As election night draws near, it seems like many anarchists are content with sitting back and watching what unfolds. We cannot predict what will happen- perhaps widespread riots, perhaps widespread nothing- but this should be even more reason to attack!
For months, we have been inundated with news blurbs about the plans to prevent election night unrest. The Portland Police have bragged about their preparedness to handle protests and have shown off their new riot squad and its fancy new toys. Although the police have made changes since 2020 and 2021, they are not all-powerful. Our desire for freedom will always be stronger than their control.
On last two election days, in 2016 and 2020, anarchists had a large presence in the streets. Things still managed to get rowdy in 2020 even after the National Guard was called in. It got rowdy, most importantly, because people (not just anarchists) wanted it to. If we want unrest, we need to make it. Attacks away from the crowds, all across the city, can show that no matter who they elect, we are ungovernable.
Riots create opportunities for other people to experiment with attack, they subvert property, authority, and capital and unleash the boldest of desires- a desire for freedom and destruction. But even after the riots end and everything goes back to how it was, they continue to live in a collective imaginary as a memory of what is possible- and this memory is the kindling for the fires to come.
At the same time, we have to think critically about the meaning of a night or two of rioting and what role we might play. How do these riots, ever momentary ruptures, fit into a goal of insurrection and generalized subversion? How can we contribute to making these moments last? How do we spread attack and create the conditions for other people to strike as well?
Instead of sitting at home and waiting for someone else to throw the first stone, or waiting for activists to tell us why we need to be out in the streets, let’s strike first, and strike for ourselves. Let’s smash the spectacle of the election and reject their calls for social peace- after all, we are explosive beings with unpredictable reactions. We are dynamite.
submitted anonymously