Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.07.2004, Blaðsíða 5

Except now it was called Death
Metal, and the disaffected wore long
hair and trainers rather than Mo-
hawks and steel tipped boots. Metal
heads and diehard punks coexisted
peacefully, if occasionally attacked
by the better groomed but probably
worse disposed guys from the pool
halls.
The left wing politics of Utan-
garðsmenn and the Clash had long
since disappeared. Instead we had
a lot of songs about autopsies and
other forms of corpse mutilation. In
the absence of anything to say which
might have challenged convention,
the disgruntled went for shock effect
for its own sake. Communism had
collapsed, punk had finally killed off
the hippies who managed to hang on
longer here than anywhere else. But
what did we have instead?
The punks, just as the hippies,
grew up and got jobs in advertising
agencies and at phone companies.
The hippies tried to build a better
society, and failed. The punks then
attempted to tear down that society,
but their fire was short lived. The
hippies did to some extent achieve
equality between genders and races,
although problems related to these
have refused to go away entirely. But
what did the punks leave behind?
Punk may have been the final
generational attempt to rebel against
capitalism wholesale. Since then, de-
spite periodic complaining, everyone
has come to take it for granted. Since
punk, there hasn´t been any move-
ment to belong to.
In the wake of punk, we´ve seen
the triumph of greed not just as a so-
cial system but as an ideology. Were
the punks in some way to blame for
the decline of western civilisation
that came in their wake?
Since punk, caring has been de-
cidedly uncool. “I don´t give a fuck”
became the slogan of young rebels.
We´ve had postmodernism, artists
complaining that everything has been
done, philosophers analysing nothing
but philosophy and comedians who
made fun of the downtrodden rather
than the rich and powerful.
Perhaps when punk tore eve-
rything down ideologically, there
was nothing left to build on. For
someone who grew up on anarchism,
making the jump to libertarian
wasn´t that hard. It was all too easy
to be against all rules, even the ones
that were set in the poor´s favour.
You could pretend to be an anarchist
and still make money, as long as
you opposed government interven-
tion. Which, if you´re rich, you´d
do anyway. As the film Bob Roberts
said: “The times they are a-changing
back.” The 60s revolution had finally
been undone.
Four years into the new century,
and things may be changing back
again. After September the 11th
2001, ideology has returned with
a vengeance. Our leaders are back
to using words like good and evil,
which in the 90s seemed outdated,
in their speeches. We again need to
deal with fundamental questions that
not long ago seemed to belong to an
earlier age. We again need to take
to the streets. A new breed of punk
swears against drugs and alcohol, is
vegetarian and very concerned about
the state of the world. Perhaps the
time is ripe for a new revolution.
But this time, we need to be more
clear on exactly what it is we want to
achieve.

AFTER THE DECLINE OF
WESTERN CIVILISATION
by Valur Gunnarsson
When I moved back to Iceland in 1990, it seemed the scene was
still living in the shadow of Rokk í Reykjavík. In fact, there was
something of a punk revival going on.
EDITORIAL
Names?
Tim and Nicky
Where are you from?
We’re from Norwich, England.
What are you doing in Iceland?
We’re here on a Honeymoon. And
may we add that most our friends
and relatives back home thought it
was a very strange idea to come here
for a Honeymoon. They thought a
warm Mediterranean country was a
much more normal place to go to.
Have you been here long?
We just arrived yesterday.
How do you like Iceland?
We haven’t seen much of it yet, only
Reykjavík and Reykjavík feels much
more like a small town in England
than a nations capital.
How don’t you like Iceland?
Everything is sooo expensive.
How many people live in Ice-
land?
Well, our Lonely Planet guidebook
tells us that 278.000 people live here,
they must be right about that.
What’s your favourite spot in
Reykjavík?
Nicky: The pond with the ducks
down by the City hall.
Tim: I like the view from the
harbour, the surrounding mountains
and especially Snæfellsjökull glacier
are beautiful.
Do you know who Björk is?
Yes! We also know Sigurrós, they
won the MTV awards for best video
this year.
Do you know who Ólafur Rag-
nar Grímsson is?
No. Tim: Is he a hockey player?
Nicky: I thought he was your king.
Have you heard about the cur-
rent debate in Iceland?
Err… is it about joining the EU
perhaps?
Have you tried any Icelandic
delicacies?
We had fish, but nothing really
Icelandic. Yesterday we went to
Sjávarkjallarinn restaurant and today
we ate out at Café Sólon.
Any famous last words?
Iceland; Weird, friendly, save and
the water smells funny.
Passing through
Tel. (+354)444 4000
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