In which the Wall Street Journal barks up the wrong concern
Niceland seems to be a bit of a media darling these days, what with all the tales of our economic troubles, the big feature in Newsweek, and an article on page one in the Wall Street Journal, which focuses on our alleged obsession with big souped-up jeeps that have been customized to drive all over our rugged landscapes. The main gist of the article [if I understand it correctly] is that this little hobby practiced by ‘thousands of people’ here in Iceland is one of the casulties of the current economic downturn, as gas prices are making the cost of tearing up the glaciers and general terrain for a weekend about as much as that of ‘a weekend trip to London’.
Meanwhile, the truth is that the monster jeep demographic is a fairly small one [I don’t know of a single person who practices this hobby, even in my extended social network], and has earned itself more than a lot of bad press here lately by attaching itself to the trucker demonstrations, helping them block roads and such, thereby causing a lot of grief for the general populace. Whereas people were sympathetic to the plight of the truckers, at least initially, the 4×4 club, as they call themselves, just made fools of themselves. I mean, blocking traffic and potentially endangering lives [causing delays for emergency vehicles] just because it is more expensive for you now to get your jollies tearing around up on the glaciers? Get a grip.
Not that they had a lot of popularity to lose. Their vehicles are especially designed for offroad driving, and offroad driving is completely illegal in this country [tourists take note!] for a very good reason: our vegetation is incredibly sensitive and it can take nature centuries to repair damage inflicted by a single offroad joyride. Also, just last weekend a particular case made the papers, concerning a jeep flipping over and onto the mountain hut at Landmannalaugar, causing damage of millions of kronur to the building. The culprits, who were guides for an unnamed [not by me – I would definitely name them] touring company and who were seriously inebriated, hightailed it away from the scene [unfortunately for them there were witnesses] and according to reports the park warden expected them to return and own up – but they didn’t. An investigation is now underway and with any luck heads will roll.
So, whereas the economic downturn is a reality here and a lot of people are reportedly struggling, the WSJ is a bit misguided in highlighting this as something indicative of our current economic woes. Indeed, yesterday’s Fréttablaðið wrote a blurb about the article and cited a quote attributed to one Alfred “Spotti” Bergisson, who was “willing to fight for his right to party” and who told the WSJ: “I just want to go where I want to go … I get energy in the mountains. I think there.” Which prompted Fréttablaðið to quip: “It’s very good for people to think … for example, about their treatment of the countryside and environmental issues.”
APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY BUDS
It rained yesterday, was sunny this morning, and is clouding over now BUT all the buds are emerging on the trees, which is delightful. And the best thing – buds don’t cost anything or carry any interest in foreign loans! [or tear up the landscape!] We’re in for more rain later today and tomorrow, but generally it’s mild and everything is turning green. Right now 13°C [55F] and the day is getting longer by the minute – sunrise this morning was at 4.45 am and sunset is scheduled for 10.06 pm.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I thought it was interesting that they started with the thesis that the jeep hobby was a casualty of the downturn, but then went on to “prove” that by noting that everyone was still doing it anyway. Maybe they could have made their point better if they could find someone who had actually stopped wasting gas due to the high gas prices. (Or maybe the real point was “Look at the silly Icelanders!”)
Can’t help but wonder whether the WSJ would have run an article like this before it Rupert Murdoch bought it.
mgb, indeed, one does not know what to think!
tk, why - what difference would that have made?
Ahem. It so happens that my extended family has been modifying trucks since before the 4×4 club was funded and have been a part of it from the beginning. I´m a little offended that you so readily associate the 4×4 club with ‘off-road driving’ since the club is vigilant in protecting the nature and advocates to not drive outside roads or trails except for places that it is perfectly OK to drive (e.g. on snow and glaciers). There is, for instance, an environmental comittee within the club and one of their job is to mark trails so other jeppamenn/konur can find the trails more easily. There is nothing illegal with the club’s operations as you are implying. If they were breaking the law on continuous basis, the club wouldn’t exist! The truth is that this is a nice family sport, where the whole family can travel together and see the country.
Any fool with a lot of money to burn can buy a truck and have it modified, go out and put an eyesore in nature. One of the most common trips the club organizes is Nýliðaferðir, which as the name suggests, have the goal of inaugurating the newbies, to teach them how to drive safely and responibly on the highland.
Sonja, I stand corrected! My prejudices were showing and I hadn’t looked into the matter. Sorry. And thanks for the feedback.
So, now that you know someone when will you be putting those big tires on your car and joining them? We have a little Toyota, and a neighbor has a truck with wheels taller than my car, the truck raised even higher so you can almost walk under it without bending over. I keep asking my wife if we can do that with the Toyota and she just laughs.
Sunny and warm here, up to 30c today.
Joe, not sure I’d be welcome after this post.
I find myself wondering why your neighbour needs such monster tires. Aren’t you in the middle of the desert?
Thanks for your comments on the WSJ article.
I was in Reykjavik 3 weeks ago, and it all seemed the same. People were not jumping out of windows because of the “economic downturn”. Things were more expensive, but things are more expensive here as well.
I can’t speak for the meaning of tk’s post, But I have been reading the WSJ for many years, and I have noticed a subtle shift from real financial information, to “fluff” such as this (as it relates to the economy in Iceland), ever since the paper was sold to Murdoch.
As you may know, he runs a TV network here that tends to do whatever it takes to get viewers. Perhaps that is what TV networks are for, but I always expected more from the WSJ. It just seems to less concerned with the real financial story these days.
In the case of Iceland, a story about the troubles of Icelanders who have mortgages denominated in foreign currency would be quite informative, but I’m sure it would not make it to the front page as this story did. This story does get people talking, and I’m sure it sells papers, but it is not the real financial story of what is happening in Iceland today, from what I can tell.
I will be back in Reykjavik this weekend, looking for massive changes in life there during the past 3 weeks. lol.
Just a comment. I love the way you call Iceland “Niceland”.
I kept thinking of that the past few days when I was in Niceville (yes, a town really has that name) Florida.
Keep up your great work!
Don: Yep, that’s pretty much what I meant.
Hello!
Very nice website of yours, I check Iceland’s weather as frequently as I check my local weather.
WSJ silliness aside, it does seem the monster truck demographic in Iceland, while perhaps small in number, is proportionately quite large. I made a short vacation trip to Iceland two years ago, and it’s striking how many near amphibious Nissan Patrols there are hulking about Reykjavik’s roads.
“An investigation is now underway and with any luck heads will roll.”
Good! That kind of behavior makes me livid. I’m glad they got caught.
Don, yes - so you know what I mean. Life goes on pretty much as usual here, despite the big media hype about Iceland going down the tubes. Apparently the banks are not even seeing more defaults on loans than normally … so all this gloom and doom is more or less hearsay.
Kris, I don’t know how many there are elsewhere, but I rarely see them. Perhaps they were all in town for a convention?
- or maybe they’re so ubiquitous that I’ve just stopped seeing them.
Rozanne, yes absolutely. Me too.
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