Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.01.2011, Blaðsíða 30

Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.01.2011, Blaðsíða 30
30 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 1 — 2011 Magnús is a economic historian. He worked for the Special Investigative Com- mittee and during the past year he has taught at Bifröst University. He holds a MA degree from the University of Minnesota, and is currently working on a PhD dissertation. While history—meaning: ‘the past’—does not change, history—meaning: ‘the nar- ration of past events’—does in fact change. This is because we view history through the lens of the present. As events unfold, the meaning and sig- nificance of the past changes. And be- cause our view of the past changes we constantly need to change our history textbooks. So, it is pretty hard to predict how any event, let alone a whole decade, will be remembered. Because we do not know what the future holds, or what academic fads will reign among future historians, it is exceedingly difficult to say with any certainty how future his- torians will judge this first decade of the 21st century. Still, even if we lack the necessary hindsight of history, we can make some pretty good educated guesses. A DECADE OF PROGRESS The first decade of the 21st century in Iceland will most certainly be re- membered as a decade of progress and achievement by those future his- torians who will emphasize social and cultural history. Important milestones were met in the history of human rights and equality, most recently with the 2010 law, which gives gay couples the right to marry. Another milestone was reached in 2009 when Jóhanna Sig- urðardóttir became the first woman to serve as Prime Minister of Iceland and the first openly gay person to serve as a PM anywhere. An important step in world history. Also, Iceland became a truly multi- cultural society as large numbers of foreigners, primarily Eastern Europe- ans, migrated to Iceland in search of work. And despite the occasional flar- ing up of xenophobia, Icelandic society welcomed these immigrants. By the end of the decade, Reykjavík authori- ties had even acknowledged that peo- ple from other cultures had the right to construct their own houses of worship, finally granting the nation’s small Mus- lim community the right to build their own mosque. The decade was also important in Icelandic cultural history. The arts flourished and Icelandic musicians en- joyed considerable success both in Eu- rope and America. All in all, Iceland in 2010 is far more cosmopolitan than it was in 2000. A DECADE OF FAILURE However important these developments are, I would argue that none of them is as important as the colossal, utter and inexcusable failure of the Icelandic eco- nomic miracle, which certainly is the defining event of the decade. The neo- liberal experiment of creating prosper- ity by slashing taxes and regulations in order to turn Iceland into some sort of business friendly tax haven and global financial centre finally ended with the complete collapse of 2008. The reason the public went along with this experiment in the first place was that Icelanders had been led to believe they lived in a country charac- terised by fair play, equality and—above all—honesty. Iceland was ranked as the least corrupt society in the world and Icelanders believed they were gov- erned by honest politicians and that their businessmen were equally hard- working and honest. The collapse and its aftermath showed Icelanders that this had been a mirage. The bankers, hailed as fi- nancial wunderkinder were actually looters. The politicians incompetent morons. Like the hapless Minister of Economic Affairs, caught like a deer in the headlights, without a clue as to what to do when they were faced with tough choices. Others, bursting with arrogance and delusion, like former Minister for Foreign Affairs Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, declaring that those who dared protest the inaction and incompetence of politicians were “not the nation.” Davíð Oddsson refusing to step down from the chair of the Cen- tral Bank. The managers of Kaupthing contemptuously declaring that they had absolutely nothing to apologise for. A DECADE OF SQUANDERED TRUST Trust is obviously important for all so- cieties. But too much trust, as well as undeserved trust, is dangerous, and I would argue that one of the greatest weaknesses of Icelandic society at the beginning of the decade was excess trust: excess trust in politicians, busi- ness leaders and the market ideology. One of the main reasons for the pro- tests that began in the fall of 2008 is the public’s realisation that the elites, both political and economic, had betrayed the trust that they had enjoyed. In fact, this appears to be part of a global pattern: everywhere, trust in politicians and business leaders has collapsed. Everywhere the reason is the same. The economic failure and finan- cial collapse, caused by reckless finan- ciers and complacent politicians, are not the primary reason—the real reason is that people feel they were betrayed by their elites. During the bubble, people tolerated growing income inequality because they were promised that the wealth would trickle down. It turned out the public was not allowed to share in the wealth, only the debts, because when the crash came, the public was forced to shoulder the cost of bailing out the speculators. To make matters worse, the left wing government, which prom- ised to protect the homes and families, has been unable to come up with a comprehensive plan to help the public, and no concrete steps have been taken to increase social justice. LESSONS LEARNED This is not all bad, of course. People have learned the hard way that it is im- possible to build permanent prosperity for an entire society on speculation, market manipulation and corporate raiding. Icelanders have also learned impor- tant modesty. But at a steep price. His- torically, Icelanders have been plagued by a certain mix of insecurity and self- importance. During the boom years the insecurity was replaced by arrogance, creating a poisonous certainty and delusions of grandeur that fuelled the Icelandic financial bubble. As the bub- ble burst, people realised that Iceland was not the centre of the universe. To paraphrase the Borat-esque mangled Icelandic of the first lady: Iceland is certainly not “the most big country in the world” (stórasta land í heimi). Finally, Icelanders have also learned that protest can be effective. It is not so long ago, that it was a commonly held belief that Icelanders were somehow genetically incapable of political pro- test. Groups like Saving Iceland were vilified and political activists were con- sidered suspect. The financial collapse rekindled a spirit of political engage- ment that had all but died out during the bubble. One can hope that this newfound political engagement and activism will lead to more democratic politics and more responsive politicians. The Decade Of Failure Decades | Magnús Sveinn Helgason </2010 HISTORY> </2010> Business has been good this year. Of course, it has not been as good as it was a few years ago [before the crash], but it has still been good and I can’t complain. I don’t have any ma- jor problems, just the usual hassle of importing foreign food products, but it’s like this everywhere. [Regarding the last year], everything has been okay and business has been just fine…very fine. <A new decade...> I hope that everything will be alright in the next years. I hope. As long as things go well and I can work, I don’t think about much except for con- tinuing to work. I am happy [with the present situation] and I am positive about the future. [Linda Lek Theiojanthuk, Propri- etor, Mai Tai] Icelanders who lived through the first decade of the 21st century found it to be the most interesting, and the most infuriating, epoch in our his- tory. We experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows. We imagined our- selves to be the richest people in the world, and then saw our illusory gains vanish in the span of a few days. We be- lieved our leaders were supremely competent and just then discovered the depths of their incompetence and cor- ruption. I suspect that statistically, we are better off financially in 2010 than we were in 2000, but it doesn’t feel that way. Having tasted the good life, we feel impoverished by our sudden inability to buy new cars every year, to indulge in shopping sprees abroad or to take tropical vacations every few months. After years during which there was es- sentially no unemployment and plenty of foreigners to perform shit jobs, we are traumatized by the permanent loss of high-paying jobs at the banks and long periods of scrambling to just get by. People were seduced by govern- ment guarantees and low interest rates to purchase outrageously expensive homes, only to see their incomes plum- met and the effective interest rates rise, essentially relegating them to the sta- tus of indentured servants. Although it is obvious that our sys- tem of government has failed us, Ice- landic voters showed little interest in the recent elections to the Constitu- tional Assembly. Although it was the policies of the Independence Party that opened the door to the massive abuses we witnessed, and its leaders who fa- cilitated and participated in the finan- cial fraud, the unrepentant IP remains Iceland’s single largest political party. Will the next decade be any better? Although Iceland’s prosperity is largely dependent on that of the much larger economies in America and Europe, we retain the power to determine our own happiness. Numerous studies have shown that the level of a nation’s hap- piness, once its people’s basic needs have been assured, does not correlate strongly to its wealth. The four gener- ally accepted pillars of societal happi- ness include: promotion of sustainable development, preservation and promo- tion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment and establish- ment of good governance. The first three of these pillars are largely dependent on the fourth pillar— good governance—and on this measure I am not optimistic. Bertrand de Jouve- nel observed that “a society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.” Other than that brief, glorious moment in January 2008 when popu- lar protests forced the resignations of Geir Haarde’s government, nothing that I’ve seen over the past couple of years indicates that we are willing to do anything meaningful to wrest con- trol of our country from the wolves. No one has accepted responsibility for the abuses and crimes that culminated in the kreppa, and the courts have not held anyone liable for their blatant in- competence, negligence, and corrup- tion. The thieves have kept their riches, and the rest of us are more subjugated than ever. The ultimate problem is ourselves. We learned the price of everything, but the value of nothing. We learned much about ourselves, and then deliberately exorcised those lessons from our col- lective memory. Þetta reddast allt. Until our attitude changes, nothing else will. Total Drama Island Drama | Íris Erlingsdóttir Mountaineers of Iceland • Skútuvogur 12E • 104 Reykjavík • Iceland Telephone: +354 580 9900 Ice@mountaineers.is • www.mountaineers.is • www. activity.is SUPER JEEP & SNOWMOBILE TOURS

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