Edited by author 08-26-2003 12:10 PM
It's not an "anarchist commune". They pay taxes, and use mains water and electricity. They were commended as model citizens by their landlord, the Danish Ministry of Defence, for always paying the rent on time. They even have a post office, fer chrissakes. But Christiania has never been a fan of the cops. A police presence there is a Bad Thing, especially for the "small businessmen" on Pusher Street. This government, like others before it, is caught in a bit of a bind. Christiania is phenomenally successful as a tourist attraction (3rd largest attraction in Copenhagen, I believe) and generates a large amount of legitimate revenue for the København Kommune (or Amt, I forget which is which). Closing down Christiania would put the kibosh on that. And the Christianiaers know that very well, thank you. These are clever people - they've kept the wolf from the door for 32 years, remember. But their darkest hour is here in the form of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Pia Kjærsgaard and their coterie of tame property developers who are salivating at the idea of getting their sweaty palms on some prime Copenhagen real estate so that they can build stack after stack of 3,000,000 DKK executive apartments. Never has a Danish government been so right wing in ideology and so illiberal in attitude, and so thoughtful about the revenue that new property on Christiania might bring in. But fortunately, few Danish governments have also been composed of so many dim-witted individuals, either, so there is hope ... Join the march, friends and fellow Køewbenhawners. Bevar Christiania!

Edited by author 08-25-2003 10:42 PM
I have a surreal Tarot deck that is my deck of choice (called the Karma Tarot). It was painted by Birgit Boline Erfurt while she was living in Christiania in the late 70s. Many of the cards contain images of her friends and of local characters. It's a wonderful deck, full of whimsical images that resonate with me. I'd be saddened if the environment which helped to create these 78 flights of peculiar fancy was destroyed...

Carla and I visited Christiana years ago. Interesting place. We liked the bakery and talked to a kid who ran the post office for a long time about what life was like there (like all communes, it's a mix of visionaries, well-intentioned earnest people, parasites, and shit disturbers). When the shit hits the fan, they have to call in the cops from outside, of course, so Abelard's point is valid.

And of course, an anarchist commune couldn't raise an army because it would require laws and rules. with a sufficient supply of torches and pitchforks, though, they could probably storm the castle. Of course, Margrethe hardly makes a decent witch to burn....

/m2
That's the problem with an anarchist commune - it needs big government to allow it to exist. Unless it wants to raise an army and truly secede, and forgo all the benefits of the Danish social and physical infrastructure, it must abide by the restrictions as well.

For those who care and are not in position for the march, I suggest a communication to the Danish Tourist Board ( dt@dt.dk ).

Mine will go something like this:

As an American, I have no business critiquing Danish internal political decisions. However, I thought that you might like to know that as a traveler, I find the concept and functioning of Christiania fascinating enough to put Denmark high on my list of future travel destinations. Your government's disappointing plan to destroy the Christiana experiment will both lessen my admiration for Danish social innovation and remove a major reason to visit Denmark. I hope you can inform your government that they are contemplating the commission of a major tourism failure.

Read that again. The anarchist commune is doing just fine, it's the surrounding government that wants to destroy it. If you're going to be sarcastic, pick your target better.

You mean the anarchist commune isn't really a viable model of government for the survival of a state? Who'd a-thunk it?