I bet there are a lot of people out there wondering just WHY no heads have rolled here in Iceland in wake of the economic implosion - and find it incomprehensible that they have not.
A lot of people here do too, but probably not too many are surprised. Sadly, it’s par for the course here. Which doesn’t make it any less infuriating … the news that a few days ago the Indian interior minister resigned over the Taj Mahal hotel siege even though he, personally, bears no particular responsibility has often been cited here in the last few days as a scandalous contrast to what is happening in our fair nation. I mean, an entire banking sector goes belly-up, our currency becomes virtually worthless in the space of a few weeks, we’re looking at massive unemployment, bankruptcies and staggering inflation … and everybody just points the finger at someone else while chanting the same mantra: “It wasn’t me!”
Mindful of this, I enjoyed Jón Kaldal’s editorial in Fréttablaðið today, analyzing that aspect of the Icelandic national character that often manifests as utter complacency. He writes:
There is, however, one characteristic which, while perhaps not exclusively Icelandic, characterizes us to a greater degree than most other nations. It is this so-called langlundargeð [long-suffering patience] which shows up in the fact that people are prepared to suffer a great deal before they spring into action. You might also call it acceptance - which no doubt was embedded in the nation’s genome through centuries of merciless cohabitation with the forces of nature, before the 20th century brought geothermal heat and proper communications.
It was probably this acceptance that was most evident at the beginning of the economic collapse, preventing people from rushing out into the streets and protesting fiercely ….
This long-suffering patience, of course, is one of our strengths as a group: maintaining balance in unexpected circumstances is a precious trait. Yet the problem with this aspect of character is that it leads to excessive allowance for the blunders of those in power. Consequently, a certain tradition has formed [here in Iceland], in which people do not take responsibility for their mistakes. And this will not change until the nation itself changes its attitude and stops allowing those who should bear the responsibility to avoid taking it.
Ay-men.
JUST WISH IT WASN’T SO BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH
All that protesting out in subzero temps, that is. I feel a cold coming on from standing outside for an hour in the freezing cold last Monday. Perhaps 66°N could start coming out with “protest suits” - like snowsuits - that people could wear to demonstrations. They could even embroider slogans in them so we wouldn’t have to picket. Hmmm. Think I should hurry up and patent the idea? Right now windy and 1°C [34F], sunrise in the capital was at 10.52, sunset at 15.43.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t worry - we may be more impatient with our leaders over here, but both collectively and individually, we’re no more likely to accept blame. It’s a massive epidemic, this lack of responsibility, in North America today.
Just watch the children playing in the House of Commons these days….. this is the lead story in the National Post today. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/politics/story.html?id=1023610
“Perhaps we are not the financial whizzes that we believed ourselves to be.”
-Einar Kárason
Perhaps?
hahaha! for the last 8 YEARS our dumbass president has been making a mockery of the united states, and probably made the most contributions to the economic downfall that is rapidly seizing up the entire rest of the world. i know a little bit about heads not rolling when it’s disgustingly clear that they SHOULD be.
I could not have said it better, Stef.
Speaking of fools:
http://icelandweatherreport.com/2006/04/here-comes-the-hangover.html
As much as I like the sound of langlundargeð, I think it is a rather simplistic explanation of behavior that I have experienced over several years of working — or trying to — with Icelanders. I have been puzzled by a complacency and acceptance of spilling (corruption) and what appeared to be a casual unwillingness to take action even when it is in their own self-interest. Injustice elicits a shrug and an excuse of why it would do no good to say or do anything to correct it.
My hypothesis is that this behavior is bound rage, a fear that if even a tiny step were taken all hell would break loose. It is atavistic. When disputes were settled in, for example, Njarl’s Saga the choice was often between drawn-out discussion or “point and edge”. Today’s Iceland is a tiny population where old scores are kept alive through gossip and submerged by fear of retaliation.
It is as if there is no difference between a whistle-blower and a bomb-thrower.
I am intrigued with the Kreppa because it is, on a much grander scale, the same process I encountered during the years that I was producing my website about Iceland and the Icelandic horse and could not establish collaborative relationships that would have allowed me to continue. Understanding one will helps me understand the other, more personal, experience.
The explanations for the crisis seem like layers of an onion. On one layer are bankers, on a deeper layer are regulators, on an even deeper layer is the central bank, and so on. Consumer greed (for houses, 4×4s, etc) must be on a layer. And risky business growth via enormous leverage must be on another layer. Langlundargeð was the pylsusinnep that made the onion seem palatable for so long.
“All that protesting out in subzero temps, that is. I feel a cold coming on from standing outside for an hour in the freezing cold last Monday. Perhaps 66°N could start coming out with “protest suits” - like snowsuits - that people could wear to demonstrations.”
LOL!
Perhaps some of these unemployed bankers could go into business making these!?
This supposed Icelandic trait of simply putting up with things is generally also a British one!
As a matter of interest, what political line does Fréttablaðið follow? Likewise, what is the political line of Morgunblaðið, which I see doesn’t have the money to pay its staff!?
Thanks for the input, everyone!
Andrew - Fréttablaðið, which is owned by Baugur, is a liberal paper and generally opposed to the current regime. It’s also distributed free daily (which is why I tend to quote it so much - we subscribe to Mbl. only on the weekends). Morgunblaðið has traditionally been a conservative stronghold, and was for years the mouthpiece of the Independence Party. It’s changed hands a good deal lately, was largely owned by the Björgólfurs (Landsbanki’s owners) until recently, and now Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson (Baugur) also owns a substantial share. - There’s been such frequent change in the ownership in the past few years that it’s hard to keep track. It’s in harsh financial straits, but word has it that Fréttablaðið is also operated on a permanent deficit.
Sale of condoms down, eh?
I hope safe sex isn’t a victim of the kreppa…!
I really like this idea of giving up on protests if the weather is below 0C.
Just think- if the Russians had adopted the same approach, the Czars would still be running that country, and I can’t see that would have been a bad thing.
“Oddsson refused to divulge the information”
The parliamentary committee should vote on extraordinary rendition to Syria for interrogation…
Faced with demands to resign, Oddsson is making wild threats:
http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=316517
Scary!
Gray - we know. Don’t you read our headlines?
Alda, I have just now received a boost to my belief that the voice of the masses is sometimes listened to. As a resident in the boondocks of Iceland I was really unimpressed with the decision to close down all rural broadcasting so joined the many and sent emails to the powers that be in the broadcasting authority. Just now I opened my home email account to see that I had received an email (obviously standard response to all those sent in) stating that they had reviewed their decision to close down rural radio. The sting in the tail though is that they are using advertising revenue as the raison d´etre for it’s continuing existence and knowing that now the pressure is on to stop advertising on govt owned broadcasting means that they will have that as the eventual excuse when push really does come to shove. In a way it is a shallow victory - but a victory nonetheless.
Sigga - a victory indeed. Yay!
“Don’t you read our headlines?”
In principle, yes, but “reading” doesn’t necessarily include transferring the information into long term memory…
Oops.
Heh.
It is not an Icelandic thing that no heads have rolled.
Barney Frank was right there at the top of the mess in the US mortgage mess.
Now he is in charge of giving money to GM etc.
those in power stay in power
it is our fault as citizens for not voting them all out