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<DIV>Great post Jenifer. I learned something new and interesting from this
post as opposed to many other posts which present basically new presentations of
old rehashed information (new forms of old substance).</DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=jencart13@yahoo.com
href="mailto:jencart13@yahoo.com">Jenifer Cartwright</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 07, 2011 12:27 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net
href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net">Peace-discuss</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Peace-discuss] Iceland's On-going
Revolution</DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV class=plainMail><BR><BR><BR><B>Iceland's On-going
Revolution</B><BR><BR>By Deena Stryker<BR>Daily Kos<BR>August 1,
2011<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/01/1001662/-Icelands-On-going-Revolution"
target=_blank>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/01/1001662/-Icelands-On-going-Revolution</A><BR><BR>An
Italian radio program's story about Iceland’s on-going<BR>revolution is
a stunning example of how little our media<BR>tells us about the rest of
the world. Americans may remember<BR>that at the start of the 2008
financial crisis, Iceland<BR>literally went bankrupt. The reasons
were mentioned only in<BR>passing, and since then, this little-known
member of the<BR>European Union fell back into oblivion.<BR><BR>As one
European country after another fails or risks failing,<BR>imperiling the
Euro, with repercussions for the entire world,<BR>the last thing the
powers that be want is for Iceland to<BR>become an example. Here's
why:<BR><BR>Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made
Iceland,<BR>(population 320 thousand, no army), one of the
richest<BR>countries in the world. In 2003 all the country’s banks
were<BR>privatized, and in an effort to attract foreign
investors,<BR>they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed
them<BR>to offer relatively high rates of return. The
accounts,<BR>called IceSave, attracted many English and Dutch
small<BR>investors. But as investments grew, so did the
banks’<BR>foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200
times<BR>its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008
world<BR>financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three
main<BR>Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went
belly<BR>up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of
its<BR>value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the
year<BR>Iceland declared bankruptcy.<BR><BR>Contrary to what could be
expected, the crisis resulted in<BR>Icelanders recovering their
sovereign rights, through a<BR>process of direct participatory democracy
that eventually led<BR>to a new Constitution. But only after much
pain.<BR><BR>Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister of a Social
Democratic<BR>coalition government, negotiated a two million one
hundred<BR>thousand dollar loan, to which the Nordic countries
added<BR>another two and a half million. But the foreign
financial<BR>community pressured Iceland to impose drastic
measures. The<BR>FMI and the European Union wanted to take over
its debt,<BR>claiming this was the only way for the country to pay
back<BR>Holland and Great Britain, who had promised to
reimburse<BR>their citizens.<BR><BR>Protests and riots continued,
eventually forcing the<BR>government to resign. Elections were brought
forward to April<BR>2009, resulting in a left-wing coalition which
condemned the<BR>neoliberal economic system, but immediately gave in to
its<BR>demands that Iceland pay off a total of three and a
half<BR>million Euros. This required each Icelandic citizen to
pay<BR>100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at
5.5%<BR>interest, to pay off a debt incurred by private parties vis
a<BR>vis other private parties. It was the straw that broke
the<BR>reindeer’s back.<BR><BR>What happened next was extraordinary. The
belief that<BR>citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial
monopoly,<BR>that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private
debts<BR>was shattered, transforming the relationship between
citizens<BR>and their political institutions and eventually
driving<BR>Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The
Head<BR>of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the
law<BR>that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for
its<BR>bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.<BR><BR>Of
course the international community only increased the<BR>pressure on
Iceland. Great Britain and Holland threatened<BR>dire reprisals that
would isolate the country. As Icelanders<BR>went to vote, foreign
bankers threatened to block any aid<BR>from the IMF. The British
government threatened to freeze<BR>Icelander savings and checking
accounts. As Grimsson said:<BR>'We were told that if we refused the
international<BR>community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of
the<BR>North. But if we had accepted, we would have become
the<BR>Haiti of the North.' (How many times have I written that
when<BR>Cubans see the dire state of their neighbor, Haiti,
they<BR>count themselves lucky.)<BR><BR>In the March 2010 referendum,
93% voted against repayment of<BR>the debt. The IMF immediately
froze its loan. But the<BR>revolution (though not televised in the
United States), would<BR>not be intimidated. With the support of a
furious citizenry,<BR>the government launched civil and penal
investigations into<BR>those responsible for the financial crisis.
Interpol put out<BR>an international arrest warrant for the ex-president
of<BR>Kaupthing, Sigurdur Einarsson, as the other bankers<BR>implicated
in the crash fled the country.<BR><BR>But Icelanders didn't stop there:
they decided to draft a new<BR>constitution that would free the country
from the exaggerated<BR>power of international finance and virtual
money. (The one<BR>in use had been written when Iceland gained its
independence<BR>from Denmark, in 1918, the only difference with the
Danish<BR>constitution being that the word ‘president’ replaced
the<BR>word ‘king’.)<BR><BR>To write the new constitution, the people of
Iceland elected<BR>twenty-five citizens from among 522 adults not
belonging to<BR>any political party but recommended by at least
thirty<BR>citizens. This document was not the work of a handful
of<BR>politicians, but was written on the internet. The<BR>constituent’s
meetings are streamed on-line, and citizens can<BR>send their comments
and suggestions, witnessing the document<BR>as it takes shape. The
constitution that eventually emerges<BR>from this participatory
democratic process will be submitted<BR>to parliament for approval after
the next elections.<BR><BR>Some readers will remember that Iceland’s
ninth century<BR>agrarian collapse was featured in Jared Diamond’s book
by the<BR>same name. Today, that country is recovering from
its<BR>financial collapse in ways just the opposite of
those<BR>generally considered unavoidable, as confirmed yesterday
by<BR>the new head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde to Fareed
Zakaria.<BR>The people of Greece have been told that the privatization
of<BR>their public sector is the only solution. And those
of<BR>Italy, Spain and Portugal are facing the same threat.<BR><BR>They
should look to Iceland. Refusing to bow to foreign<BR>interests, that
small country stated loud and clear that the<BR>people are
sovereign.<BR><BR>That’s why it is not in the news
anymore.<BR><BR>___________________________________________<BR><BR>Portside
aims to provide material of interest to people<BR>on the left that will
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