can make anarchist ideas more accessible and engaging, inspiring people to see the potential for building a better world together.
Direct action is a powerful tool in building an anarchist movement because it demonstrates practical engagement. By organizing tangible initiatives like community gardens, food cooperatives, and free clinics, anarchists can show people the benefits of mutual aid and collective decision-making.
Food cooperatives challenge corporate control of our food supply by providing affordable, healthy food through collective efforts. Community defense programs protect marginalized communities from state violence by organizing neighborhood patrols and self-defense training. Free clinics address the healthcare crisis by providing services to those excluded from the current system.
In organizing these initiatives, anarchists not only challenge the existing systems of power but also provide practical alternatives that empower communities to take control of their lives and resources. This approach builds a world based on solidarity and mutual aid, demonstrating the relevance and effectiveness of anarchist principles.
Educational events are crucial for building solidarity and inspiring action. Hosting workshops, lectures, or study groups on anarchist ideas and social issues allows people to learn and explore anarchist principles as practical solutions. These events foster open discussion and collective learning.
Building for the long term means these events aren’t just one-offs but part of an ongoing struggle. They create spaces for ongoing involvement, showing that dismantling oppressive systems and building a new world is already happening. Direct action should start with achievable goals to empower people. Small, immediate victories build momentum and confidence. Achieving local goals like opposing rent hikes can demonstrate the power of collective action.
Direct action isn’t just resistance; it’s about creating systems of solidarity and mutual aid. It shows the tangible results of collective organizing, helping people connect their daily struggles to the need for a cooperative world. By starting small, building relationships, and focusing on achievable wins, anarchists can show that a better world is possible and already taking shape. Direct action combines theory and practice, empowering communities and challenging oppressive systems.
Building a lasting anarchist movement requires nurturing long-term relationships, creating support systems, and fostering leadership. It’s crucial to build trust, develop new leaders, and maintain momentum through collective responsibility.
To keep people engaged, create opportunities for consistent involvement. Organize regular, accessible meetings where people can discuss projects, voice concerns, and strategize together. These should be democratic spaces valuing everyone’s voice. Maintain mutual aid projects addressing community needs, such as food distribution and healthcare. Encourage decentralized organizing, empowering groups to act autonomously, fostering ownership and responsibility within the movement.
Mentorship is vital. Invest time in mentoring newer activists, helping them develop organizing skills, strategic thinking, and confidence. Ensure leadership is distributed and rotated to prevent burnout and maintain vitality. By creating spaces for engagement, providing mentorship, and fostering leadership, you build a stronger, sustainable movement where everyone actively participates and contributes to collective growth.
Fostering a culture of care within organizing spaces is crucial. Prioritize mental health, rest, and personal time to prevent burnout. Encourage everyone to take responsibility for the group’s well-being, recognizing that collective care is integral to sustained action. People are more likely to stay engaged if they feel they have a voice and agency. Create spaces for open participation, allowing people to take initiative and shape the movement.
One of the most persistent misconceptions about anarchism is that it leads to chaos, lawlessness, or violence. Emphasize that anarchism is about restructuring society for cooperation, mutual aid, and direct democracy, not creating disorder. Highlight real-world examples that will resonate with them, like organizing fantasy football leagues, DIY concerts, book clubs, or swap meets, where communities self-manage peacefully.
Some may hesitate to embrace radical change or favor reform. Explain that anarchism aims for radical transformation, not just reforming the current system. Acknowledge gradual change and show how anarchism aligns with their values. Stay calm and patient with skeptics. Challenge their assumptions and offer a compelling alternative vision that addresses their concerns. Ease people into anarchism by starting with familiar concepts like self-organizing and mutual aid. Use practical examples rather than theoretical jargon. Reformism often fails to address root causes. Make the case for systemic change by showing how reforms fall short and how anarchism offers comprehensive solutions.
Be patient and allow people to grow into anarchism naturally. Create supportive environments where they can explore, ask questions, and learn at their own pace. Focus on common goals like liberation, justice, and mutual aid. Build broad alliances rather than dividing over ideological purity. By addressing fears, engaging skeptics, introducing ideas gradually, challenging reformism, encouraging growth, and avoiding sectarianism, you can effectively overcome obstacles and build a stronger anarchist movement.
The world is in crisis. Inequality, state violence, and environmental devastation are rampant, and the systems in place are failing us. The wealthy grow richer while the rest face increasing hardship. People protest, struggle to survive, and watch as the world burns. We cannot afford to wait for someone else to fix it. The revolution starts with us, today. Every action, no matter how small, is a step toward building a new world rooted in solidarity, autonomy, and justice.
Anarchism isn’t a far-off ideal—it’s a force that can shape our present reality. Mutual aid, direct action, community organizing, and collective resistance are practices we can put into action right now. The change we seek won’t come from reforming the broken systems that created these crises. The state and corporations perpetuate injustice. The only way forward is through our collective strength, in the streets, communities, and daily lives.
This revolution is happening right now. We don’t need to wait for the perfect moment. Mutual aid groups, workers organizing for better conditions, and grassroots movements challenging state violence are already laying the foundations of an anarchist world. Each act of resistance and every collective effort contributes to the broader revolution. The seeds of change are being sown, and it’s up to each of us to water them.
The systems that oppress us are failing, but we don’t have to wait for them to collapse. The power to create a different world is in our hands. This revolution requires action from everyone—whether you are a skeptical liberal, a seasoned radical, or someone just beginning to question the status quo. The revolution needs all of us.
Take that first step. Whether it’s engaging in direct action, starting a community project, or having a conversation about an anarchist society, your participation is crucial. There is no “perfect” way to begin—what matters is that we begin together. It starts in your neighborhood, with your friends, family, coworkers, and community. Take action in places where you already have influence. Start small. Organize mutual aid initiatives, build a community garden, start a reading group, or stand in solidarity with those resisting oppression. Show people that anarchism is not just a theory—it’s a practice we engage in every day.
The time for revolution is not tomorrow or in the next election cycle. It’s now. The world is changing, and we are the ones who will make that change. The revolution begins with each of us, right where we are, using the tools we already have—mutual aid, collective action, and the shared belief that a better world is not only possible but already on the way.
The future belongs to those who act—and we are acting. We will not be passive observers of our own liberation. We are the revolution, and it’s happening today. And it starts with you. People are ready for something new: a world where power is shared and decentralized, where decisions are made by those directly affected. As anarchist organizers, we have a chance to show them that the answer isn’t more reforms or the same institutions, but a completely different way of organizing society. We must listen to their frustrations and help them understand how these systems work, why they fail, and how we can change our world without relying on oppressive institutions.
The goal isn’t just to recruit people to an ideology, but to offer them a way forward—one that empowers them to build alternative systems prioritizing collective well-being, mutual aid, and self-determination. Anarchism isn’t a far-off utopia; it’s a set of practices that already exist in community spaces, worker-run collectives, and grassroots organizing. We must show that change is possible now, and that a world without hierarchy or coercion is achievable if we have the courage to reject the systems that hold us back and build new ways of living together.
