I have written almost daily about the economic disaster since last November. Things have largely gone as predicted.
- The mess just gets messier as the nation learns that the banks were just tools for amassing personal wealth by an elite that is so corrupt it absolutely believes it isn’t.
- The election this spring did not manage to bring about much change. The people who came in were clones of the ones that left, products of a system that rewards intellectual and ideological mediocrity. The few who promised to change things around have either watched in stunned silence at the way Althingi works, or just gone bananas.
- Those responsible for the crash are busy working on dumping their debts onto the state and acquiring what assets are left through the solvency committees. Glitnir’s solvency committee for example is the single most offensive organization that has ever existed in Iceland, and the competition for that title is plenty.
- The media is crippled. It is counting on Wikileaks to provide them with information it should be getting itself. But whistle-blowers don’t trust Icelandic journalists because they either ask them to wait until they get back from their fishing trips or are just as likely to head off with the information into the very direction it shouldn’t.
- The general population seems to be chewing some potent acid mushrooms, trying to find excuses elsewhere (Gordon Brown), wanting the destruction forces back into power (Independence Party scoring 30% in polls), shouting for isolation from the western world (No to the EU, yes to Russia) and worst of all closing their eyes and hoping that if they count to ten, things will return back to the private jet, G&T and caravan-days of 2007 (think positive thoughts, ignore news, let’s do a start-up company because crisis means opportunity in China).
- Public service is heading downwards, prices are soaring upwards. The inflation-shot that was supposed to last for a short while is now celebrating birthdays with more and more candles. Unemployment is at 9% which lunatics like Brit Ambrose Evans-Pritchard think is something to celebrate.
Meanwhile a friend is saying goodbyes before leaving the country. After working for two large companies and seeing how things worked up close and the consequences, she has lost faith in her nation.
She’s not the only one and people are leaving quietly. Those left behind either get more agitated or more delusional in thinking that this is their opportunity to shine.
But it isn’t. The government has shown no signs of wanting meaningful change, other than their people at the helm instead of the opposition. The opposition has shown where its loyalties lie, with the businessmen who shamed their country.
Iceland is in a dire need of a grand plan, an enlightenment and change. Unfortunately for those stuck with the IceSave bill, that means the grand plan involves moving abroad. If you intend to stick around, you better be prepared for one hell of a fight.
The fight will eventually come. If it doesn’t we are doomed.
But right now, we just seem deflated, defeated and in a mode that is somehow best described as mourning.
I know I am today as I cannot stand the thought of writing about the whole mess.
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Carl Mosconi
2 years ago
Don´t ever let these bastards grind you down. When the complaining stops they have won. You are doing yeoman´s work..stay with it!
Bromley86
2 years ago
I know I shouldn’t laugh, but this one had me chuckling:
“Unemployment is at 9% which lunatics like Brit Ambrose Evans-Pritchard think is something to celebrate.”
Do please keep up the good work.
kria09
2 years ago
I have been reading your blog almost daily for the last months. It’s brilliant and it’s one gleam of hope in the dark of all this mess.
Please, don’t let them get you down.
kevin
2 years ago
How about organising a mortgage payment strike to force the
government to get rid of mortgage indexation NOW. You have complained
often about this. It is surely time for action on your part. Good
luck ! Remember that the Scots defeated Mrs. Tatcher when she tried
to impose the Poll Tax. The Icelandic government is a lot less formidable than Mrs. Tatcher. If thousands of Icelandic mortgage holders
refuse to pay then the government cannot evict them all or send them all
to jail. Do something now!
Dadi
2 years ago
Kevin, this is actually being organized by the Homeowners Interest Group. What people need is confirmation that they won’t be the only ones hung to dry when others back out.
I guess in my own case, I have been waiting now for quite a while hoping that the government comes to its senses and starts providing actual solutions. But I might be waiting in wain.
Blubber
2 years ago
The mortgage indexation will not be fixed by the current government, because they need to use it as bait; the mortgage indexation is illegal in the EU, so IF we join it will go away.
The mortgage indexation will not be fixed by the opposition either, since it never was in their 18 yr reign and people voted for them anyway.
The other thing is the bizarre blood milking of foreclosures. In civilized society, when you are no longer able to pay back your loan, the bank gets the collateral, the house usually, and you walk away debt free. Obviously, you have lost all the money you put into that loan, as well as your down payment.
In Iceland, you lose the house and you still have to pay back the rest of the loan, which is simply barbaric.