The revolution is on

Ok... this is the day that Obama turned to president and this is the first day of the real revolution in Iceland.

The protests have been going on since noon. People have lit a bonfire in front of the parliament, police is using tear gas, everything up in flames. This nation has not protested so hard since 1949 when Iceland signed up with Nato.

We want the government out. We want new managers in key financial institutions. And we want to vote again.

Since this thing, this credit crunch happend, no one has resigned, no one has said they were sorry. All they can say is "We understand your need to state an opinion and we think it's ok." Horrible arrogance that seems only an invitation to more anger and frustration. Some of them add "I used to protest myself when I was young".

But it's not just youngsters protesting. About 2000+ were there today. People of all ages and from all different layers of society.

I predict that if we don't get new elections asap... some people in government will get hurt. I think that something will be clear in February and that serious change will take place in March.

you should be able to find videos from the protest on these pages

www.visir.is
www.ruv.is
www.mbl.is

Read this

Iris in the Huffington Post

A little post from the host

I have been lazy recently. So probably my postings here will be like the truly honest men in this world-few and far between them... but occasionally I will post something. Like today for example.

I've heard some foreigners say that Icelanders seem clueless now. Like a lamb just about to be slaughtered, not knowing what is coming... but then I hear the people here in Iceland reply that we are so small, such a small nation... that our power to do and change stuff is much greater than the power of those who live in bigger nations.

Personally I have no idea what is coming but I know the law of cause and effect and that I can truly do something and create some change, depending on what I choose to do and to whom I talk.

One of the things I want to do is to sign up in a political party that will soon be created. The only goal of this party is to get into parliament to restore the democracy that we all want to live under. The one we chose so many years ago before this thing started to revolve around personal gain and power of a few individuals, their friends and relatives, who have shared these seats for decades.

I want to bring down this northern Sicily and create a nation that can be a reminder to others that anything should be possible... if there is a will, there is a way.

Got involved with a group of entrepreneurs and it people last Saturday. We want to think up some good ideas and make them happen. Making things happen is good fun.

Must admit though that at the same time that I write this, I feel a little worried about the future. These things happening in Gaza and the tension between Russia and Ukrania... I don't know. I worry that the law of cause will lead to some destructive effect if we are not careful and if we forget to learn from past mistakes.

The fourth cod war

We protest!

Ok...

The situation is getting both surreal and chaotic at the same time. People are protesting every Saturday and the number of protestants grows by hundreds as the weeks pass. But it's not really clear to me what is being protested against. A bit like a case of the windmills. Protesting against everything at the same time.
The leader of the national bank, corruption, dysfunctional politicians, dysfunctional government, high interests, a currency that seems to be worth about as much as monopoly money...

And the government is silent. There are no concrete answers about anything. Nothing is clear. There has been no real drawing of the worst case scenario and there is no real picture of what would be the best thing for us to do in this situation; How much money we need to dig us out of those problems and how this is going to directly affect the common Joe? No answers.

Solid businesses are going down because they don't get cash to secure the stash and even though the town is full of tourists willing to spend money, shop owners can not get new goods into their shops... everything is frozen. Meanwhile a few hundred loose their jobs every week and unemployment is predicted to rise to 10% in the next year. This means that about 18.000 people will be unemployed out of the 180.000 who are on the job market.

Personally I don't really know what to make of all this and I am not sure about what to do about it either. This feels like a waiting period, everything is still in the air, nothing is clear, a whirlwind of snowflakes in a ball. We have to wait for them to fall down in order to be able to make the next move, or even get an idea of what the next move will be.

I picture a Scandinavian Murmansk during the next ten years... but truly hope for something better. And meanwhile I wonder where the exit is.

ps.

Tonight I met a guy who has just arrived from Nepal. He told me that everyone in Nepal were aware of the bad situation we have up here... Now what does THAT mean? :)

A clan called Icelanders

I don't refer to my fellow countrymen as a nation. I call us a clan. How can you call a group of 300.000 individuals a "nation"?

We are all so liked with each other that when you meet a stranger it normally doesn't take more than ten minutes to find someone that you are either related to or both of you know.

And being so small, we are all interlinked and that calls for certain problems in government and most other places of authority. Because the fact is that as humans we are all primarily concerned with our interests and -concerns. And the more the people in government are connected with individuals concerned about their interests, the more twisted the decisions they make can become. Because sometimes they are not thinking of the rest of the clan but only their own closest members.

This is why it has been suggested that a group of independent professionals, who do not belong to this family, this clan... come over here to sort out some of our problems. To clean out the closets and clear the way for something new.

The IMF might be the first step. But there is more to follow. I just think we need some outside counseling, love.

I suppose it's in a way similar to other countries but still different. The clan is then made up by Ivy league students and the sons and daughters of "somebodys". Probably harder to deal with. Maybe the smallness of the nation allows us to clear things up this way? The problem being a solution at the same time.

Tighten the belt

IMF was here today. We got the stash. 2 billion $. The next 6 months will be really hard they said. A lot of people will loose jobs, homes, etc. And the inflation will reach 20%. Lovely...

And we are supposed to reinvent the lifestyle of 1975. Eat our own food. Bake bread. No money to import. What can we export? Elves? Fish? Music?

Looks like we need to get creative... shouldn't be too hard.