What is Anarchist Calisthenics?

I learned this phrase recently on my favorite app. I looked for a definition online and it took me to a very old Harper's article. Here is a poignant excerpt.

"You know, you and especially your grandparents could have used more of a spirit of lawbreaking. One day you will be called on to break a big law in the name of justice and rationality. Everything will depend on it. You have to be ready. How are you going to prepare for that day when it really matters? You have to stay ‘in shape’ so that when the big day comes you will be ready. What you need is anarchist calisthenics. Every day or so break some trivial law that makes no sense, even if it’s only jaywalking. Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable. That way, you’ll keep trim—and when the big day comes, you’ll be ready.”

There would be no reason to break laws if justice prevailed and everyone acted rationally. Unfortunately, that is not the world in which we live. In fact, we live in a world rife with injustice. When wrong is called right and presidents have no qualms breaking laws, you also should question why laws exist and whom they serve.

Imagine this. The referee clearly favors the other team, and you know the game is rigged but you're forced to play it anyway. Would you blindly/happily accept every call? Maybe if you alone protested, it would fall on deaf ears, but that's why it's so important that you and others band together to go against bad calls.

We'd like to think that we all know better and that when the time comes, we'd do the right thing but if you look at history, there were more bystanders than there were heroes. People vow "never again" and yet, sadly, history repeats. Not exactly, but enough that anyone with pattern recognition can feel their spidey senses tingling right now.

So, I urge you to stay on your toes and practice. Let your moral compass guide you. Let it become second nature because you never know when you may need to speak up or for whom.