Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.01.2005, Page 5

EDITORIAL
by Valur Gunnarsson
Iceland, Scandinavia, rest of world
WHY EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT:
The road less travelled
Compare this to Finland. It achieved independence in 1917, and three
decades of Civil War, massacres of communists, culture clashes between
Finnish and Swedish speakers, depression and finally a devastating war with
the Soviet Union followed. At the end of the war it had to cede territory and
pay reparations to the Soviet Union. It also had to be very mindful of Soviet
interests in its foreign policy, but was largely left to conduct its internal affairs
on its own. It chose the path of social democracy, with regulated financial
markets and an all inclusive welfare system.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, one of Finland’s largest trading partners
with huge unpaid debts, Finland went through one of the worst recessions of
any Western country. Half a million jobs disappeared, and the government
cut its spending by 20%. Two sectors, however, were spared; education, and
research and development. By the late 90s, unemployment had been halved,
Nokia was the 2nd largest manufacturer of mobile phones, and Finland was
rated 5th in the world in terms of quality of life by a UN survey. Around 83%
of the workforce belongs to unions which have been strong ever since World
War II, whereas the labour movement in Brazil was crushed in the mid
1960s. Finland’s GDP is more than three times as high as Brazil’s, and more
evenly distributed.
Although we may take it for granted today that Finland is a richer country
than Brazil, it might not have been quite as evident that things would turn
out that way in 1929.
by Valur Gunnarsson
It was a good year for Grapevine. We came back
last June all guns blazing, and suddenly found our-
selves in the midst of a media debate which finally
found its way into the end-of-year annual comedy
show áramótaskaupið.
Although the paper was originally planned as
a summer venture, we all decided not to return
to our previous day jobs, and keep on going on
a monthly basis throughout the winter. We are
happy to report that we’re halfway through pulling
this off, and we’re now looking at what to do in
the new year to keep this interesting to ourselves
as well as our readers.
We wish a happy new year to everyone who has
participated in the past year: our distribution
manager Jóhann Páll Hreinsson, our new ad man
Aðalsteinn Jörundsson, Bart Cameron, Robert
Jackson, whom we wish great luck with his cur-
rent writing efforts, and we belatedly welcome to
the fold our new photographer Gummi Vigfús-
son who has been helping Hörður Sveinsson out.
Also, Paul Nikolov has been appointed webmaster
of the Grapevine website, and his handywork is
already beginning to show (www.grapevine.is).
Also, thanks a lot to and everyone else who has
lent a hand.
Iceland international
But a good year for the press usually means a bad
year for mankind. The year ended with the biggest
tragedy in recent memory with the earthquake in
Asia. Meanwhile, man-made horrors continued in
Iraq and Palestine, and with less fanfare in Darfur
and West Africa, among other places. Meanwhile,
AIDS continues to spread in that unfortunate
continent.
Watching the RUV 2004 end-of-year news an-
nals program, divided into local and international
news, I was surprised at how much of the interna-
tional news was actually about Iceland. Icelanders
in Iraq find bogus WMDs, Icelandic firemen fire
at things in Afghanistan, Icelanders this and that.
Iraq, Arafat and the US elections excepted, most
of the rest of the international news was about the
Nordic Countries. A fireworks warehouse burns
down in Denmark, a bank robbery is committed in
Norway…all in all, we still seem to have a pretty
provincial view of the world. The always enjoy-
able Channel 2 annals, which attempted to cover
both Iceland AND the world in a single program,
seemed to offer an equally limited view of what
the world actually is.
The good thing about tragedy
The one good thing to come out of the current
Asian tragedy is that Western countries are get-
ting more involved than they have been. Perhaps
it was the scale of the tragedy that pushed people
to action, or perhaps because there were so many
blonde-haired and blue-eyed Swedes involved
(that striking picture of a little white boy search-
ing for his parents on the cover of Fréttablaðið
certainly affected us more than yet another picture
of a dark skinned child in pain would have). Even
the usually aloof Icelandic government is con-
tributing its share. Whatever the cause, hopefully
this time around, people will realise that what
happens in other parts of the world matters. There
has even been talk of a Marshall Plan for afflicted
areas. This may not materialise, but it is precisely
what we need: A Marshal Plan for afflicted areas,
whether they are victims of war, disease, earth-
quakes or colonialism. Hey, it worked for us. Only
by offering big solutions can the big problems
facing the world today be solved. This should be
the primary concern of those of us living at this
point in time. But, enough talk. In the words of
Paul Fontaine Nikolov, “Let’s get this bitch on the
street.”
In 1929, the Washington Post prophesised that due to its size and resources, within
a few years Brazil would become one of the leading powers of the world. In the
second half of the 19th Century, Brazil’s income per capita had risen higher than it
did in the USA, even if coffee counted for 80% of exports. But the Washington Post
prediction did not come true.
The road to hell
The Great Depression wiped out the demand for coffee, Brazil’s major
export. In 1930, Getulio Vargas seized power in a military coup, and
democracy was only restored in 1954. In 1961, Brazil’s President Goulart
tried to raise the minimum wage of labourers. This led to another coup in
1964 by the military. As a result of this, Brazil seemed like a poster boy for
market capitalism as the World Bank offered loans, the US increased aid
and foreign investment and GNP improved rapidly. The “Brazilian miracle”
aimed to get rid of poverty by increasing the national pie. However, the pie
was unevenly distributed. Within three years, real wages had been reduced by
25 percent.
In the peak growth year of 1975, expenditures by the Ministry of Health
were lower than in 1965 and the World Bank reported that 68% of the
population had less than the minimum calorie intake necessary. At most, 5%
of the population had benefited immensely from the Brazilian Miracle. 4 out
of 5 people had been left outside it all together. By 1990, when the generals
withdrew, Brazil had the third worst education system in the world, clocking
in after Guinea-Bissau and Bangladesh. The unequal income distribution
remains a major problem. As for the country, which is the world’s 5th most
populous, and has the world’s 8th largest economy, becoming one of the
leading powers of the world, we’re still waiting.
A Tale of Two Countries
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Impregilo Under the Micro-
scope
Minister of Social Affairs Árni
Magnússon announced that a
special committee will be formed
to investigate the charges which
have recently been levelled
against Kárahnjúkur dam con-
tractors Impregilo by the Federa-
tion of Labour Unions (ASÍ).
ASÍ has accused Impregilo of,
among other things, paying its
workers sub-minimum wage and
cheating on its taxes.
Must Be Nice . . .
Rumours that Foreign Minister
Davíð Oddsson has been taking
too many cues from Bush have
now been confirmed: Oddsson
has decided to give himself the
month off. He intends to relax
abroad. Prime Minister (and for-
mer Foreign Minister) Halldór
Ásgrímsson will be taking his
place in the meantime.
Gallup Stands by Results
IMG Gallup announced after a
meeting yesterday that they stand
by the results of a poll they con-
ducted in late 2004, where it was
announced that 84% of the Ice-
landic population did not want
to be a part of the coalition of
nations at war with Iraq. Prime
Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson,
Foreign Minister Davíð Oddsson
and Minister of Justice Björn
Bjarnason have each responded
to the poll by saying that it was
vague and the questions unclear.
Cheaper By Air
It would cost less to transport
people and materials by air than
by sea between Iceland and the
Westmann Islands, according to
a recent study conducted by six
students from the Bífröst busi-
ness school this past winter. The
students looked at the SkyCat
blimp, developed in Great
Britain, and found that it would
actually cost less than renewing
the ship Herjólf every 16 years.
Drunken Passenger Forces
Landing
On course from Toronto to
Moscow, a Russian passenger
plane was forced to land in
Keflavík when a drunken pas-
senger began to behave violently.
The Aeroflot flight landed safely
and the passenger was escorted
by police off of the flight and
into custody, where he would
sleep it off. The radio station
Ekho Moskvy said that the man
behaved like “a madman” and
physically assaulted the head of
the cabin crew.
Murderer Confesses Before
Court
Hákon Eydal openly confessed in
court to having murdered his for-
mer housemate, Sri Rhamawati,
on the morning of 4 July this
year. He did not object to paying
about 20 million krónur in dam-
ages to her children, and is facing
the longest possible sentence for
murder, 16 years.
For daily news updates,
weekly rantings and much
more, check out website
www.grapevine.is. You’ll be
glad you did.
Flavio and Tristao are not as happy with the state of
Brazilian education
Pekka is overjoyed with the Finnish education system.
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