Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.05.2016, Page 10

Paying
Their
Dues
Bullshit jobs and
bullshit in general
Words ÁSGEIR H. INGÓLFSSON
Photo JULIA STAPLES
Years ago I met a fascinating American
named Bill. I mainly remember two
things about Bill. The first: He joked
that despite being an artist he would
probably only find fame through pull-
ing out a shotgun at a McDonald’s. I had
recently purchased a tape recorder and
was mock-interviewing him when he
told the McDonald’s joke. I forgot about
it until I listened to it again in my room
some days later. Time Magazine was
in front of me—the issue in which the
Columbine killers talked openly about
how famous this would make them. I
got the chills from the coincidence. But
now I mostly marvel about those years
when people still bought magazines,
dictaphones had tapes in them, and you
asked people for their email address in
order to stay in touch.
The other thing I remember about
Bill was his e-mail address: paidmy-
dues @ some long since defunct email
provider. It seemed too ordinary for such
a colourful character—which made me
realize that there was a lot more to his
words than I’d first thought.
Long overdue
How do you pay your dues? Thorough
hard graft and working your way up
through the system? By doing your
bit for society and paying your taxes?
By voting and protesting and being a
proper citizen, partaking in society
and democracy the best you can?
That was probably the general idea,
and in exchange you should get prop-
er time to live your life and chase your
dreams, with the remote yet realistic pos-
sibility of making that dream your job.
But then things started to go south,
albeit in the most subtle of ways. Hard
work was equated with money, and
freedom with cash. And little by little,
hard work paid less and less, and free-
dom became a meaningless word.
All of this means that we stopped
paying our dues long ago, and have
been paying their dues instead. You all
know who they are: the politicians and
businessmen who are rich enough and
connected enough not to have to pay
for what we pay for. You know, stuff
like taxes and debts.
Bullshit jobs—and bullshit in general
We’re paying their dues over and over
again, not just by paying their taxes
and still seeing the welfare system
slowly crumble, because they have
made sure that our taxpaying money
goes elsewhere.
Yet that can be changed. First, we’ll
have to topple the government. But
this time, we must make sure we don’t
stop there. We have to make funda-
mental changes to society—changes
that make the average working man
free of debt, long working hours and
bullshit jobs. Changes that make this
a real democracy, where the citizens
have more power than just one x on a
ballot poll every four years, and aren’t
too worn down by 40-hour weeks of
drone work to use it.
The technology for all of this is al-
ready in place—and we have the riches
too, if we only distribute them more
equally. The adjustment won’t be pain-
less, but we’re more ready for it than we
assume—if we’re only given the chance.
SHARE: gpv.is/dues
OPINION
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 5 — 2016
10

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chance in downtown
Reykjavík, and they
made considerable
efforts to find her.
Not at all put off by being approached
by a fan with his story of a daughter
named after Ripley, she was charmed
instead, agreeing to meet young Ripley
in person. Which she did, even giving
the young Ripley a handwritten card,
signed, “Your alien godmother.” Prov-
ing once again that Sigourney Weaver
is an awesome human being.
Filming in Iceland for ‘Fast 8’, the
eighth movie in the Fast & Furious
franchise, has inspired mixed reac-
tions from Icelanders. While some
have pointed out the revenue such
filming generates for Iceland, the As-
sociation of Filmmakers has expressed
concerns about the filming’s environ-
mental impact on the Lake Mývatn
region and the working conditions of
the crew. Further, we at The Grapevine
have received a number of e-mails in-
quiring about the sudden presence of
military vehicles in Akranes, where
shooting is also taking place, with
some expressing fear and confusion
about a military occupation—un-
aware that these tanks and helicopters
are all a part of a movie. Truenorth,
the Icelandic production company be-
hind the Icelandic shoot, has offered
assurances that they took great pains
to preserve the environmental integ-
rity of Mývatn and employment terms
have been on the up-and-up. Nonethe-
less, Hollywood film crews would do
well to remember that Icelandic film
workers are watching closely.
by Paul Fontaine
NEWS IN
BRIEF