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Many predict that Christiania will withstand the government's challenge, as it has
in years past. The community, which also calls itself Freetown, fended off a similar at-
tempt in 1976 with the help of fervent supporters from around Europe. Bevar Christi-
ania —“Save Christiania”—banners fly everywhere, and locals are confident that their
free way of life will survive. As history has shown, the challenge may just make this hip-
pie haven a bit stronger.
As I left Christiania and headed back into clean, orderly, and conformist Denmark, I
looked up at the back side of the “Welcome to Christiania” sign. It read, “You are entering
the EU.”
Later that day on the bustling streets of downtown Copenhagen, I paused to watch
a parade of ragtag soldiers-against-conformity dressed in black and waving “Save Chris-
tiania” banners. They walked sadly behind a WWII-vintage truck blasting Pink Floyd's
“Another Brick in the Wall.” (I had never really listened to the words before. But the an-
them of self-imposed isolation and revolt against conformity seemed to perfectly fit the
determination of the Christianians to stand up against thought control and stifled individu-
ality.) On their banner, a slogan—painted onto an old bedsheet—read: Lev livet kunst-
nerisk! Kun døde fisk flyder med strømmen (“Live life artistically! Only dead fish follow
the current”). Those marching flew the Christiania flag—three yellow dots on an orange
background. They say the dots are from the o's in “Love Love Love.”
While I wouldn't choose to live in Christiania, I would feel a loss if it were shut
down. There's something unfortunately brutal about a world that makes the little Chris-
tianias—independent bookstores, family farms, nomadic communities, and so on—fight
giants (such as developers, big chains, agribusiness, and centralized governments) to the
death. Those economic and governmental behemoths always seem to win. And when they
do, we may become safer and wealthier and even more comfortable…but it all comes at a
cost.
The need for a Christiania is not limited to the Danes. After that trip, from the comfort
of my suburban Seattle living room, I stumbled upon live TV coverage of the finale of
the Burning Man Festival (the annual massing of America's artistic free spirits each Labor
Day in the Nevada desert). Watching it, I heard the cry of an American fringe community
that—much like the tribe at Christiania—wants to be free in an increasingly interconnec-
ted world that demands conformity.
Traveling in Denmark, considering well-ordered Danish social-ism and reflecting on
the free-spirited ideals and struggles of Christiania, gives me insight into parts of my own
society that refuse to be just another brick in the wall. Hopefully when the pressures of
conformity require selling a bit of our soul, travel experiences like these help us under-
stand the potential loss before it's regrettably gone.
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