Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.08.2012, Síða 29

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When Icelanders speak about “ástandið”
or “the situation,” they usually mean
American GIs who began a furtive colo-
nisation of Iceland by purchasing the af-
fections of Icelandic women with chew-
ing gum and nylon socks. Of course this
is a simple and base generalisation since
it implies that true love between certain
individuals of different nationalities
was only a commodity that could be
easily purchased. Furthermore, it trivi-
alises the fact that old farts politicised
these women’s minds
and bodies to buy
votes and managed
to marginalise many
Icelandic women.
While some women
did indeed leave the
country with Ameri-
can military men,
others were jilted and
scorned by many in
Icelandic society.
N o n e t h e l e s s ,
when one speaks of
“ástandið,” it is impor-
tant to remember that
this period was not
just about amorous
liaisons: this “situa-
tion” had repercus-
sions that still reverberate in Icelandic
society today.
To put the matter into context, I
have a small anecdote. When I was a
teenager in Keflavík, having recently ar-
rived from abroad, I had no interest in
Icelandic society or intent on staying in
Iceland. For me everything that was in-
teresting or exciting resided within the
gates of the former military base, which
is now home to an educational institu-
tion called Keilir. My key to this cultural
paradise was an identification card that
enabled me to buy comics, American
food and videogames: a luxury when
Iceland was still an innocent country
with no American fast food joints and
two television channels.
Yet, at the same time, I was not the
only individual to have access to this
little outlet of America. Many residents
of Keflavík worked for the American
military, and thus enjoyed the culinary
delights of America and numerous oth-
er benefits, such as exchanging dollars
when strict currency controls were in
place.
Due to Keflavík’s close relationship
with the base, it has always seemed
to me to be disconnected from other
places in Iceland. Not only did rock
and roll manage to infiltrate the craggy
landscape of Iceland through Keflavík,
drugs and alcohol also seeped through.
And what was even worse to the dismay
of “the cultural elite,” the American
military began a conquest of cultural
indoctrination through their AFRTS
television channel with the assistance of
cultural ambassadors such as Rawhide,
Dick Tracy and Batman.
The real “situation”

While America captured the hearts and
minds of many Icelanders, the true
“ástand” is what happened to Keflavík.
By enjoying the fruits of its proximity
to the military base, Keflavík became
addicted to American money. Instead
of obtaining an education, many towns-
people would simply apply for a cosy
civilian job on the military base often
receiving double or triple the amount an
educated person would receive in Reyk-
javík.
This went on for a couple of genera-
tions until the American military left
Iceland in 2006. After that, Keflavík
went through the
wringer. Unemploy-
ment rates have been
nowhere higher in
Iceland than in Kefla-
vík and the surround-
ing area, Suðurnes,
since then, and only
recently has the un-
employment rate be-
gun to stabilise and be
more in line with the
rest of the country.
Still, many prob-
lems remain due to
this “situation.” First
of all, test scores have
stayed consistently
low throughout the
years in comparison
to other parts of Iceland. One has to as-
sume and weigh in the factor that educa-
tion has never been a top priority, which
only perpetuates “the situation”: No edu-
cation, no jobs.
So what is the solution? Well, as
Mayor of Keflavík Árni Sigfússon says,
to rephrase Clinton’s presidential cam-
paign slogan: duh, it’s jobs, stupid. Of
course, what he means is heavy indus-
try jobs that emphasize putting all your
eggs in one basket, which created Ke-
f lavík’s “situation” to begin with. There
are plans to construct an aluminium
smelter in Helguvík, which of course
is considered to be a quick fix solution,
with no long-term solution in sight.
There really is no simple solution.
When driving through Keflavík, you no-
tice entire rows of houses that are empty
and if you listen to the townspeople,
you will hear them groan and complain
about the now defunct Savings Bank
of Keflavík, which cheated them out of
their money and cost Icelanders a pretty
sum. Despite having created a façade of
prosperity in town, Árni Sigfússon is
only making “the situation” worse. The
only difference now is that the Indepen-
dent Party rather than the American
military is handing out the nylon socks.
“
My key to this cultural
paradise was an identifi-
cation card that enabled
me to buy comics, Ameri-
can food and videogames:
a luxury when Iceland
was still an innocent
country with no Ameri-
can fast food joints and
two television channels.”„
These photos come from the Reykjavík Museum of Photography. Located on the
sixth floor of Grófarhús on Tryggvagata, the museum has about 4.5 million pho-
tographs in its vaults, including a wide-ranging series of collections by some of
Iceland's foremost photographers of the last century. You can find more of their
photographs, as well as information about their ongoing and upcoming exhibitions,
by visiting their website at http://www.ljosmyndasafnreykjavikur.is.
Trivia question answer from page 2:
The answer is C) Vatnajokull National Park
The park covers around 12,000km squared (12% of the surface of Iceland). It in-
cludes Vatnajokull glacier, the Skaftafell National Park, Jokulsargljufur National
Park and surrounding areas.
This question is taken from the new Instant Iceland trivia board game. www.instanticeland.com
Opinion | Marvin Lee Dupree
The Old
Nylon Sock
Trick
Marvin Lee Dupree is doing a
masters in philosophy at the Univer-
sity of Iceland.