[This essay of mine was originally published at The Hampton Institute. Visit this page for more of my posts that relate to anarchism. A free and printable PDF pamphlet version of this essay is available here.]

Election season makes me feel like the kid who doesn’t have a stuffed animal on “bring your teddy bear to school” day. Everyone else has a favorite who they can tell good stories about and cuddle with, but I don’t so I feel left out. Then I remember that there are good reasons to resist getting pulled down by the undertow of elections.

Like cute stuffed animals, politicians make people feel good while having a marginal effect on positive social change. The main differences between stuffed animals and politicians are that 1) stuffed animals are actually cuddly, and 2) people don’t invest vast amounts of political hope and agency in stuffed animals. I recognize that arguing against what many people hold dear makes me kind of a grump, but I aspire to be one who is not stuck in idle criticism but is offering alternative ideas. The variety of grumpiness that I espouse is one grounded in grassroots social movements that focus on direct action independent of party politics.