Comments on: Snap!

By: R0n & Connie Adamson

R0n & Connie Adamson — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:09:54 +0000

We are in Naniamo B.C. Canada . We are enjoying this page.
Connies family from Icland Thorstein Hallrimson 1844- 1936
The world seems to be in a termoil

By: Dynamics of Cats

Dynamics of Cats — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:04:34 +0000

take that to the bank……

Icelander responds to housing and car loan crisis in classical style……

By: hildigunnur

hildigunnur — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:01:43 +0000

RK, ah yes, that was it.

Yes, maybe we’re being too judgemental – but mainly I’m irritated at this guy being hailed as some sort of hero, really.

By: RK in Los Angeles

RK in Los Angeles — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:10:51 +0000

Hildigunnur its called prefab (prefabricated) houses.

Not to play the devils advocate here or anything, I did think all the same things as all of you about this guy. But then I wonder if maybe he is angry because he received no forgiveness, no second chance to make up for his mistakes? But on the news every day are stories about royal colossal f*** ups made by authorities and/or bigger fish so to speak, and that the consequences are still insignificant for those people. I don’t know, I am not pretending to know what goes on with this man. Just generally wondering.

It saddens me to read the Icelandic news these days, not just because of events but because of the tone. There is so much anger and blame going around and a lot of judgments being passed. Sometimes I cant help wondering if we Icelanders are really judgmental people, I would like to think not but I do think we are very hard on ourselves and each other. A bit of forgiveness, at least some empathy doesn’t hurt anyone. So far the wrong things are forgiven.

By: Gwrhyr

Gwrhyr — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:58:19 +0000

It sounds like these incidents are not only repercussions of the Kreppa but also of the irresponsible times before the kreppa.
In any case, if incidents like this continue, it is definitely the start of societal collapse. These two people may or may not have good reason to be angry, but their actions only cost the Icelandic people more money and stress as well as make Iceland look like a meth-lab-infested crack-ho neighborhood in the USA or any non-major Russian city.
These are probably the most trying times for the social contract of Icelandic society, and if more pressure is put on the people, they will snap. There is only so much pressure people can withstand.
I have no doubt, though, the Icelandic society can weather this storm, though. Icelanders have weathered a lot throughout the centuries so there should be no reason for them to collapse now.

By: Sigga

Sigga — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:05:57 +0000

Yes, I definitely think we need to worry when people are hailing this guy as righteous, I am sorry, but people have to face the consequences of their greed. And this guy is just using the kreppa to justify himself and that is just soooo wrong, he was in it deep big time long before the bank collapsed. He was also just a little bit to calm and composed in the interview on the news…. seems more like psychopathic behaviour to me.

By: Guðmundur

Guðmundur — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:05:30 +0000

It seems like the only people who have tackled the kreppa constructively are the entrepreneurs of Hugmyndaráðuneytið and the squatters who took over an empty, derelict house in the city center earlier this year. At least they managed to put their actions into some political and social context. This guy on the other hand seems to have tried his best to live the Icelandic dream by trampling on others, only to get trampled himself by even bigger forces. The farmer who paid him 10 million krónur for a house he never received handled this admirably, however. He said that if this guy would come to his farm and work until his debt was paid up, he'd forgive him. No reponse yet, though.

By: hildigunnur

hildigunnur — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:26:31 +0000

Also maybe he should have thought of that the banks are now actually owned by the State, that is all of us, instead of the swindlers that owned the banks before. So now he was taking his anger out on the rest of us.

I think way less of Þór Saari after hearing he was in on this BS, than earlier, sorry to say

By: hildigunnur

hildigunnur — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:23:33 +0000

Yeah, he was in the business of importing - hmm, what the heck would "einingahús" be in English - ready made house parts to put together houses, as his own. There's at least one family that had paid 10 millions all in all last summer, the parts factory never saw more than about 3 of them, the people never got any part of their house. See here and here.

By: Ljósmynd DE

Ljósmynd DE — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:20:12 +0000

Isn’t there any way for individuals to file for personal bankruptcy to get rid of at least parts of their debts? If this man had been cheating other people, it might be a different case, but generally it is very bad for society, if people feel cornered and think to have nothing to loose for the reason of exorbitant debts. It might be bound to trigger violence and call forth populists with the easy solution. Shouldn’t the bank offering the loans be responsible, too?

But otherwise keep the sun shining.