Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.04.2007, Qupperneq 7

1_RVK_GV_04_007_OPINION
After reading a recent Liberal
Party advertisement in the papers,
shockingly not a joke despite being
printed on the first of April, I was
agog with a mix of utter shock and
annoyance. I was quietly staring at
it, wondering how ignorant some
people can be, but then I was
gleefully reminded of a certain
masterpiece called Memoirs of
Extraordinary Popular Delusions
and the Madness of Crowds
along with a great quote from
Spenser: “with love of blindness
and ignorance”. Somehow, I think
no quote can better describe the
Liberal Party and their pseudo-
racist propaganda which, funnily
enough, is wrapped up in a sweet
package of “we care about” the
immigrants, that is why we don’t
want them here.
While the ad itself is very sly
in its use of propaganda, as it is
only the latest of their desperate
attempts for political survival, it
is mainly laughable. First of all,
the title in the advertisement is in
CAPITAL LETTERS so the lowest
common denominator is catered
to – something which one could
argue is the main objective of
the ad – and so we are all asked:
Do you want the same problems
with foreign workers as in other
countries? The question itself is
very problematic. To what “other”
nations is the ad referring? Can I
have a debate here, please? When
reading it, one might rightly
assume a footnote is in order. I am
perplexed. Does the same go for
a Danish immigrant or worker and
a person from Thailand? Should
we curb the influx of Danes to
Iceland and vice versa? I want to
hear the answer to that question.
However, one of the
“arguments” of the ad concerns
industrial employment, the
field which has the highest
number of foreign workers, not
to mention that these people
are in most instances migrant
workers; an important fact that
the Liberal Party forgets to take
into account. Many of these
so-called migrant workers are
contracted workers employed by
both Impreglio and Bechtel, as
the numbers taken off Bechtel’s
homepage state: “When the
project reaches peak construction
this year, the village will house
more than 1,500 workers. By
comparison, the nearest Icelandic
town, Reyðarfjörður, boasts
some 650 residents”. Add the
Kárahnjúkadam and you have
almost 3,000 foreign workers
solely for these two projects. It
is pretty simple: someone has to
build these things.
Another faulty assumption, or
perhaps scare tactic, is the claim
that foreign workers will be a
burden on our welfare system.
Now, here is a shocking logical
conundrum. The first argument is
hinting at the fact that “they” are
causing Icelandic workers’ wages
to decrease (if you read between
the lines) because they accept
lower wages for their work.
Therefore it can be assumed that
the government/contractors are
not to be blamed for the slow
increase in income amongst
industry workers compared to
other groups. However, if that
were the case, it stands to reason
that if the contractors were
paying such inadequate wages
(in theory), then it would result in
the workers requiring welfare in
addition to their income (instead
of the blunt innuendo that they
might not work), then these
companies would be exploiting
all of us, not only the workers.
That is what some would call the
“Dark Side of Capitalism”. For
example, in the United States, a
sweat shop would, and will, often
hire immigrants, but nowadays
they have outsourced to China.
Getting wages down is the grand
scheme, so the problem is not
innocent immigrants. Liberals,
welcome to Capitalism 101.
The third point they raise
reminds me of the famous book
called How Statistics Lie, because
The Liberal Party says that 9%
of the workforce here in Iceland
is foreign. Well, first of all you
have to take into account what
kinds of jobs are being referred
to. Are these the underpaid
ones that include caring for the
elderly, nursing the sick, cleaning
our schools and offices? If that
is true, you can probably at least
double the number. Another
simple fact that is ignored in this
game of statistical manipulation
is the puny size of the population,
because comparing our
percentage of foreign workers to
another country’s is preposterous.
Half a million foreign workers,
e.g. Sweden, becomes a whole
different scenario compared
to 27,000. The final point they
make is just cheeky. We do not
have the resources to teach
Icelandic. Please, since when
has that become impossible? I
would actually agree with that if
I did not know that Magnús Þór
Hafsteinsson is full of hot air, for
example when he alleges that The
Social Democrat Alliance wants
3-5 million people to come here
(invade).
The scary conclusion that one
draws from all this, including the
various xenophobic and Islam-
bashing quotes from Liberal Party
member Jón Magnússon, is that
the increase in foreign people
(“Them”) is the main reason for
the higher crime rate, general
unrest in society and finally the
increasingly low living standards
for everyone else in Iceland. This
kind of logic becomes hysterical
especially when you consider
that they describe themselves
as being a “political movement
emphasizing liberal views,
democracy and equal citizen’s
rights, [that] supports the free
market system”, well at least
according to their website.
The sad part is that they actually
believe that multiculturalism does
not exist and has never existed,
a fact that history refutes, but
also that they are so smug in
their Lilliputian thinking that they
actually consider themselves as
some kind of political martyrs.
On his homepage, one candidate
for the party managed to link
immigration to almost every
depravity, destruction, and
disease, except perhaps for the
fall of Camelot and Crucifixion
of Jesus. I say: “Don’t believe the
hype”.
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