Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.03.2016, Qupperneq 4

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LOVELIEST
LETTER:
FREE
GRAPE-
VINE T!
Dear Icelanders,
I am the oldest son out of three, in a fam-
ily of five. We have been living in Iceland
for a year. We have gone to the south-
west part of Iceland, but we would like to
explore other parts of this country with
even more awesome landmarks! For
that, we would like your help!
To accomplish this, I have, for
example, proposed that we could ex-
change houses for one or two weeks.
My parents have a f lat in the north of
Spain (Galicia) by the seaside, and my
grandfather has an old (and charm-
ing) country house in a small village
(near Pontevedra).
We could also enjoy exchanging
tricks, suggestions and cool locations
that go further than just tourist pub-
licity. That way we could both learn
from each other’s country and, if you
want to exchange houses, we would
both get the better deal.
If you are as interested, excited and
as curious about Spain and its culture
as I am about Iceland, would like to
share your experiences/information
with me, or would like to look into the
offers (or make new ones) please email
yzansaavedra@gmail.com.
Thanks in advance for listening to
me and helping me learn more about
your beautiful country,
- Yzan and the Saavedra family
Hey Yzan,
Wow, that sounds pretty sweet! If we
in the editorial office had any holiday
time (we don’t) or owned property (we
don’t), we’d totally take you up on that
offer! Hopefully our readers are in a
better position.
Yours,
The Grapevine
Say your piece, voice your
opinion, send your letters to:
letters@grapevine.is
SOUR GRAPES
AND STUFF
FOR
Imagine it’s Tuesday night. You’re
planning on hosting a dinner for
some friends at your spacious home
in the suburbs. You’ve already
picked up the usual stuff you’d get
for an average dinner with friends:
lobster, gourmet reindeer steaks,
fine cigars, maybe a nice Ayn Rand-
shaped marzipan cake. But you for-
got to pick up some champagne! Not
to worry, you say: You can just get
some from the local supermarket, or
a mom-and-pop liquor store, right?
Dead wrong! Only the govern-
ment is allowed to sell alcohol in
Iceland (well, unless you count bars
and restaurants), so if you want to
buy champagne after six, too bad.
Your guests will just have to settle
for sparkling apple juice or, God for-
bid, bottled water.
Last time I checked, we don’t live
in a police state. If I own a corner
grocery store and want to sell 40s
of Cobra or fluted bottles of Dom
Perignon, it should be my consti-
tutionally protected right to do so.
This issue is so central to basic hu-
man rights, it was the first issue the
Independence Party took up in Par-
liament the Monday after the banks
collapsed. And with good reason.
We cannot let the government
ruin another dinner party. We need
to pressure our elected representa-
tives to focus on the issues that re-
ally matter—like being able to buy a
bottle of Motörhead Shiraz at nine
in the evening.
AGAINST
Have you ever wandered through
downtown Reykjavík on a Friday
night? Have you seen the way we
behave when we can only get al-
cohol from any of the hundreds of
bars, clubs and restaurants all over
the city? Now imagine if we had ac-
cess to alcohol in any given privately
owned store.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my
country, and believe my fellow Ice-
landers are a modern and sophisti-
cated people who are part of inter-
national society. So I hope I don’t
sound prejudiced when I say we
are far too primitive and savage to
be able to handle unfettered access
to alcohol. We would literally drink
all the time. Thousands of drunk
schoolchildren, wandering the
streets begging for food, which they
wouldn’t get, because everyone’s
too drunk to work. Green cans lit-
tering every square metre of space.
A permanent cloud of beer breath
hanging over us year round.
Is that the kind of Iceland you
want to see? I know I don’t, and I
don’t think anyone would want to
raise their children in such a coun-
try. But that’s exactly what we’ll get
if we legalise alcohol. A failed state.
The only people who could pos-
sibly stand to benefit from legalising
the private sale of alcohol are the
people who make it and sell it. They
would become our overlords, rul-
ers of a vast feudal state, where we
peasants would be sowing and reap-
ing the very grains Big Alcohol uses to
keep us drunk and complacent. I say,
fight the power. Strike a blow for jus-
tice, and for the survival of the nation
itself. Block private alcohol.
Selling Alcohol
In Private Shops
THIS ISSUE'S
ISSUE
These days everything is just facts, facts, facts. You hop on social media and
every armchair pundit is just posting statistics, research findings, and rea-
soned analysis. We at the Grapevine seek to fill this void, with some much
needed reasoning from the left and from the right, those two directions that
we all know and love. Our pundits shall remain nameless, as they are, like all
pundits, humble people, shy of the spotlight.
One admission to three museums
Open daily / artmuseum.is / +354 4116400
Reykjavík Art Museum
HAFNARHÚS
TRYGGVAGATA 17
101 REYKJAVÍK
ÁSMUNDARSAFN
SIGTÚN
105 REYKJAVÍK
KJARVALSSTAÐIR
FLÓKAGATA 24
105 REYKJAVÍK
Mind and World
KJARVAL
An exhibition of Iceland’s
most beloved painter
Guided tours in English every
Friday at 2 p.m.
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Varma is available in various
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the timeless
warmth
of Iceland
Varma is dedicated to maintaining
Icelandic tradition in developing,
designing and manufacturing
quality garments and accessories
from the best Icelandic wool and
sheepskin shearling.
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