Icelandic Media Blackout
Have you heard any news from Iceland in the past two years? I sure as heck haven’t – nothing since their currency crashed. It turns out things are getting interesting there (hat-tip to Texas Arcane). From the link:
ICELAND. No news from Iceland?… why? How come we hear everything that happens in Egypt but no news about what’s happening in Iceland:
In Iceland, the people has made the government resign, the primary banks have been nationalized, it was decided to not pay the debt that these created with Great Britain and Holland due to their bad financial politics and a public assembly has been created to rewri
te the constitution.And all of this in a peaceful way. A whole revolution against the powers that have created the current global crisis. This is why there hasn’t been any publicity during the last two years: What would happen if the rest of the EU citizens took this as an example? What would happen if the US citizens took this as an example.This is a summary of the facts:
2008. The main bank of the country is nationalized.
The Krona, the currency of Iceland devaluates and the stock market stops. The country is in bankruptcy2008. The citizens protest in front of parliament and manage to get new elections that make the resignation of the prime minister and his whole government.
The country is in bad economic situation.
A law proposes paying back the debt to Great Britain and Holland through the payment of 3,500 million euros, which will be paid by the people of Iceland monthly during the next 15 years, with a 5.5% interest.2010. The people go out in the streets and demand a referendum. In January 2010 the president denies the approval and announces a popular meeting.
In March the referendum and the denial of payment is voted in by 93%. Meanwhile the government has initiated an investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the crisis, and many high level executives and bankers are arrested. The Interpol dictates an order that make all the implicated parties leave the country.In this crisis an assembly is elected to rewrite a new Constitution which can include the lessons learned from this, and which will substitute the current one (a copy of the Danish Constitution).
25 citizens are chosen, with no political affiliation, out of the 522 candidates. For candidacy all that was needed was to be an adult and have the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly starts in February of 2011 to present the ‘carta magna’ from the recommendations given by the different assemblies happening throughout the country. It must be approved by the current Parliament and by the one constituted through the next legislative elections.So in summary of the Icelandic revolution:
-resignation of the whole government
-nationalization of the bank.
-referendum so that the people can decide over the economic decisions.
-incarcerating the responsible parties
-rewriting of the constitution by its peopleHave we been informed of this through the media?
Has any political program in radio or TV commented on this?
No! The Icelandic people have been able to show that there is a way to beat the system and has given a democracy lesson to the world.Please spread the news as Iceland is the role model now although sooner or later, the banksters will start demilishing their nationalized bank.
Actually, it’s not hard to get by in Iceland with just English. Pretty much everyone there speaks English well, with a lot of natives knowing it better than Icelandic. If you tried to speak to a lot of people there in Icelandic they just fall back into English. You’d be fine.
You really can get by with only knowing English in Iceland. My buddy went and literally met only one person who couldn’t speak English. To the article, keep in mind that Iceland has no army, or really any military at all. They didn’t have to worry about martial law or retaliation if the Government was unwilling to relinquish power/deal with them.
After reading this i could not stop from getting upset. These so called leaders say we are free but yet they control what we see and hear. I’m ecstatic that the people in Iceland had the balls to stand up to their government and demand that they fix this problem. Those people in my mind are truly free! Here in the US unfortunately as much as we like to brag that we are the freest country in the world in the end our so called freedom is limited to the gov allows.
Icelandic people are not the only ones showing that they can come out in mass and throw out their gov. Spain is also going through issues as their gov is trying to instill austerity measures. Cities like Madrid, Barcelona etc are a hot bed for demonstrations with thousands of young people and older people filling their ranks. Constant clashing with police shows that the Spanish people are fighting back even while the police tear gas and beat the people with their batons.
but yet the only way i find out about it is by websites like this as well as Spanish television like TVE or the BBC.
CNN or Fox they are more worried about ratings and that is it. Which is why i use the internet to read whats going on in the world. Be prepared though because the internet has a target painted on its back. They want to control the internet since you can fins almost any information you want. Information is power!
Aurini thanks for the heads up borther!
Iceland is a feminist, socialist liberal utopia.
I wouldn’t applaud them. Blaming bankers is,popular, but doesn’t change anything. Their solution is not to pay, which is not an actual solution. Their government was not a tyrannical controlling body, but an accurate democratic manifestation of their own gluttony. The Icelandic people should be on trial, not the bankers.
Aurini,
The fact that the government was overthrown is also ridicules, the Icelandic people voted for the government, this is a legitimate Congress.
The lack of violence, and lack of armed forces maybe makes things more safe and civil, but also shows how weak the Icelandic become. I wonder what a gang of 100 armed ruthless dedicated patriarchs could do to such a country.