The Anarchy4Everyone subreddit has only been around since July, 2022, but it’s already making waves on Reddit. It has amassed an impressive 21.2k members in less than a year, and its feed is full of painfully true posts. Some common topics in the group are ACAB, The Resistance, Anti-Work, Anti-Colonialist, Smash The State, F*** America And F*** Canada, Red Flash, and Pure Anarchy. And there’s only one rule from the moderators for members to follow: “As long as it's anarchy or anarchy-related, we don't care what you do or say. Just don't violate Reddit's ToS.”

To learn more about this radical group, we reached out to the subreddit’s moderator team, and one of the co-founders was kind enough to have a chat with us. First, we wanted to know how Anarchy4Everyone came about. “I got contacted by u/elbrujosalvaje asking if I wanted to create an anarchist sub for all anarchists to talk about their views openly without the threat of being banned,” the co-founder told Bored Panda. “So I graciously agreed, and it was the start to a great sub. Seeing how fast it has been growing still amazes me,” they added. “I was shocked even when we hit 100 members, and I'm still shocked now!”

“The goal for our subreddit was to be a place to discuss your opinions with others as an anarchist, have some friendly discourse, and not to get banned unjustly by power hungry moderators,” the co-founder shared. “Anarchism is important to me because of witnessing how unjust our system of governance is now and how broken it is, and having a good community who are open to discuss all ideas.”

We were also curious about what the subreddit’s members are like. “The community is pretty chill, and most people just want to share and discuss with others and bring attention to world events,” the moderator told Bored Panda, adding that the vast majority of members are active in the sub.

They went on to explain that even the role of moderators is slightly different in Anarchy4Everyone than most other subs. "The mod team doesn’t censor based on personal judgement, but instead we have the sub participate in discussions and polls on things such as bans and removal of comments and posts," the co-founder shared, noting that there had previously been a poll to remove a moderator that the community interacted with it. "Whatever the consensus ends up being is what we put action towards. We aren’t mods as much as public servants to the members of the server. We’re not here to be the boss of anyone; we’re here to use the mod tools by the will of the members of the server."

We also asked the moderator what they would like readers to understand about the group. “We aren't just a bunch of goofballs rambling into the void,” they noted. “We are here to be a serious place of discussion, and you can speak your mind and you will be heard by people.” The co-founder went on to dispel a common misconception about anarchists. “We aren't here to behead every rich person; we just want everyone to be equal and not have a system that is killing our planet fuelled by profit and greed over people."

“The last thing I would like to say is if you want a place to discuss and talk about or discourse with us anarchists and join us, come over here!”

We also reached out to the team at Agency, an anarchist PR project, to hear their thoughts on this topic, and they were kind enough to answer a few of our questions as well. First, we wanted to know what being an anarchist means to them. “Anarchism is a longstanding political, economic, and social tradition based in struggle against top-down systems and institutions, such as states, capitalism, and racial and gender domination,” the Agency collective told Bored Panda. 

“Anarchists aim to build an ecologically sustainable and deeply participatory society in which all people have access to the things they need, decisions are made by those most directly affected by them, and all people are free and equal,” they explained. “Some of the core tenets of anarchism are mutual aid, direct action, voluntary association, decentralization, and self determination.” They also added that the word “anarchy” is often attributed to Greek words meaning “without rulers.”

When it comes to the goal of Agency, they shared with Bored Panda that the project “promotes contemporary anarchist perspectives and practices through commentary, media relations, and educational campaigns.” 

“We ground our work on two basic ideas: first, that anarchism is the most liberating political theory and practice and the least harmful way of approaching the world, and second, that all of society would benefit from a greater public understanding of what anarchists believe and how anarchy works,” the Agency collective explained. “Our goals include engaging the public and the mainstream media about anarchist ideas, practice, and action, and facilitating the media and public in finding and accessing a multitude of anarchist perspectives.”

If you find yourself aligning with these ideas, the Agency collective shared some suggestions of anarchist actions you can start taking. “Get involved in mutual aid projects in your community. Mutual aid networks sprung up across the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mutual aid is a form of anarchist practice!” they told Bored Panda. “Read books and watch documentaries about anarchism, and listen to anarchist podcasts. Take direct action on issues you care deeply about, and organize with others in non-hierarchical ways on liberatory issues such as anti-racism, anti-sexism, environmental defense, migrant solidarity, queer and trans solidarity, and animal rights, to name a few. Start a discussion group or book club about anarchism and anti-authoritarianism. Write about anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian theory and practice, make a zine or start a blog, and share it with your friends!” 

“Agency exists to support anarchists in engaging with the media, and to support the media in better understanding and representing anarchism,” the collective went on to explain. “Anarchists are frequently depicted as engaging in violent resistance to the State, but realistically most anarchists are practicing their principles on a daily basis in ways that go unrecognized, such as organizing mutual aid efforts in solidarity with community members in need, engaging in direct action, creating and nurturing community spaces, sharing resources and skills, and creating community defense networks that resist violent hate groups and authoritarian institutions.”

And it’s likely that this won’t be the last time you hear about anarchy for a while. “Increasingly, anarchist thought is breaking into pop culture,” the Agency collective noted. “From best-selling books like David Graeber and David Wengrow’s The Dawn of Everything to the recent film Triangle of Sadness, which holds a mirror to classism and consumerism. In the news, grassroots social movements like the Stop Cop City protests in Atlanta, GA illuminate the work of anarchists to resist oppressive structures and defend the natural world.”

If you’d like to learn more about Agency and the work that they do, be sure to visit their website right here.