Reaction to This Is What Democracy Looks Like

The film ‘This is what democracy looks like’ made me think of something that happened in Denmark a couple of years back.

Until 2007, there was a place in Copenhagen called The Youth House. This was essentially a place that was open for anyone, although it attracted mainly young people with a left-leaning mindset. The place hosted a number of events including many concerts with especially upcoming punk bands. The walls were covered with graffiti and worn-down, but the place inevitably had a soul due to the large number of people coming and going. And then, on the morning of the 1st of March, 2007 the clearing of the place started.
The political implications behind the clearing were complex, but I will focus the reaction from the users of the Youth House. The clearing caused uproar. In the following days, the streets surrounding the House was chaotic and more than 700 people were arrested, including a number of passer-bys who just happened to be caught up in the havoc. On the 7th of March, the House was torn down completely.
Although I know that the vast majority of the people involved were fighting for a cause they felt strongly about, I think that in some cases it was not so much the cause as it was people uniting and fighting together that became essential. It may be a bit exaggerated to say that our generation has nothing to fight for, but it is not completely off track. The clearing of the Youth House provided people with a tangible cause to fight for, and strangers were fighting side by side, brought together by the common cause. The embodiment of the ‘Evil forces’ behind the clearing became the police, and the young people fought against them using all means. These people, who declared themselves ‘peaceful protesters’, got so caught up in the action that curbstones were thrown at the police, buildings vandalized and cars set on fire. It was mayhem. More than a year after the initial ‘war’ was over, there were weekly demonstrations held by the supporters of the Youth House. The house had been located on the address ‘Jagtvej 69’, and the number 69 became the symbol used by the supporters. The number was spray-painted onto walls all over Copenhagen. This summer, when I was in Aarhus – a Danish city in the other end of the country, far from Copenhagen – I saw the number sprayed on a bus stand. It struck me how even now, more than two years after the clearing, people who were in no way directly in touch with the Youth House still supports the cause and the fight through these little reminders.
I think people long to be a part of something. They want to unite and work together, towards a common goal. And sometimes, I even think that this feeling of unity can overshadow the cause itself.