5 ms·

Meh, its a country of 330,000 people with some pretty oddball politics as its norm. This PM is 41 years old and has only been in government 7 years. Its not lik

Meh, its a country of 330,000 people with some pretty oddball politics as its norm. This PM is 41 years old and has only been in government 7 years. Its not like he represents the old guard, the banking industry, CEOs, the wealthy, or somesuch. He's kinda a nobody, even by Icelandic standards. He didn't have the political capital to cushion his fall so he took the easy way out. I'll be impressed when there's some reform or change in a powerful country or against a powerful and corrupt leader like Russia's Putin, who is clearly fleecing the Russian people to enrich himself and his friends. So far the only good news of note is that the US and the IRS will be cracking down harder on these characters now that they have all this ammo against them. Sadly, this will get a lot of people thinking "our side won" when this is pretty much the lowest prize we could have. Where's the real reform? Where's the big leaders being taken down? Iceland is pretty much a suburban Danish city on an island. Its not a world power. My city's dog catcher got more votes than this guy. Lets demand more than trivial wins. That said, bravo to the Icelandic people. Their example of a more direct form of democracy is pretty inspiring.

hugi 11y ago
Meh? This affects those of us that live in this country quite a lot. What is it that you find so odd or different about our politics from the rest of the world?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- gr3yh47 11y ago
  not agreeing with the comment you replied to, but what i find different between us and Iceland is: Their people mobilized aggressively against corruption twice now. Our people have not, not for the banks, not for the NSA leaks, and we probably will not for this
  - adventured 11y ago
    Occupy Wall Street in fact drew the attention of millions of Americans. It also had practical results by shining the spotlight on the US banking system, as did the broad public anger at Wall Street. The largest US banks have been semi-neutered, nearly nationalized by the Fed when it comes to control, and are heavily tamped down when it comes to risk. The result of all of that, is that America's banks are now arguably the strongest - and among the safest - in the world (compare Wells Fargo and JP Morgan right now to Europe's banks for example, or see: Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse).
    - tremon 11y ago
      America's banks are now arguably the strongest - and among the safest - in the world So, nothing changed?
- DannoHung 11y ago
  That you can actually stand up for yourself and make a difference.
interfixus 11y ago
It's a country of 330.000 highly intelligent, civilized and self-reliant people, with a manageable size and a coherence which allows them room for experimentation.
- dmckeon 11y ago
  What I find amazing is the size of the crowd that turned out mere hours after the leaks were publicized. http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/many-22000-gathered-demand-resignation-pm-yesterday-largest-mass-protest-icelandic-history http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/many-22000-gathered-deman... Imagine the political scandal required in the USA for more than 8 million people to turn out in less than a day to protest anything.
  - aembleton 11y ago
    To be fair, over 1/3 of the population live in Reykjavik so it is easier for them to go and protest the Prime Minister. Getting 8 million to Washington DC in less than a day would be a logistical nightmare. Population of Washington DC is a bit less than 5 times that of Reykjavik, so it would be like getting 50k protesters out. Still very impressive.
  - interfixus 11y ago
    I was actually dining out in Copenhagen with an old Icelandic friend last night. She apologized for being slightly unsocial, but simply had to follow events as they transpired. This was clearly huge back home. Also some background. The prime minister married into money, his wife's family being extremely succesful Toyota importers and dealers. On his accession he made a clear pledge that all his financial dealings would be above board and in plain sight.
    - coldcode 11y ago
      > above board and in plain sight At least he got the second one, though not willingly.
  - qznc 11y ago
hacker_9 11y ago
It is still a country, and despite how small it may be, it is leading the way in fighting the corruption that the Panama leak exposed. This event will also influence how other involved countries will deal with their members of government now too.
Lanari 11y ago
You could say the same about the Arab spring, that starter in Tunisia which is smaller country and lead to several other countries taking down the reign. It was about the message: "Even if a dictator stayed decades ruling you can take him down". And again there was the opposite message from Syria: "The reign can bomb you, and also call their allies to bomb you". It was like a domino, leader falling after leader until Assad didn't. And no one did after.
- contingencies 11y ago
  Tunisia felt legitimate. I was there (for a whole month, before and during). Libya felt pushed. Egypt and everything else felt like foreign influence had more impact than local discontent.

hugi 11y ago

Meh? This affects those of us that live in this country quite a lot. What is it that you find so odd or different about our politics from the rest of the world?

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
gr3yh47 11y ago
not agreeing with the comment you replied to, but what i find different between us and Iceland is: Their people mobilized aggressively against corruption twice now. Our people have not, not for the banks, not for the NSA leaks, and we probably will not for this
- adventured 11y ago
  Occupy Wall Street in fact drew the attention of millions of Americans. It also had practical results by shining the spotlight on the US banking system, as did the broad public anger at Wall Street. The largest US banks have been semi-neutered, nearly nationalized by the Fed when it comes to control, and are heavily tamped down when it comes to risk. The result of all of that, is that America's banks are now arguably the strongest - and among the safest - in the world (compare Wells Fargo and JP Morgan right now to Europe's banks for example, or see: Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse).
  - tremon 11y ago
    America's banks are now arguably the strongest - and among the safest - in the world So, nothing changed?
DannoHung 11y ago
That you can actually stand up for yourself and make a difference.

interfixus 11y ago

It's a country of 330.000 highly intelligent, civilized and self-reliant people, with a manageable size and a coherence which allows them room for experimentation.

dmckeon 11y ago
What I find amazing is the size of the crowd that turned out mere hours after the leaks were publicized. http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/many-22000-gathered-demand-resignation-pm-yesterday-largest-mass-protest-icelandic-history http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/many-22000-gathered-deman... Imagine the political scandal required in the USA for more than 8 million people to turn out in less than a day to protest anything.
- aembleton 11y ago
  To be fair, over 1/3 of the population live in Reykjavik so it is easier for them to go and protest the Prime Minister. Getting 8 million to Washington DC in less than a day would be a logistical nightmare. Population of Washington DC is a bit less than 5 times that of Reykjavik, so it would be like getting 50k protesters out. Still very impressive.
- interfixus 11y ago
  I was actually dining out in Copenhagen with an old Icelandic friend last night. She apologized for being slightly unsocial, but simply had to follow events as they transpired. This was clearly huge back home. Also some background. The prime minister married into money, his wife's family being extremely succesful Toyota importers and dealers. On his accession he made a clear pledge that all his financial dealings would be above board and in plain sight.
  - coldcode 11y ago
    > above board and in plain sight At least he got the second one, though not willingly.
- qznc 11y ago

hacker_9 11y ago

It is still a country, and despite how small it may be, it is leading the way in fighting the corruption that the Panama leak exposed. This event will also influence how other involved countries will deal with their members of government now too.

Lanari 11y ago

You could say the same about the Arab spring, that starter in Tunisia which is smaller country and lead to several other countries taking down the reign. It was about the message: "Even if a dictator stayed decades ruling you can take him down". And again there was the opposite message from Syria: "The reign can bomb you, and also call their allies to bomb you". It was like a domino, leader falling after leader until Assad didn't. And no one did after.

contingencies 11y ago
Tunisia felt legitimate. I was there (for a whole month, before and during). Libya felt pushed. Egypt and everything else felt like foreign influence had more impact than local discontent.