near and distant past knew this. Mennlike Durward Allen, Paul Sears, LorennEiseley, John Steinbeck, and beforenthem TR, Henry Thoreau, IndiannChiefs Seattle and Looking Glass.nCartoonist-pamphleteer Jay N. “Ding”nDarling never failed to emphasize thenimperative of philosophical underpinnings.nLeopold said that TheodorenRoosevelt “insisted that our conquestnof nature carried with it a moral responsibilitynfor the perpetuation of thenthreatened forms of wildlife … tonanyone for whom wild things arensomething more than a pleasant diversion,nit constitutes one of the milestonesnin moral evolution.” Prof DurwardnAllen at Purdue attempted tonequip the environmental citizen withn”his own conservation philosophy . . .n(so) like Agassiz he could take the factsninto his own hands, look, and see fornhimself.”nFor the good of this earth, we mustnwork to see that our ethics are in order,nthat our first principles are up to speednas we go out on the great trek of life,nlest we become part of some unconscious,ninsane migration that unwittinglynpushes its future into the sea.nDavid Tillotson is a working farmernin Lake Mills, Wisconsin.nLetter FromnDenmarknby Herbert LondonnThe New Age in CopenhagennFor centuries philosophers have grapplednwith the question of how societynshould be organized. The overarchingnissues involve the maintenance ofnorder and the distribution of politicalnpower. While the answers to thesenknotty problems varied greatly fromnPlato to Burke, there was a belief thatnthese concerns were essential lineamentsnin social organization. Evennmany of the 19th-century anarchistsnconceded as much.nHowever, in the late 60’s youthfulnadherents of a new social order suspendednrational judgment. They wantedna secular nirvana without the impositionnof order and power. While thenpolitical legacy of the late 60’s andnearly 70’s is arguably insignificant,nDenmark allowed its disenchanted freenspirits to establish the “Free State ofnChristiana,” to serve as an example ofnthe logic of that overheated period.nAt the outset, this community in thenheart of Copenhagen was based onncertain well-understood principles:npeace, tolerance, no hard drugs, nonweapons, and no cars. This was to be an”separate state” unaffected by whatntranspired outside its gates and unreliantnon the Danish police force.nWith 16 years of unfettered experiencenunder its belt, it is apparent thatnChristiana is a slum with all the attendantnproblems of any marginal urbannarea. Drug addiction, alcoholism, disease,nviolence, crime, and racism arenrife. The hawking of drugs is donenopenly in a bazaar called PushernStreet, one of Europe’s great drugnmalls. Racial incidents occur regularly,noften with antagonists using guns. Thencommunity’s lake — once bucolic —nhas been converted into an open sewernin defiance of the avowed belief innenvironmental purity.nBy any standard, including thosenused by youthful adherents, Christiananis the result of a failed vision. HenriknCottlieb, treasurer of the residents’ncouncil, contends that the communitynis a “social garbage can.” About 100 ofnthe original settlers have banded intonregional councils grudgingly applyingnrules on a community that claimed itndidn’t need any. Rent, which wasnstrictly forbidden, has surfaced in thenform of under-the-table payments forndesirable flats. Some of the remainingngentle folk wish to extend the ban onnheroin and cocaine to hashish andnmarijuana, even though there isn’t annenforcement mechanism. Many residentsnalso claim there is a need fornregular police patrols.nIn every respect, Christiana is anHobbesian world in which mankindnrevisits the state of nature. The freedomnsought by these New Age idealistsnhas become license and crime; thendesire for a society free of rules has lednto self-indulgence and a call for restraint;nthe removal of the police hasnfostered private revenge. Here is anmicrocosm of a community unboundnby law or conscience, metamorphosizedninto a living hell.nLiving without external rules or internalninhibitions, the citizens of thennnFree State of Christiana fell prey tonbarbarism and sinful temptations. Thatnthis should be the case is hardly newnunder the sun. However, for a time itnwas believed that human perfectibilityncould be achieved through the eliminationnof controls, conventions, andnnorms. The denizens of Christiananhave learned to their despair that salvationnisn’t reached through dopeinducedneuphoria. There isn’t an airliftnto Eden, only a bumpy ride on thenhighway of life.nNonetheless, avatars of the new agensuggest that while Christiana failed, itnis a failure of personalities, not structure.nThey point to the white powerngroups, vagrants, and drug addicts whongravitated to the community. But theynwill not (perhaps cannot) accept thatntheir conception was hopelesslynflawed. In some respects this conditionnis reminiscent of the aging hippie whonblames his confusion and poverty on anbad marriage, bad dope, and an insensitivengovernment.nThere is something pathetic aboutnthese citizens of Christiana. They gotnwhat they wanted. Their dream of anself-styled community based on theirnfantasies was realized. I am remindednof Nietzsche’s claim that what onenstrives for in youth is achieved withnabundance in old age. The anarchistsngot their anarchy and all the socialndespair that goes with it. The orthodoxnlibertarians got their freedom and licensenas well. The Marxists got thenfree exchange of goods and commodities,nonly to discover that markets arenneeded for sensible and equitable distributionnof the fruits of production.nRarely do we have a chance tonobserve the consequences of a socialnexperiment. Christiana represents thisnkind of opportunity. Unfortunately,nnews media coverage has focused onnthe idiosyncrasies in this experimentnand the unique character of Denmark,ninstead of on the assumptions onnwhich this community was organized.nPerhaps that is as it should be. Manynpeople associated with the media arenproducts of the same Weltanschauungnthat produced Christiana. Theirnillusions—like those of youthful idealistsnin Denmark — die hard.nHerbert London is dean of the GallatinnDivision of NYU and Senior Fellownof The Hudson Institute.nFEBRUARY 1988 / 4Sn