Christiania

I am about two years behind on reading my dead-tree reason magazines, which is actually kind of interesting, especially in regard to political articles, because I know some of the future that the authors do not.

Last night I read this fine article about Christiania, the "free city" located on an old military base not far from downtown Copenhagen. The article does a good job of describing the place as I remember it from my own visit.

I hope it lives on. It really is a public good at this point, not just for the tourists it brings to the city but also for the example it provides of a different way of living. The government would be foolish and mean to shut it down. Indeed, I think they should work with the residents to reestablish the kinder, gentler pot market that existed a decade ago, before the government shut it down and let rougher folk come in to replace it in the shadows.