Iceland exposed: How a whole nation went down the toilet

[snagglepuss]

The entire article is a must read about Iceland's confrontation with bankruptcy and the public response which went through a number of steps as anger mounted and about the female who put egalitarianism back on the agenda. In fact women were looked to to clean up after what is described as a "testosterone age" and they were looked to because the only Icelandic investment company to emerge from the crisis relatively unscathed was Audur Capital, set up by two women, Halla Tomasdottir and Kristin Petursdottir, to cater to female investors.


snip


“Our ground rule was simple,” said Halla Tomasdottir. “We didn’t invest in anything we couldn’t understand.” In a sense the supposedly new orientation toward women echoes the Viking tradition, when the men would disappear out to sea for weeks on end, leaving women to run the households.


snip


Those in power thought they were being confronted by lynch justice and allowed the riot police almost a free hand to defend the institutions of state. Those demonstrating outside began to sniff every hint of weakness...The demonstrators saw weakness politically too, of course. Iceland looked rudderless, with the Parliament coming back from its Christmas holidays on January 22, after what might seem to have been an unusually long break in the middle of a world crisis.

snip

None of this pleased or satisfied the protesters. The rallies grew and grew. The protesters banged tom-toms and lit effigies of politicians until late in the night. There were no more vague demands for apologies. “What do you want to happen next, after they’ve gone?” I asked the people in the crowd that January, and did not get a coherent reply. Some wanted a return to “fairness”; the more radical were so enraged that they went so far as to demand a kind of Nuremberg trial, with Haarde, Oddsson and the oligarchs jailed on charges of defrauding the nation.


snip


Johanna Sigurdardottir put egalitarianism back on the agenda; her promotion of women was not supposed to right some ancient wrong, a discriminatory imbalance, but rather ease the way back toward a society that treasured solidarity. Women understood Johanna’s aims better than men and confirmed her in power in the general election on April 22. By that time, after only a few months in government, Johanna had convinced society that it had to reach deep into itself and fish out special Icelandic virtues: modesty, hard work, a rugged respect for each other.




Read more at:

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6855928.ece

[villager]

1. Iceland wasn't hamstrung by a large population of deranged fundamentalists

The "easing" won't be nearly so "easy" when the collapse comes here...

[snagglepuss]

5. Very true.

:(

[NYC_SKP]

2. Good Story. Viking Women ROCK!

Seriously, the connection to their heritage is impressive.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. once they've sorted Iceland thay can come for Bush and cheney if they like

[malaise]

4. I love the banner they hung up on Thor Bjoergolfsson's balcony

“We were never elected to any office, yet we ruled everything”.

That should become viral and global. The fugging merchants and bankers have destroyed this planet.

[snagglepuss]

6. Good point. That banner says it all, doesn't it.

[Romulox]

7. So...to get this straight. Iceland's women have no culpability in its collapse?

:eyes:

[snagglepuss]

8. Where does the article imply that?

[Romulox]

12. "In fact women were looked to to clean up after what is described as a 'testosterone age'"

[snagglepuss]

13. You obviously didn't bother to read the article. nt

[Scout]

10. no, you don't have it straight n/t

[leftstreet]

16. 'Disaster' Capitalism becomes 'Testosterone' Capitalism?

lol

when will they stop trying to lipstick the Capitalism Pig?

[reggie the dog]

9. How much of their problem came from the banks in the United Kingdom

particularly England, not paying out on the money that the Iceland government wanted to withdraw...??????

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. No, it was the other way round

People and organisations (such as local councils) in Britain wanted to withdraw money from Icelandic banks, and the Icelandic banks couldn't give it to them.

When that happened, the UK government then froze the assets that the Icelandic banks had in Britain.

[DURHAM D]

11. The April issue of Vanity Fair had a good article on Iceland.

It generally blamed the guys in charge because men see only the opportunity when women see the possible downside. Seems to correlate to Wall Street/Banking issues in U.S.

[enid602]

14. nice

“We didn’t invest in anything we couldn’t understand.” Very nice.

[snagglepuss]

17. That's a quite a concept, isn't it. Obvisiously these two didn't have the massive

egos others had that blinded them to their own stupidity.

[Quantess]

18. Looks interesting.

I'll read it later this evening.

[mogster]

19. One aspect of the demise of the Icelandic economy: NATO/Bush priorities

The US military base Naval Air Station Keflavik was closed by the Bush administration in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Keflavik
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=25809

"At one time, Iceland had more than 10,000 U.S. service members based there. Then, the threats came from first Nazi Germany and then the Soviet Union. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the threats have changed and come from new directions: terrorism, international crime, and drug trafficking, Hall said."

This base provided jobs and connection to the outside world for this little country, and the closing practically left Iceland without a defense. Iceland is a microscopic society of only 300.000 on an island which has not very many natural resources except for fish.

"Iceland was the seventh most productive country in the world by List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita (US$54,858), and the fifth most productive by GDP at purchasing power parity ($40,112). Except for its abundant hydroelectric and geothermal power, Iceland lacks natural resources; historically its economy depended heavily on the fishing industry, which still provides almost 40% of export earnings and employs 8% of the work force. The economy is vulnerable to declining fish stocks and drops in world prices for its main material exports: fish and fish products, aluminium, and ferrosilicon."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland#Economy_and_Infrastructure

"Defense officials said the decision to withdraw the permanently stationed aircraft, more than 1,200 U.S. military personnel and 100 Defense Department civilian employees came after discussions about moving U.S. assets to places where they are needed more. More than 600 Icelandic employees could lose their jobs as a result. "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/16/AR2006031601846.html

Maybe the decision to close the base is a natural consequence when the focus of the worlds attention is turning south, and to the Middle East?
Back in the 50's it was seen as a part of the bulwark against the Soviets, a strategically important position smack in the middle of the North Sea.
The high presence of Americans there made an impact on the Icelandic society, making the country one of the most US-influenced countries in Europe. I won't say that all things American was popular, but the close relationship connected Iceland to the US.