> I was there last night and it's such a cool pseudo utopian place
> The media coverage of it is WILD
> People on the internet are convinced it's protected by armed guards and people are dying of hunger and instead its...like a music festival campground
> There are speakers, musicians, art walls. I took a group pic for a bunch of black guys last night and they were so proud of what was built because they felt like they fought for it, which in a sense, they did.
Which is fun for a while until people start dying or fighting like they always do and suddenly you need a group of people who spend their time dealing with it. Anarchic utopias do not stay utopic for all that long.
At least one counterexample to this is Exarcheia[1] in Athens, which has been relatively unpoliced for the last 50 years.
I was there about a year ago and was struck by how both peaceful and lively it was. Nowhere in Athens felt nearly as alive.
Source on that? 75% of that link talks about:
- riots following police action
- attacks on police stations
- special policing tactics for that region
- evictions by the police
The Wikipedia page documents precisely what has happened each time the police have tried to establish a foothold in the neighborhood since the 1973 student uprising. They currently operate from patrols and bases outside of the neighborhood. Any effects they have on the neighborhood (like squat clearing) tend to be impermanent.