Shop an Anarchist, say Police

And the police continue their slow transition into the thought police with this sort of illiberal bullshit:

This was the surprising injunction from the Metropolitan Police issued to businesses and members of the public in Westminster last week. There was no warning about other political groups, but next to an image of the anarchist emblem, the City of Westminster police's "counter terrorist focus desk" called for anti-anarchist whistleblowers stating: "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."

The move angered some anarchists who complained that being an anarchist should not imply criminal behaviour. They said they feel unfairly criminalised for holding a set of political beliefs.

And anarchists should complain because they are being criminalised for their political beliefs if this sort of thing becomes standard practice. But the rest of us should also be very worried. This is a clear point on a very slippery slope to where any non-conformist thoughts is considered a matter for the authorities. Not non-conformist behaviour, mind. No, here we are talking about non-conformist thoughts.

Furthermore, look at the language used to call for whistle-blowers (a term surely being abused here - state snoops would be a better description): anarchists believe that the state is a problem; therefore, they need to be reported to the state. The unspoken, unquestioning devotion to the concept of the state is inherent within these words. The implication is that questioning or resisting the state should be reported to the police; therefore, such behaviour is criminal.

We live in a world where all sorts of groups aspire to commit terrorist atrocities, where MPs rob us blind, where the media our invade privacy with police facilitated impunity and mindless violence is the reality on the streets on most Friday and Saturday nights in some cities. But forget all that - the real problem is people holding anarchist beliefs. Yeah, the police should *definitely* focus on that. And you should definitely help the state by snooping on any anarchists.

And the irony is that through such statements the state shows precisely why it is not a benign entity, and should be resisted, reduced in its size and scope if not dismantled completely.