This just in from the press centre here:
Honesty is the value the representatives of the National Assembly
considered most important for society. Equal rights, respect and
justice follow. Next are love, responsibility, freedom, sustainability
and democracy. The family, equality and trust are also high
priorities.This is the conclusion of the first discussion which started this
morning in Laugardalsholl in Reykjavik. Almost 1,500 people from all
parts of the country are participating. Spirits are high and
participants and staff are focused on delivering good results for the
country.The participants are divided into groups working at 162 tables. Nine
people are at each table and their first task this morning was to
agree on values.The work continues and the next results are expected around 2 PM today.
Photos from the National Assembly are available at:
http://www.flickr.com/thjodfundur2009
Greetings from the media ant.
This is a great assembly – I’ve talked to a few people at the tables, and everyone is in high spirits. I think that even if nothing else comes from it, it really fills people here with a sense of unity and a sense of making a difference. I think it’s important to keep in mind that this is 0.5% of the nation here and most people will be keeping track of how the results are used in the wake of the assembly.
More anon!
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I just posted this comment on your previous post, then saw you’d just done a post on values, so here it is on the appropriate page!
I wonder how Icelanders’ choice of important values varies over time. I guess it was the behaviour of the kreppa’s politicians, bankers and businessmen that pushed honesty to the top spot. I personally would have chosen integrity, which apparently didn’t make it into the top four values. There are a lot of honest bankers and businessmen that are severly lacking integrity – and the worst thing is that they’d deny it on grounds of market forces, social Darwinism, etc.
James – Icelandic doesn’t really have a proper word for “integrity” — honesty comes closest, and I reckon integrity is incorporated in this value. In fact, I’d even put money on this being one of its main pillars.
I’d still put money on it being the other way around: honesty is one of the main pillars of integrity because integrity also includes your methods and actions, not just the truth of your communications. It’s interesting that Icelandic doesn’t clearly distinguish between the two – perhaps the English have historically had a greater need to discuss honest people lacking integrity!