Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.05.2014, Blaðsíða 21

Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.05.2014, Blaðsíða 21
21The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 06 — 2014 If you are in favour of every- thing human, helping those who are most in need and want more democracy you should vote for Dö- gun. We want the people in the neigh- bourhood councils to have more power and more money. If people want more of the best and less of the worst they should vote for Bright Future. There is only one Jón Gnarr, but there is also just one S. Björn Blöndal, and he is a tough but fair man. Samfylkingin has governed Reykjavik alongside Jón Gnarr and The Best Party—in difficult times and with good resultts. Dagur B. Eggertsson is a hardworking and experi- enced leader who has proved that he has what it takes to manage the city. Recent polls show that 58% of people in Reykja- vík want him as their next mayor. Not because he is like Jón Gnarr, but rather because people see Dagur as his natural successor. We are here to work for the people of Reykjavík. We are go- ing to change the education system by prioritizing stu- dents. We are going to bring down the cost of renting and buying apartments in Reykjavík with the power of the private market, specifically by increasing the number of available housing plots in the city and by lowering taxes. Our leader, Halldór Halldórsson, has experience running municipalities and private companies. He has also been a fisherman and a kayak guide. He is well educated with an MBA and an MA in hu- man resource management. Everyone is different but Halldór’s strength is in managing a municipality and bringing people together. First of all, we in the Left- Green movement do not be- lieve in “strong leaders” and celebrity politics. We believe city council politics are about more than just the mayor. Politics is about policy and ideology, it is a debate about different vi- sions of society, rather than who should be crowned king (or queen) of the prom. And this is the reason why people should vote for the left-green movement. We take the business of politics seriously. We understand that it if Reykjavík is truly to be a wonderful city we must ad- dress social problems. We must address poverty, rising income inequality, gender inequality and environmental problems. Politics is not a game of Icelandic Idol. Therefore, we more concerned with real issues than speculation about who should become “the next Jón Gnarr.” Dangerous Ideas But isn’t it problematic if your only guiding principle or philosophy commands that you are powerless, that you need help and guidance? Shouldn’t a politician represent a firm idea of how society should ulti- mately be run? Well, such ideas have plagued both politics and philosophy. There has been an abundance of great theories and ideas over the course of history, put forth by smart people, like Ayn Rand—she wasn’t stupid, you know. But those ideas are of- ten adopted by people who maybe aren’t as smart and don’t quite understand them—or even people who harbour self- ish ulterior motives. One of the most valuable lessons that I have learned is that ideas are dan- gerous, especially good ones [laughs]. Because it is almost certain that some halfwit will pick them up and misinter- pret them and misuse them. And this is why it was so important that the Best Party presented no ideology, no solu- tion. No theory. Nothing that some idiot could then adopt and develop and use as a basis for something horrible, making us the ideologues behind some atroc- ity. And this is why it was so important that the Best Party remain blank, that it stood for no idea or theory other than impotence and powerlessness. And the will to collaborate, to seek help. There are lots of great ideas out there. But they get misunderstood. And the cause is more often than not simple human frailty, which the theories don’t account for, because they exist solely on the ideological plane, without taking into account emotions and error. Just look at our best thinkers over the past few centuries. From Schopenhauer and Nietzsche to Marx and Engels. Their ideas led to a lot of misunderstanding, a lot of horror. Schopenhauer was Hitler’s favourite philosopher. Karl Marx cre- ated communism because he was out- raged by how the underclass was being treated. But then, their theories even- tually inspired all sorts of atrocities, events and ideas that in no way reflect their intentions. We thus figured that the best ideol- ogy would be no ideology, save for the one espoused by the AA: Powerlessness, humility, frailty. To realise that we don't have all the solutions. And Taoism. Taoism has definitely been an influence. Orthodox Anarchists What about anarchism? You’ve pro- claimed on many occasions that you were an anarchist... To me, anarchism and Taoism rep- resent the same idea. The only differ- ence is that anarchism went the way of any other ideology. It was written down and demarcated, what counted as anar- chism and what didn’t—and in that in- stant, it fell dead. You can’t be an anarchist if you’re this way or the other. And in effect, this is oppressive. Take straight edge, a re- ally cool movement that sprang up right in the heart of consumer culture preach- ing different values, preaching health. All of the sudden, you could be cool and a punker without always being wasted. But that quickly turned into a kind of elitism, the group instated rules and even turned to violence against outsid- ers who didn’t share their outlook. This is a clear example of something that started as a positive force, but quickly turned negative. And it’s of course due to human error and selfishness, frailty and all that crap. It became an orthodoxy? So easily! And this is why when I say I’m an anarchist, it ś not because anar- chism is some perfect ideology, but be- cause there is no perfect ideology. The whole idea—what’s important— boils down to the right to remain an individual within a community, to be able to live your life as you will so long as you’re not stepping on anyone else. That you can live in peace, whether you’re a homosexual or like to smoke cannabis or whatever, so long as you don’t disturb others. And that is the only ideology that matters. A Kick In The Balls One of the more frequent criticisms levied against you is that you’ve re- lied too much on administrators and officials. That you’ve entrusted Reykjavík and your mayoral duties to city employees and hired experts, that you’ve instated a technocracy, limiting your role to figurehead... The city of Reykjavík was sorely lacking balance in these matters. It is proven that the best way to run a city is with minimal political interference. The role of politicians should be confined to shaping policy and then enforcing that policy. The idea that politicians should be hands-on in every matter is a misun- derstanding, and a harmful one at that. You hire a gardener to renovate your garden, and you have to trust him and what he’s doing. You tell him what you want and maybe draw up a little map or something, but you don’t go against his professional advice. There needs to be a balance. And a little research will show you that the world’s highest rated cities are the ones that place an emphasis on profession- alism, on proper processes and proce- dures, and on following expert advice. And you feel the city of Reykjavík had neglected this? Absolutely. We have countless exam- ples in our recent past of politicians going directly against the counsel of experts, often with horrible results. This idea that a mayor should be hands-on with everything, fostering pet projects and GETTING THINGS DONE is also directly connected to this mascu- line mentality that has prevailed in Ice- landic politics for far too long. This idea that a real man just ambles forth, solving every problem with brute force, never admitting that he doesn’t understand or that he needs help. Like some wimp. And yeah, I get a lot of that, people saying I’ve entrusted all of my power to specialists and technicians, that I’m not a real mayor. The funny thing is that while they think this hurts me—that it's a kick in the balls—that couldn’t be further from the truth. It makes me happy; it’s what I wanted all along. I am not a strong, masculine problem solver. In fact, I strive not to be one. I believe strong masculine problem solvers have caused a lot of dam- age through the years, and I am proud to be thought of as the opposite. Superficial Tendencies This is perhaps in line with what you discussed during your campaign, about changing the language of poli- tics and attacking its culture—about the importance of cultural revolu- tion. Sometimes foreigners will ask me what you and the Best Party have accomplished, and I have a hard time answering, beyond the Reykjavík Energy reforms... there’s no entirely new system, no sweeping structural changes or free admission to the swimming pools—in fact the prices have gone up. The changes I have no- ticed are more subtle, pertaining to the atmosphere in city hall and how its denizens interact in public. Pre- paring for this interview, I spoke to a few city employees and administra- tors, who all maintained that their working environment has changed for the better, that it’s more polite, more human. I am happy to hear that. And I would add that, maybe most importantly, we have improved the administrative pro- cess. It’s a lot more professional. What lies underneath is often more important than the surface. We humans have a tendency to superficiality... peo- ple spend a lot of money fixing their face through surgery, undergoing intense and life-threatening operations, but they don’t get operations on their brain, to create new connections so they may understand and experience the universe in new ways. Yet, creating a new understanding or new state of mind, a new process or way of doing things, is much more im- portant in the long run. And out of that process, we eventually make progress and achieve visible results. It’s like education. You spend a lot of time teaching someone how to be a doc- tor, but they’re not curing anyone while their brain is processing the information and creating the necessary connections. This could be likened to what we’ve been doing. Teaching, training, signify- ing something. Representing a mode of thought or method. Proving that this is possible, that this can work. But then, we’ve of course done all sorts of concrete things. We helped Reykjavík Energy overcome its difficul- ties. We’ve moved statues, and laid hun- dreds of kilometres of bike paths. We made a new zoning plan. And all sorts of important stuff. Then there is my personal cam- paign for peace and human rights. Even though it hasn’t yielded concrete results, I believe it is the most important thing I have ever done in my life. Like Love It might have had some effect. Inde- pendence Party mayoral candidate Halldór Halldórsson has remarked that he admires your emphasis on hu- man rights, and that he will carry on that tradition if elected mayor. And he’s not the only candidate to express such a sentiment—international hu- man rights have become an issue that anyone who’s running is forced to contend with and at least take a stance on.... Exactly. This is my proudest accom- plishment. It’s invisible and intangible, yet very real. It is like love. Love is a certain consciousness or state of mind that isn’t anything until you express it in action. When you act out of love for another. And that is what we have been trying to do, to build a loving environ- ment that is based on consideration, re- spect and trust. To convince people be- lieve that we respect them even though we are in disagreement, that this is pos- sible and that it works. That political op- ponents can walk side by side in good faith, trusting that neither party will use the opportu- nity to hurt them or push them aside. We wanted to show that this works, that you exist in this way without being burned or abused. This is what I think is important, what I believe will ultimately be the Best Party’s legacy. It’s this entirely unique thing that wasn’t supposed to happen, yet it did happen. Then, we can talk about numbers re- garding Reykjavík Energy and that can be a discussion in and of itself, but, you know, what I find important is that I am the first mayor in the world to publicly protest the jailing of Pussy Riot. At a Gay Pride march. This act of mine didn’t free them, so you could claim it was a failed attempt, but it wasn’t. It left something behind, a seed that will grow and move us forward. That’s the thing with ideas. They tend to grow. So I take pride in that, but I also take pride in the fact that I am coming out of this without having made any enemies— sure, there are people who purport to hate me, but I am glad to say the feeling is far from mutual. It’s been difficult, but I could well have come out of it a bitter mess. But I didn’t. I am happy and grate- ful for the past four years and, thankful to the people I have worked with, and to the people of Reykjavík. As I express my gratitude, I must ac- knowledge that I couldn’t have done this without admitting my shortcomings re- peatedly, every day. Facing my power- lessness. A Horrible Culture This culture you say you’ve tried to establish, of humility, cooperation and good will. Do you believe it will remain in City Hall? Yes, it will carry on. But I have no idea how it will grow. I mean, I am a bit of a gardener, and just yesterday I made a decision about my garden. I planted some shrubbery a few years ago, and it has thrived. Except for one bush. And the past winter seems to have taken a big toll on it, so I decided to remove it and plant a new one in its place. You can’t always know in advance which plants will thrive and which will wither away. And then of course there’s the chance that your plants will get in- fected by some random plant disease or ravaged by insects. I don’t know. At least, I think it will be hard for things to revert to the way they were. I don’t think that’s a possibility. That’s a hefty claim you make, that you instigated a permanent change to city politics. Do you likewise feel you had an effect in last year’s parliamen- tary elections? Yes, we were very influential there. Óttarr Proppé [HAM singer] is an MP now! That is very important, and that would have never happened [laughs]! H o w e v e r , Alþingi’s problems are obviously a lot greater and more dif- ficult than the ones facing the city. It is plagued by a devas- tatingly inefficient and faulty adminis- trative process, a hor- rible culture of dis- course and massive, ingrained nepotism. Naturally, the big- gest threat facing Western democracy today is the power of the financial elites. They pose a direct threat to democracy, they have devised ways to manipulate the system to their own end. It is a vicious circle wherein money buys advertising, and advertis- ing buys votes through stylized, empty promises, and those promises are never honoured, and this leads people to even- tually stop respecting politicians and lose faith in the process. It becomes in- creasingly evident that it doesn’t mat- ter how much you study or read, what opinions you hold or any great ideas you have—whoever has the most money to spend will have their way. Political can- didates might have good intentions of servicing their community, but when it’s common knowledge that they’re there because someone bought them a ticket they are hard to support. And without the public’s support, they can’t accom- plish anything. So they’ll need to raise funds and hire advertising agencies to get voted in again. And the circle contin- ues. Oligarchs and corporations have hi- jacked democracy. The problem is not that we have a few corrupt politicians— I’m sure we have many—but they are only symptoms of a greater ill, the ever- growing vicious circle. A few people re- signing doesn’t solve anything. The only thing that can create mean- ingful change is a shift in attitude. A bal- ance must be created. This is what we stood for on the municipal level, and this is what needs to happen on a global level. Balance and equilibrium. Women Cyclist Hegemony To name an example of what needs to change, car dealerships have wielded an unreasonably great influence of Reykja- vík’s affairs. This goes a ways towards explaining why the city has evolved in the way that it did—sprawling, rife with freeways and cars and parking lots. This is in part due to the influence of car deal- ers and oil companies. I’m not saying that they’re bad people or that we need to get rid of all of them—just that a bal- ance is needed, that other points of view also need representation. Women cyclists, for instance haven’t had that much of a say in anything. No- body considers their interests when big decisions are made, because they don’t have the resources to back up certain “It becomes increas- ingly evident that it doesn’t matter how much you study or read, what opinions you hold or any great ideas you have—whoev- er has the most money to spend will have their way.”
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