As the American attack ramps up, anticipatory compliance gains footing, and worms its way through society, invisible but felt. Anticipatory compliance corrodes the values and norms of common decency that shape a democracy, like the belief in equality for all. Most effectively, anticipatory compliance asks us to consider how we can comfortably fit into the existing system rather than changing it. And here, on the brink of an election as I anticipate the worst, fear the worst, I find myself thinking about anticipatory compliance. Anticipatory compliance at this time, especially — the beginning of what will no doubt be a long and ugly fight — is also a risk.