Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.01.2015, Blaðsíða 8

The Year In | Their Own Words
8
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2015
OPEN 7-21
BREAKFAST,
LUNCH & DINNER
T EMPL AR A SUND 3 , 101 RE Y K JAV ÍK , T EL : 5711822, W W W.BERGSSON. IS
their labour struggle illegal. On a more
positive note, the government’s house-
hold debt relief was outlined, although
the final product was a far cry from
what had originally been promised: it
wasn’t financed by foreign vulture funds
(rather, by taxpayers themselves), and
it didn’t benefit everyone—just property
owners. Shucks.
JUNE
As celebrated anarchist comedian may-
or Jón Gnarr stepped down after a sin-
gle term in office, Reykjavík city council
elections saw the Social Democratic
Alliance form a new four-party majority
under the leadership of Dagur B. Egg-
ertsson. No surprises there. The cam-
paign season was unfortunately marked
by the Progressive Party’s reactions to
the realization that it would likely fail to
get a Reykjavík representative elected
for the second time in a row. The party
went into full-on desperation mode, re-
sorting to playing the trusty Islamopho-
bia card (which has proved so fruitful for
their Scandinavian counterparts). Dur-
ing the final stretch of campaign season,
the Progressive candidates’ platform
focused on revoking the city’s land allot-
ment to the Muslim Association of Ice-
land (with its 465 members) to build a
mosque. Tasteful? Hardly. But it did earn
them two seats on the council.
JULY
An estimated 11,000 people par-
ticipated in Reykjavík’s annual SlutWalk,
and 3,000 attended an anti-war “die-in”
rally to protest Israeli air raids on Gaza.
Iceland’s representative to the UN, for-
eign minister and PM all publicly con-
demned the attacks. And sadly, Iceland’s
marimo population, fondly known in
Icelandic as “kúluskítur” (or “shitballs”),
faced extinction due to increased levels
of pollution in their Lake Mývatn habitat.
But hey, badass Icelandic athlete Annie
Mist Þórisdóttir finished in second place
at the 2014 CrossFit Games, despite a
back injury!
AUGUST
Do you remember Geir H. Haarde,
the former PM who asked god to bless
Iceland when the economy collapsed
and was eventually charged and found
guilty of negligence during his time in
office? In August, we appointed him to
the position of ambassador to Wash-
ington DC! Good job, everyone! Still, it
wasn’t as great as seeing 90,000 people
show up for the annual Reykjavík Pride
parade (that’s a fourth of the nation,
folks). Perhaps in celebration, an erup-
tion started in the Holuhraun area. It was
CONTINUES OVER
What’s Important
Gunnar Nelson
fighter, winner, Zen-master
At the end of 2014, I have a baby boy.
His name is Stígur Týr Nelson, and he's
growing bigger and stronger every day—
he's seven months old now, so he wasn't
there at the start of the year. I've also been
training a lot in 2014, competing three
times in the UFC, with two wins and one
loss [incidentally, Gunnar's first profes-
sional loss], but overall it went pretty well.
I've learned a lot and look forward to tak-
ing on 2015.
What’s in store? Oh, more of the same
really, I'm going to keep training and
spending time with my family. We're
hopefully moving to a new house soon,
where we can make ourselves more com-
fortable. And then, there will probably be
a few fights in the coming months. The
worst-case scenario would probably be
if I and everyone I hold dear were to sud-
denly die, with me being the last to go.
Ultra Modern Fairy Tale
Birgitta Jónsdóttir
Pirate Party MP,
Poetician, chair of IMMI
I LOVE crisis. It is the only time where
we as individuals, and we as a society, get
the power boost to achieve fundamental
transformative changes. We nearly man-
aged to get some serious changes through
a new constitution written by and for
the people of Iceland. However, those in
power during the last term failed to un-
derstand the urgency of acting swiftly,
for the window for real changes is usually
very short during times of crisis.
Our transformation is stuck in a
Sleeping Beauty coma, and the nation has
not realized that its wet (r)EVOLution-
ary kiss is the only thing that will awaken
the fair princess. All of a sudden we are
out of the fairy tale, straight into the full-
on zombie apocalypse. All the oldies are
back in power due to the sleepwalkers’
fairy dust of cheap election promises.
The current situation in Iceland is so
bad that a new crisis of some sort is un-
avoidable, hopefully this year, before the
octopus zombies take over everything
again.
The Bearable Lightness
Of Being
Sigurður Mar Jónsson
Government Press Secretary
Iceland is not devoid of problems. How-
ever, when the situation elsewhere is
examined, the Icelandic problems seem
rather trivial. This does not change the
fact that we need to deal with them.
The state of affairs in this country
is shaped by a lot of what goes on in the
wider world, but at the same time we are
sheltered from many of the difficulties
that are proving the hardest for others to
overcome.
You could say that our small size and
geographical position are at the same
time our biggest benefit, and our worst
drawback. Those who run businesses
and provide services often wish that the
home market were greater, others con-
sider our sparse population an advan-
tage—few countries are less densely pop-
ulated than Iceland. This increases the
cost of maintaining an infrastructure,
but shapes Icelanders as a nation. At the
same time, it seems to make the country
desirable in the eyes of the ever-growing
number of visitors we receive from all
over the globe.
Iceland rates high by most of the
yardsticks that are used to measure na-
tions’ prosperity. In some areas, we are
on top, such as in terms of civil liberties,
the status and rights of minority groups,
equality and health. Of course, we
shouldn’t take for granted that this will
perpetually remain true, and the recent
doctors' strike reminds us that our com-
petitive position is difficult now that it’s
easier than ever for specialists and well-
trained professionals to sell their talents
to the highest bidder.
Iceland has changed fast over the
past few decades, and it will continue to
change in the foreseeable future. Pos-
sibly, the main controversies of the next
few years will revolve around how—and
whether—those changes will be directed
or controlled.
Years Of Strife
Þórður Snær Júlíusson
Editor, Kjarninn
We are in many respects at a better place
by the end of 2014 than we were at the
year’s beginning. Inflation is negligible,
the GDP is likely growing (although the
numbers are conflicting) and steps have
been taken to rescind the currency re-
strictions.
However, we have rarely engaged in
as many heated debates over fundamen-
tal issues as we did in 2014. The unjust
“debt correction,” attempts to withdraw
Iceland’s EU application without a refer-
endum, the deferment of environmental
laws, the regional relocation of public
institutions, submachine guns, the leak
affair, mosques, state funding of cultural
affairs and how the tax burdens should be
divided between citizens. And the year of
course ended amidst a doctors' strike,
with the healthcare system in limbo.
This year will, unfortunately, be no
less marked by strife. Chief among them
will likely be the impending general wage
negotiations, where we seem to be head-
ing towards the biggest conflict we’ve
seen in decades. The results will have a
widespread effect on the nation and its
well-being. We will also suffer through
fights about a remodelled fishery man-
agement system, the nature pass, a repeat
of the EU struggle, a changed framework
programme, the ever-increasing income
and opportunity divide, and the next
steps towards lifting the currency re-
strictions.
It’s hard to determine the coming
year’s optimal outcome. The most at-
tractive scenario would see Icelanders’
discourse reaching a level of higher civil-
ity, along with Icelandic politicians’ work
methods; and it would entail society’s
chief operators abandoning their “us vs.
them” worldview. In a small and tightly
knit community such as ours, where pri-
vate interests are apparently (and regret-
tably) at all times protected at the cost
of common welfare, this might be a pipe
dream at best.
The Idiots Had Their Way
Grímur Atlason
head of Iceland Airwaves
Icelanders are amongst the privileged
few. Our problems are typical first world
problems. But we tend to whine, com-
plain and feel sorry for ourselves. This
choir of self-pity was the foundation of
2014. A nation that receives 150 requests
for asylum per year is lighting the bon-
fires of Islamophobia. In comparison,
Sweden receives 84,000 applications for
asylum annually. Our government plays
the self-pitying, frightened and ignorant
citizens like a flute. Instead of repaying
our debts, the old “me! me! me!” has taken
over, and 100 billion ISK are burned for
nothing. I’m sorry to say it, but 2014 is the
year the idiots had their way.
According to the Chinese Zodiac,
2015 is the year of the Green Sheep.
This sounds like a perfect year for
Framsóknarflokkurinn (“The Progres-
sive Party”—the name makes no sense
at all). Luckily, in the rest of the world
sheep are not exclusive to Bjartur and
Framsóknarflokkurinn. I choose to fo-
cus on the gentle and positive aspects of
the sheep, and will assume that 2015 will
work out better than 2014.
For the sake of nature, for the sake of
education, for social welfare, for prosper-
ity, we will get rid of this government
ASAP. Fuck Yeah!
Is This What
You Wanted?
Karen Pease
programmer
I find our race to the bottom unbeliev-
able, along with the velocity at which
we're moving. I would have never imag-
ined that Iceland could turn into the
United States in the span of a year, as
we import submachine guns and rush
to dismantle our welfare and healthcare
systems.
But, this is Iceland today. A nation
whose doctors have been on strike for
six weeks, a nation where corruption and
blatant abuse of power have become so
common that encountering honesty, can-
dour and/or competency is an exception.
Are your actions being scrutinized
by a member of the press? That’s fine;
you can charge them with slander and
defamation. Failing that, you could just
purchase the newspaper and have them
fired.
State budget running on empty? That
won’t stop us in lining the pockets of our
wealthiest oligarchs. Hurry, we must
abolish the fishery tax!
We’ve become a nation of privatiza-
tion and outsourcing, one that Ayn Rand
herself would take pride in. So let’s gift
our natural wonders to heavy industry—
most people won’t be able to see them
anyway, unless they fork out for that na-
ture pass.
Whoever could be pleased with these
developments? Is this what you were ask-
ing for when you voted for the governing
parties? What were you thinking when
you picked these extremely dangerous
people to lord over you?
I see no hope until the next elections.
Happy New Year.
2014
IN
BRIEF