Posts Tagged ‘iceland’

The Story We Aren’t Hearing – Icelanders’ Debt Forgiven

Friday, May 11th, 2012

When it comes to the Euro zone economic crisis, the mainstream media is quick to highlight the ongoing protests, especially those in Greece, Spain and Italy where riots and clashes with police make for great headlines. And the only solutions they mention bounced between austerity for the people and bailouts for domestic banks by even bigger international banks.

But there is another alternative, one which the media seems to consistently overlook: bailout the people instead of the banks.

This is what Iceland has done, and the results are stupendous. After a short period of recession, Iceland now boasts economic growth close to 3 percent, where as the rest of the Euro zone is limping forward with under 1 percent gains.

Iceland’s solution to the economic crisis is being hailed as one of the world’s best recovery stories. Yet this victory is mostly ignored, many believe, because those who run the media simply don’t want us to know about it.

They’d rather we think our only options are to take on the debt burdens created by the big banks’ poor choices. They’d rather we just enslave ourselves for generations to global loan sharks like the IMF. They don’t want us to be empowered and free from the shackles of a tyrannical economic system.

But that’s just too bad. The world’s people are awakening. We are rising up. Together we will be redistributing wealth and power by preventing big money’s long-standing predatory practices. We are co-creating a far more just global civilization.

Iceland Proves Itself Awesome, Once Again

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

Channeling collective anger into political clout works! Just ask the people of Iceland.

When their economy collapsed, a big chunk of the Icelandic population had their voices heard. And what they were saying was ‘No!’ to the further debt being offered by the global bankers. (more…)

Iceland: Beating the Drums of Freedom Once Again

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

The plucky little island in the North Atlantic ocean – Iceland – is once again showing the rest of the world how an engaged and empowered population should behave.

You might recall how, earlier this year, Icelanders stuck it to the mega-banks and drafted a new people-first constitution. Or how, as of last week, they became the first European nation to acknowledge the State of Palestine.

So what are these champions of freedom up to now? Well, they’ve arrested the ex-CEO of one of their failed banks, along with a top trader and broker.

Finally, some heads might figuratively roll for the over $80 Billion debt left behind from the collapse of Iceland’s three biggest commercial banks. What a refreshing change of pace from what we see in America, where banks directly hire police to suppress the well-earned scorn of the public.

Take note, people of the world. When we work together, we can take on these giant institutions. Be the change we need, and get involved in the movement towards a brighter future.

Iceland Recognizes State of Palestine

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

When the global economy crashed in 2008 and their country went Bankrupt, the people of Iceland remained defiant, refusing to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly. They boldly rejected the European Union and IMF, with 93% of the population voting against repayment of the debt created by unregulated bankers.

Not content with just sticking it to the banks, Icelanders drafted a whole new constitution, one that would free the country from the exaggerated power of international finance and virtual money.

Now the Icelandic people have once again set the bar for the rest of the world to follow, becoming the first Western European nation to formally recognize the Palestinian State.

The mostly symbolic gesture by Icelandic parliament recognizes Palestine based on the 1967 borders and “urges Israelis and Palestinians to seek a peace agreement on the basis of international law and UN resolutions.”

At a time when nations like Canada are officially turning their backs on the Palestinian people, it’s nice to see we still have members of the international community who support justice and human rights for all and not just those who can afford it.

Crowdsourcing Helps Form Iceland’s Consitution

Friday, August 19th, 2011

What do you get when you cross 25 regular Icelanders with hundreds of Internet users? Iceland’s new constitution!

After the island nation’s economic collapse in 2008, Iceland has seen a strong upsurge of social movements, many of which have called for a revamp of the aging constitution. But not just any rewrite will do – the process needs to be led by ordinary citizens – so that is exactly what they’ve been doing.

Iceland’s small population of 320,000 elected 25 assembly members from 522 ordinary candidates (including lawyers, political science professors, journalists, and many other professions), who in turn opened their process up to the public in an unprecedented fashion.

It’s amazing to see such a completely transparent process. Online users can easily follow early revisions of the constitution and instantly offer their feedback. So far, more than 1,600 propositions and comments have been received, all of which are given due consideration by the 25 Constitution drafters.

Good on them! Iceland is showing the world the power we’ve been unleashing with our emergent technology. It is only a matter of time until transparency and democracy aren’t just niceties to be optional from governance – they will actually be expected and demanded from all the world’s leaders.

Plus now the Icelandic people have a legitimate excuse to Tweet and Facebook all day – because they are trying to be founding fathers!