The first shock of the 2008 economic crisis encouraged Iceland to apply for EU membership, but its social effects and local political dispute appears to be turning the tide towards a rejection in a national referendum. The social effects of the crisis appear to manifest themselves in fear and distrust of local individuals and organizations [...]

Someone told me that one of the most interesting things about Stefan Zweig’s story, The World Of Yesterday is how easy it was for people to move away from bad rulers before the days of border patrols and passports. The issue of surrogate mothers has been hotly debated in Iceland recently. A toddler is stuck [...]

I found this old newspaper clipping. Funny how history has a knack of repeating itself. Iceland under threat from European assimilation – Christian extremism on the rise in neighbouring lands Editorial by Styrmir Bjornsson, troll chieftain – Odin Times. Friday, June 17, 886. ———————————————————————— Iceland is under threat from a foreign invasion which might change [...]

I answered a question for kannski.is, a website giving opposite views on matters relating to the EU.  It was whether Iceland could not join NAFTA instead of the EU, unilaterally adopt the dollar and keep its sovereignty intact instead of risking it within the EU.  Although I presently believe that Iceland’s long term prospects are [...]

Comparisons on EU “soft” power vs. US “hard” power: Europe is turning away from power, or to put it a little differently, it is moving beyond power into a self-contained world of laws and rules and transnational negotiation and cooperation. It is entering a post-historical paradise of peace and relative prosperity, the realization of Kant’s [...]

Why does Iceland need the EU? A comment from this post expressed wonder at the current situation in Iceland. Somehow many people expected things to be much worse for the general population by now. People are still going to coffee shops even if the latte is approaching the price of a pre-crash beer, there are [...]

Ten reasons why it has all gone fucking fuck in Iceland since the pots and pan revolution. 1. There was a demand of reform in the fishing industry. It was needed because the resource was gathering in the hands of very few who in turn used their wealth to borrow intensely against it and invest [...]

Finally someone spoke out about the absurd EU debate in Iceland. In an interview with Channel 2 radio, Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson, the Social Democrats leader who signed the EEA agreement on Iceland’s behalf in Oporto in 1992 claims that there is no debate on the issue in Iceland. What is being discussed has nothing to [...]

The xenophobic movement Heimssyn is now exporting its propaganda abroad. EU Times published what seemed to be an article written by someone claiming to be a credible journalist who had been misinformed by the propaganda coming from Iceland. I replied in the comment section, thinking there was a foreign journalist that needed some background on [...]

There are some pitiful characters still haunting Icelandic politics. Stirring up nationalistic rhetoric, they are unable to get a grip in post-crash Iceland. Bjorn Bjarnason, Styrmir Gunnarsson, David Oddson and Bjarni Hardarson are not the only failed ghosts of the past who want to determine Iceland’s future. Ogmundur Jonasson, the leader of the “unruly division” [...]