It seems that the
police have decided that being an anarchist is a crime, and if you
know of any you should immediately report them to the police. Last
week according to the Guardian the Metropolitan Police issued to
businesses and members of the public in Westminster a leaflet asking
for anti-anarchist whistleblowers. It went on to say “Anarchism
is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable,
unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or
anarchy. Any information relating to anarchists should be reported to
your local police.” Well at least they got the aims of
anarchism correct. I doubt if any anarchist would disagree with the
first part of that statement. However should holding that belief mean
you automatically fall into the criminal category? By linking
anarchists with Islamic fundamentalists on their leaflet it would
appear that they are attempting to create an impression in the public
mind, that there is a connection between Islamic fundamentalist terrorists and
anarchists. Of course anybody that has an inkling of an idea of what
these two groupings are about will know that is utter gibberish.
Anarchists have
always stood with the people against any authority that would attempt
to restrict the freedom of the people, whither that be the churches
in their various guises or the state in its many shapes and forms or
corporatism in its greed quest, it makes no difference. No group has
a right to to restrict the freedom of the people of any country. If
any authority stands up and says, that is a crime, it lays bare it
own desire to control and restrict the freedom of the people. Today's
state does not represent the people, it is a festering marriage of
wealth, religion and corporate fascism, that represents wealth and
big business and protects the status quo. To say so is to state the
facts as we see them, but in this society stating such facts is now
becoming a crime, verifying the beliefs of anarchists.
You can read Ian Bone's take on this HERE.
