Report your local anarchist

[bricolage]

"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." (http://www.communitysafe.gov.uk/articles/5962-griffin-weekly-briefing-sheet-attached/attachments/801/download.pdf)

[Rafiq]

Orwellian.

[Weezer]

Oh, bourgeois conceptions of freedom. How quaint.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Wow, those anarchists are so dangerous. I wonder what they're doing that requires being reported to the police?

[Le Socialiste]

It also seems to be a bit useless as a way of gathering intelligence. It isn't focused on anything specific and they are just asking for general information. Imagine calling up and saying 'there's an anarchist in my building. What should I do?'

:laugh:

Seriously though, how large is the anarchist community in the U.K.? This just strikes me as ridiculous, albeit disturbing.

[Bitter Ashes]

The Guardian is running the story now (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/31/westminster-police-anarchist-whistleblower-advice)

I've been keeping an eye on this today. It's not the first time that the British police have said this year that they want to gather information on activists. In March they arrested hundreds of activists for what they freely admitted was "intelligence gathering" (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Flondon.indymedia.org%2Fother_medi as%2F8677&rct=j&q=march%20london%20arrests%20intelligence%20gather ing&ei=K8M1ToPzMNGEhQet7LHjCg&usg=AFQjCNGgIxeMQVdwR5nsDAz0N7Wn0s4JYg&cad=rja).

The question should be, why would they the police want all this information?

[Susurrus]

Wow. Solidarity with British Anarchists.

[bricolage]

Seriously though, how large is the anarchist community in the U.K.?
Minuscule.

I imagine the whole thing is largely to do with policing to do with the olympics, 'anarchists' being identified as a group potentially engaging in spectacular disturbance.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

There's Anarchist Federation and Sol-Fed, but I'm not quite sure how big these are. Even during anarchism's "golden age" it was rather small in the UK (despite prominent anarchists living there, such as Kropotkin and Malatesta)

Plus, we all know why we should report anarchists: they're making total destroy :drool:

[Pioneers_Violin]

Yeow.

What a nice city. :rolleyes:
That directive sounds a bit like our own "War On Terror" or perhaps our "War On Drugs".

Do they have metal detectors in schools and invasive searches at airports yet?

Perhaps we could arrange the RevLeft Convention to be at Westminster!

[Tim Finnegan]

Am I the only one who is just a little pissed off that, not only did they manage to include this, but they did so right after a page on the Norwegian incident that not once used the words "nationalism" or "Christianity"? :glare:

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Ugh. This is too repulsive for words. My blood is boiling.

[Leonid Brozhnev]

Does that mean we can report all suspected fascists to the Police? Or are they deemed okay since they focus on nationalistic xenophobia instead of disposing the rich and powerful... :rolleyes:

[MustCrushCapitalism]

I never knew quite how fascist the UK was.

[RadioRaheem84]

Red Scare Britannica:cursing:

[CommieTroll]

Wow, those anarchists are so dangerous. I wonder what they're doing that requires being reported to the police?

Maybe listening to The Sex Pistols too loud:laugh:

[Aspiring Humanist]

holy fuck

[bcbm]

"It unfairly implies that anyone involved in anarchism should be known to the police and is involved in an dangerous activity," said Jason Sands, an anarchist from South London. "There is nothing inherently criminal about political philosophy whatever it is. The police work under the convention on human rights which disallows discrimination against people because of their political beliefs and even the request for information would seem to be in breach of that.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/31/westminster-police-anarchist-whistleblower-advice

god anarchists today are such spineless wimps. anarchists want to bring down the government bro, pretty sure that is 'criminal' in the eyes of the state and 'the convention on human rights,' seriously? i hate seeing anarchists interviewed whenever anything like this happens or even in cases involving violent demos or whatever because they just sound like weinery liberal hacks and its embarassing

[Susurrus]

god anarchists today are such spineless wimps. anarchists want to bring down the government bro, pretty sure that is 'criminal' in the eyes of the state and 'the convention on human rights,' seriously? i hate seeing anarchists interviewed whenever anything like this happens or even in cases involving violent demos or whatever because they just sound like weinery liberal hacks and its embarassing

I agree. I mean, its sad if a comrade gets imprisoned or whatever, and efforts should be made to free them, but it's to be expected. We criticize the state for being oppressive, and then are surprised and outraged when it proves us right.

EDIT: though the second guy that was interviewed was better. And it is true that there are a bunch of pacifist anarchist currents, so I guess they can speak out about it.

[Tim Finnegan]

Or maybe they know that it's bullshit, but know that they can manipulate liberals into siding with them by spouting that stuff. It's not really fair to assume on way or the other. http://www.v-strom.co.uk/phpBB3/images/smilies/smiley_shrug.gif

[Susurrus]

Or maybe they know that it's bullshit, but know that they can manipulated liberals in siding with them by spouting that stuff. It's not really fair to assume on way or the other. http://www.v-strom.co.uk/phpBB3/images/smilies/smiley_shrug.gif

Hmm I guess so. "It is only a small setback in our quest to destroy the state and bring freedom to the world." doesn't exactly sound very appealing to the public.

[Bitter Ashes]

Yeah, but why do the coppers want this information?

[Susurrus]

Yeah, but why do the coppers want this information?

Um, to arrest/place people under surveillance maybe?

[Bitter Ashes]

Um, to arrest/place people under surveillance maybe?
That's what coppers do.

[Zav]

That's what coppers do.
One can only hope they're just afraid. That they consider Anarchism a threat is a good thing.

At least they referred to Anarchism as a legitimate philosophy and gave a proper definition of it (directly copying the first sentence of the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism)) instead of calling Anarchists a bunch of punks and Anarchy a condition of chaos.

[Hoipolloi Cassidy]

Yeah, but why do the coppers want this information?
They don't, if they wanted it they'd tap your phone.

What they want is to frighten off potential anarchists. It's a standard procedure, and I've seen it done plenty of times.

My suggestion: why not help the nice policemen? Make sure they get plenty of calls from little old ladies who are very concerned because their neighbor is using "Black Flag" roach spray. Even better, distribute their flyers and inform everyone that, say, there will be an anarchist free food distribution at such-and-such a place, or a meeting to discuss the next peaceful march. Hey, it's your tax money, make the cops work for you.

[bcbm]

Or maybe they know that it's bullshit, but know that they can manipulate liberals into siding with them by spouting that stuff. It's not really fair to assume on way or the other. http://www.v-strom.co.uk/phpBB3/images/smilies/smiley_shrug.gif

so say something like 'well this is a good example of why we oppose the state, the same people that go on about democracy and freedom are trying to turn neighbor against neighbor asking them to run to the police because the state doesn't like someone's ideas' you can express the point while still sounding like an anarchist

[Crux]

There's Anarchist Federation and Sol-Fed, but I'm not quite sure how big these are. Even during anarchism's "golden age" it was rather small in the UK (despite prominent anarchists living there, such as Kropotkin and Malatesta)

Plus, we all know why we should report anarchists: they're making total destroy :drool:
Make total destroy? Sounds reformist. (http://images.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/7626814.jpg)

And also the police have always had particular fear of Anarchists. In sweden in 1970's the Anarchist mileu was very very small, yet they got special attention from the Security Police.

[robbo203]

Now if you really want to cause a bit mischief and do your ..ehem...patriotic duty at the same time perhaps you should report those well known terrorists, the anarcho-capitalists, to your local cop shop. After all, they call themselves "anarchists" while supporting the free market and private property. The UK-based Libertarian Alliance, for example:laugh:

I really cannot believe the Westminster Met can be so dumb as to sanction such a downright stupid notion . It will only serve to turn them into a laughing stock frankly. I suspect that whoever wrote this briefing is shortly due for a departmental transfer

[hatzel]

Anyone else kind of hoping that somebody will read this and think to themselves "well...I agree, the State is undesirable, unnecessary and harmful...I think I'll look into this 'anarchism' they speak of"? :rolleyes:

[Bitter Ashes]

Associated press, which owns the Daily Fail, picked up on the story in the last hour. (http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2021096/Theres-anarchist-living-door-Breach-human-rights-row-anti-terror-police-tell-residents-report-Islamic-fundamentalists.html%3Fito%3Dfeeds-newsxml&rct=j&sa=X&ei=QK82TqmSH8qohAeug7jyDg&ved=0CCcQ-AsoADAA&q=anarchist+report+police&usg=AFQjCNHCDG2XXdEQvejVh01wKTh-gc_yGA&cad=rja)

They're probably royally pissed off that the coppers haven't made a statement yet, but we'll see how it plays out

[Tim Finnegan]

so say something like 'well this is a good example of why we oppose the state, the same people that go on about democracy and freedom are trying to turn neighbor against neighbor asking them to run to the police because the state doesn't like someone's ideas' you can express the point while still sounding like an anarchist
Oh, sure enough, I'm just saying that having handled it less well than they could've done doesn't necessarily make them bad anarchists. Like I said, you can't really assume one way or the other, and the side of cynicism doesn't have any natural privilege that I'm aware of.

[Bitter Ashes]

Checked again. Newspapers from India to the United States are running the story now. Still no word from the Met, or home office, to confirm or deny that this is what it looks like. I've not seen any "anarchists deserve it!" stories anywhere, even on the Daily Fail's site. Blimey!
BBC are on strike today, so don't expect any word from there any time soon.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Am I the only one who is just a little pissed off that, not only did they manage to include this, but they did so right after a page on the Norwegian incident that not once used the words "nationalism" or "Christianity"? :glare:
I read this yesterday at work:
I can't post links yet, so copy and paste


On closer inspection, however, Mr. Breivik’s worldview does not fit squarely into any of the established categories of right-wing ideology, like white supremacism, ultranationalism or Christian fundamentalism. Rather, it reveals a new doctrine of civilizational war that represents the closest thing yet to a Christian version of Al Qaeda.

[Tim Finnegan]

All that really shows is that The New York times hasn't been keeping up with the development of far-right ideology over the last few decades. Very little in Breivik's manifesto has not come tumbling past the lips of a BNP spokesgoon at some point or other.

[eric922]

Anyone know any anarcho-capitalists? If they are going to insist on stealing the name of your all's movement, you might as well have some fun with them.

[Quail]

I don't think anarcho-cappies exist outside of the internet...

[Pretty Flaco]

I don't think anarcho-cappies exist outside of the internet...

They're all a conspiracy. :rolleyes:

[hatzel]

I don't think anarcho-cappies exist outside of the internet...

...and even if they did, I don't think the Met would really care about them, given the fact that I've never come across one, even on the internet, from this side of the pond...

[Tim Finnegan]

The only evidence of an anarcho-cappie presence I've ever seen in the UK was a black-and-yellow flag at that sad little Rally Against Debt they had in London, and in all likelihood that was just an example of the mangled fourth-hand activist chic that younger cappies seem embarrassingly fond of adopting.

[robbo203]

I don't think anarcho-cappies exist outside of the internet...

They certainly do. There's a whole raft of organisations , institutes, think tanks and whatnot that exist out there in the real world and not just in cyberspace - especially in the US. Ironically its through the internet mainly that I came to learn of their existence. In Britain there are groups like the Libertarian Alliance that hold regular meetings - and the odd conference - in London and elsewhere. Some are "minarchists" but others would and do define themselves as "anarchists", a claim that the Anarchist FAQ has done a good job in rebutting IMO

[Crux]

I don't think anarcho-cappies exist outside of the internet...
Actually an anarcho-cap(ish) bombed the Stockholms Stadium in 1997. But more so to mess with the cops for closing down his technoclub (because it was allegedly distributing drugs) than anything else.

[gendoikari]

Oh, bourgeois conceptions of freedom. How quaint.

Hey, undercapitalism, you are free to think, say, do and buy whatever you want. As long as you Think what they want you to think, say what they want you to say, do what they want you to do, and buy everything they have to offer.

[Bitter Ashes]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/01/grass-war-met-police-anarchists

They've backed down. No purge today I guess

[robbo203]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/01/grass-war-met-police-anarchists

They've backed down. No purge today I guess

Predictable. Like I said, it was a patently dumb idea right from the start. Some nutjob in the Met responsible for this crass incompetence, is due for a telling off and reassignment to political education training . The powers-that-be have egg all over their faces and they are feeling distinctly uncomfortable

[Susurrus]

Hey, undercapitalism, you are free to think, say, do and buy whatever you want. As long as you Think what they want you to think, say what they want you to say, do what they want you to do, and buy everything they have to offer.

Same goes for state capitalism.

[TheGeekySocialist]

I would much rather report my local Tory party members...

[agnixie]

All that really shows is that The New York times hasn't been keeping up with the development of far-right ideology over the last few decades. Very little in Breivik's manifesto has not come tumbling past the lips of a BNP spokesgoon at some point or other.
Hell, it shows they have no clue about european far right politics, period.

[Bitter Ashes]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/08/01/british-police-ask-public-to-report-anarchists/#comment
lol. Fox News.


Anarchists are the bottom of the barrel....anarchists steal break into private property......they are professional terrorists........masks etc....what they did to Seattle was horrible and no-one would like what they did..from burning down a McDonalds..... to many crimes.........shoot em on site...they are ....the enemy of a civilized society

[AnonymousOne]

I don't think anarcho-cappies exist outside of the internet...

There is only one Anarcho-Capitalist, they just make a lot of sock-puppets.

[Susurrus]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/08/01/british-police-ask-public-to-report-anarchists/#comment
lol. Fox News.

I'm surprised they didn't blame it on Obama somehow.

[o well this is ok I guess]

Man I met a guy at a party the other day wearing a shirt that said "smash socialism" and was trying to tell everybody about Rothbard.
None of us could figure out who he came with and how he got there.

[Susurrus]

Man I met a guy at a party the other day wearing a shirt that said "smash socialism" and was trying to tell everybody about Rothbard.
None of us could figure out who he came with and how he got there.


Well, its quite obvious. Anarcho-capitalists are beings of pure energy, able to tap into the internet, and when enough of them gather together they can manifest in physical forms.

[black magick hustla]

i think very few elements of the state have an understanding of what anarchism is, judging by the american's state understanding of islam and arabic culture. i think to the state an anarchist is any radical liberal vegan weiner that causes a bit of mischief that costs the municipality a bit of pocket money

[Shropshire Socialist]

Here is a link to the Guardian's story on this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/31/westminster-police-anarchist-whistleblower-advice

As far as I am aware, this is actually illegal and can be challenged in the courts.

[gendoikari]

Same goes for state capitalism.

is there another kind of capitalism. I always thought on it's own, capitalism evolves down into fascism.

[Wired]

This was only allowed to be published in the first place because of the all of the misinformation spread over many many years by the state and statist allies. No other ideology could be picked on in this way.

The vast majority of people are extremely ignorant about what anarchism means and many people, in the UK at least, associate it solely with vandalism and criminal biker gangs.

As an anarchist, I make it my revolutionary duty to educate people on these matters. It is unfortunate that we have such a long way to go.

Smash the state. It is the ultimate lie.

[Wanted Man]

I'm disappointed that they retracted it. As long as they pay, say, 10 bucks per anarchist, I'd gladly do it.

[Bitter Ashes]

I'm disappointed that they retracted it. As long as they pay, say, 10 bucks per anarchist, I'd gladly do it.
The net can be a pain for stuff like this, so I just want to check...
You are joking, right?

[Anti Propaganda]

The UK is cracking down on Anarchists because they don't want revolution but making Anarchism illegal will just attract the youth.

[Shropshire Socialist]

Apparently one station in London sent out a flyer but as soon as the Met saw it they ordered them to withdraw it. Probably because they didn't want us to know their opinion of anarchists...

[Angelo.Porchetta]

Big Brother is watching.

[Susurrus]

is there another kind of capitalism. I always thought on it's own, capitalism evolves down into fascism.

State capitalism is what happened in the USSR and Co. , ie the state owning the means of production and taking the place of the bourgeosie.

[Threetune]

Stop being so intellectually light minded, all of you. The state, competent or incompetent is always at it, trying to make problems among us. Say nothing about anybody! Whoever they are or whoever you are. Shut the fuck up!

[Tim Finnegan]

Stop being so intellectually light minded, all of you. The state, competent or incompetent is always at it, trying to make problems among us. Say nothing about anybody! Whoever they are or whoever you are. Shut the fuck up!
Who the fuck was gonna? :confused:

[Threetune]

Who the fuck was gonna? :confused: You really do talk a right load of pish sometimes, Threetune.
Maybe not you, but ?