In about 1965 I attended an 'Anarchist Meeting' in a room above a Pub' behind The National Gallery. I had been walking through Trafalgar Square with a friend, when someone thrust a flyer into my hand advertising the meeting which we noted was to begin within the hour, and we fancied a pint anyway.
We went to the Pub', drank our beers, then (for amusement's sake) went upstairs to see what the Anarchists were up to!
They were a pretty odd bunch (not unlike the lot above). More angry about being oddballs I suspected, than anything to do with changing society or righting grievances.
We listened to them for about 15 mins. They wanted to bring London to a standstill by 'short-circuiting' The Tube, blocking roads, and a few other things that I don't remember.
These were attention-seeking dreamers wo had taken the wrong course in life.. There was no logic in their beliefs, and their threats were frankly pathetic. It was all very low IQ. We quit the meeting discreetly, and when we left the Pub' we just happened to see a policeman.
I told him that there was an Anarchist Meeting going on upstairs, and that they were planning to disrupt London life. He just smiled and said "Oh I wouldn't worry about that lot; they're always up there spouting the same old rubbish". "We know who they are!".
So that was it. They were plotting away, in their own little world, and no-one took any notice of them; not even the Cops.
It was all rather sad!
10 comments:
It's all moved on a bit now.
What do anarchists collect by the way? I know that it's not coins because they're called numismatists.
Spiders, I think.
I hope so, it was all very silly.
It sounds as though they collect stupid ideas!
They were probably the biggest bunch of dimwits I'd ever encountered
There will always be people who need a cause. They come in all varieties.
I do remember being amazed that these folk were allowed to spout their rubbish in public. But I suppose, on reflection, that they were harmless. Just playing at being 'angry young men'.
I love the way the police dismissed them. Cranks. Nowadays they'd be considered terrorists and locked up
I'm not sure about that. In many countries that would be the case, but here we'd tell them not to be naughty and increase their welfare payments.
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