A storm brewing. Winds of change? Ian McDonald skrifar 16. október 2023 08:00 Early last week, Icelanders were battening down the hatches in the face of a brutal windstorm which lasted three days and nights without cease. Meteorologists were baffled by this, until they realized that the winds were actually caused by the simultaneous gales of laughter and sighs of relief from 400,000 people who just learned that Bjarni Bendiktsson was resigning from the position of finance minister after a decade of nepotism, scandals and quite astouding corruption. For a glorious moment, it seemed that there might actually be some measure of comeuppance for a man who, until now, had seemed bulletproof from any meaningful consequences to his actions. To those of us who had spent 6 weeks last summer protesting the illegal sale of Íslandsbanki, and demanding the resignation of the finance minister, for one brief shining moment it felt like victory. Unfortunately, as the saying goes “if you don’t like the weather in Iceland, just wait 5 minutes.” This proved to be all to pertinent as the winds seemed to shift again in favor of the finance minister. Yet again Bjarni Benediktsson showed that there is no lack shame or brazenness to which he will not stoop. The bottom of the barrel in fact can be scraped through. And scrape he did. Rather than take the hint and step out of the limelight quietly, taking the winnings from sale of Íslandsbanki with him, Bjarni decided that in fact there were still corrupt mountains left to conquer, and these particular peaks were overseas. Speaking as a British national, I have lived through my fair share of corrupt and inept politicians who ride the Ferris wheel of cabinet positions, jumping around from positions of unimaginable responsibility and power without the slightest iota of relevant knowledge or experience of their field. ….I lived through Boris Johnson. Healthcare, finance, education, foreign affairs. Qualifications? Doesn’t matter. As long as you toe the party line. And if you fail, we will just have a cabinet reshuffle and put you in charge of an entirely different aspect of public life! And around and around they go….where they stop, nobody knows. I am now saddened and angry to see that pattern repeating itself in Iceland, and in such a brazen way. Without any sort of approval from the public who they are ostensibly meant to serve, we are now stuck with a foreign minister whose only relevant experience of overseas work was when he was busy setting up offshore companies to avoid paying taxes. I worry that Iceland is slipping towards (and perhaps is already there) the sort of failed state of politics that I see when I look back at my native Britain, where lobbyists and corporate interests have long since seized the levers of power from the people, and as a result, the country has been chopped up and sold to the highest bidder. I worry what a man like Bjarni Benediktsson, who has made no secret of his desire to privatize every aspect of Icelandic society he can get his hands on, will do with the freedom of access to any world leader he desires to connect with. He could very quickly turn the country I love and call home into a global-scale yard sale. Everything must go. I have long since stopped asking if it wouldn’t make more sense to perhaps have a nurse in charge of healthcare, or a teacher in charge of education. Unfortunately that is nothing but a pipe-dream. I have lowered my sights a little now. Can we not just have a politician who did not illegally sell a bank to his father? It doesn’t seem much to ask. Perhaps I will ask Santa Claus. The author is a manufacturing worker. Viltu birta grein á Vísi? Sendu okkur póst. Senda grein Mest lesið Halldór 24.05.2025 Halldór #blessmeta - önnur grein Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir Skoðun Tuttugu ár af röddum sem áður voru þaggaðar, og framtíðin er okkar Guðmundur Ingi Þóroddsson Skoðun Hamas og átökin við Ísrael – hvað er ekki sagt upphátt? Einar G Harðarson Skoðun Hvers virði er lambakjöt? Hafliði Halldórsson Skoðun Nú þurfa foreldrar að vera hugrakkir Jón Pétur Zimsen Skoðun Daði Már týnir sjálfum sér Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir Skoðun Hvernig gengur nýjum kennurum í grunnskólakennslu? Ingólfur Ásgeir Jóhannesson,Aðalheiður Anna Erlingsdóttir,Andri Rafn Ottesen,Maríanna Jónsdóttir Maríudóttir,Valgerður S. Bjarnadóttir Skoðun Stéttarkerfi Halldóra Lillý Jóhannsdóttir Skoðun „Litla stúlkan og ruddarnir“ - Hugleiðing um stöðu Íslands á alþj.vettv. Flosi Þorgeirsson Skoðun Skoðun Skoðun Tuttugu ár af röddum sem áður voru þaggaðar, og framtíðin er okkar Guðmundur Ingi Þóroddsson skrifar Skoðun #blessmeta - önnur grein Guðrún Hrefna Guðmundsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Hvers virði er lambakjöt? Hafliði Halldórsson skrifar Skoðun Lífið er eins og konfektkassi, þú veist aldrei hvernig mola þú færð Elín Íris Fanndal skrifar Skoðun Þjóðareign, trú og skattar Svanur Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Hamas og átökin við Ísrael – hvað er ekki sagt upphátt? Einar G Harðarson skrifar Skoðun Gjaldfrjálsar máltíðir fyrir leikskólabörn Hólmfríður Jennýjar Árnadóttir skrifar Skoðun Næstu sólarhringar á Gaza skipta sköpum Hlynur Már Vilhjálmsson skrifar Skoðun Hvernig gengur nýjum kennurum í grunnskólakennslu? Ingólfur Ásgeir Jóhannesson,Aðalheiður Anna Erlingsdóttir,Andri Rafn Ottesen,Maríanna Jónsdóttir Maríudóttir,Valgerður S. Bjarnadóttir skrifar Skoðun Huglæg réttlætiskennd og skattar á verðmætasköpun Kristinn Karl Brynjarsson skrifar Skoðun Loksins fær þyrlan heimili fyrir norðan Njáll Trausti Friðbertsson skrifar Skoðun Opið bréf til stjórnvalda Elín Ýr Arnar Hafdísardóttir skrifar Skoðun Við skuldum þeim að hlusta Ólafur Adolfsson skrifar Skoðun „Litla stúlkan og ruddarnir“ - Hugleiðing um stöðu Íslands á alþj.vettv. Flosi Þorgeirsson skrifar Skoðun Mikilvæg gagnrýni eða tilraun til valdayfirtöku í Sósíalistaflokknum? Ása Lind Finnbogadóttir skrifar Skoðun Matvælaverð hefur nær þrefaldast frá stofnun Viðskiptaráðs! Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir skrifar Skoðun Alvarleg staða í umhverfi fréttamiðla Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Stéttarkerfi Halldóra Lillý Jóhannsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Stöðvum Hamas. Einungis þannig getum við stöðvað hryllinginn á Gaza BIrgir Finnsson skrifar Skoðun Dagur líffræðilegrar fjölbreytni 2025 Rannveig Magnúsdóttir,Ole Sandberg,Ragnhildur Guðmundsdóttir,Rebecca Thompson,Skúli Skúlason,Sæunn Júlía Sigurjónsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Æfingin skapar meistarann! Sigurjón Már Fox Gunnarsson skrifar Skoðun 140 sinnum líklegra að verða fyrir eldingu Sigurður G. Guðjónsson skrifar Skoðun Konum í afplánun fjölgar: Með flókin áföll á bakinu Tinna Eyberg Örlygsdóttir,Sigríður Ella Jónsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Traust í húfi Eyjólfur Ármannsson skrifar Skoðun Verðmætasköpun án virðingar Berglind Harpa Svavarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Daði Már týnir sjálfum sér Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Samhljómur við náttúruna og sjálfbæra þróun Anna María Ágústsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Aðgerðir gegn mansali í forgangi Þorbjörg S. Gunnlaugsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Enginn á verðinum – um ábyrgð, framtíðarsýn og mikilvægi forvirkrar stjórnsýslu Guðjón Heiðar Pálsson skrifar Skoðun Framtíðin fær húsnæði Ingunn Gunnarsdóttir skrifar Sjá meira
Early last week, Icelanders were battening down the hatches in the face of a brutal windstorm which lasted three days and nights without cease. Meteorologists were baffled by this, until they realized that the winds were actually caused by the simultaneous gales of laughter and sighs of relief from 400,000 people who just learned that Bjarni Bendiktsson was resigning from the position of finance minister after a decade of nepotism, scandals and quite astouding corruption. For a glorious moment, it seemed that there might actually be some measure of comeuppance for a man who, until now, had seemed bulletproof from any meaningful consequences to his actions. To those of us who had spent 6 weeks last summer protesting the illegal sale of Íslandsbanki, and demanding the resignation of the finance minister, for one brief shining moment it felt like victory. Unfortunately, as the saying goes “if you don’t like the weather in Iceland, just wait 5 minutes.” This proved to be all to pertinent as the winds seemed to shift again in favor of the finance minister. Yet again Bjarni Benediktsson showed that there is no lack shame or brazenness to which he will not stoop. The bottom of the barrel in fact can be scraped through. And scrape he did. Rather than take the hint and step out of the limelight quietly, taking the winnings from sale of Íslandsbanki with him, Bjarni decided that in fact there were still corrupt mountains left to conquer, and these particular peaks were overseas. Speaking as a British national, I have lived through my fair share of corrupt and inept politicians who ride the Ferris wheel of cabinet positions, jumping around from positions of unimaginable responsibility and power without the slightest iota of relevant knowledge or experience of their field. ….I lived through Boris Johnson. Healthcare, finance, education, foreign affairs. Qualifications? Doesn’t matter. As long as you toe the party line. And if you fail, we will just have a cabinet reshuffle and put you in charge of an entirely different aspect of public life! And around and around they go….where they stop, nobody knows. I am now saddened and angry to see that pattern repeating itself in Iceland, and in such a brazen way. Without any sort of approval from the public who they are ostensibly meant to serve, we are now stuck with a foreign minister whose only relevant experience of overseas work was when he was busy setting up offshore companies to avoid paying taxes. I worry that Iceland is slipping towards (and perhaps is already there) the sort of failed state of politics that I see when I look back at my native Britain, where lobbyists and corporate interests have long since seized the levers of power from the people, and as a result, the country has been chopped up and sold to the highest bidder. I worry what a man like Bjarni Benediktsson, who has made no secret of his desire to privatize every aspect of Icelandic society he can get his hands on, will do with the freedom of access to any world leader he desires to connect with. He could very quickly turn the country I love and call home into a global-scale yard sale. Everything must go. I have long since stopped asking if it wouldn’t make more sense to perhaps have a nurse in charge of healthcare, or a teacher in charge of education. Unfortunately that is nothing but a pipe-dream. I have lowered my sights a little now. Can we not just have a politician who did not illegally sell a bank to his father? It doesn’t seem much to ask. Perhaps I will ask Santa Claus. The author is a manufacturing worker.
Hvernig gengur nýjum kennurum í grunnskólakennslu? Ingólfur Ásgeir Jóhannesson,Aðalheiður Anna Erlingsdóttir,Andri Rafn Ottesen,Maríanna Jónsdóttir Maríudóttir,Valgerður S. Bjarnadóttir Skoðun
Skoðun Tuttugu ár af röddum sem áður voru þaggaðar, og framtíðin er okkar Guðmundur Ingi Þóroddsson skrifar
Skoðun Lífið er eins og konfektkassi, þú veist aldrei hvernig mola þú færð Elín Íris Fanndal skrifar
Skoðun Hvernig gengur nýjum kennurum í grunnskólakennslu? Ingólfur Ásgeir Jóhannesson,Aðalheiður Anna Erlingsdóttir,Andri Rafn Ottesen,Maríanna Jónsdóttir Maríudóttir,Valgerður S. Bjarnadóttir skrifar
Skoðun „Litla stúlkan og ruddarnir“ - Hugleiðing um stöðu Íslands á alþj.vettv. Flosi Þorgeirsson skrifar
Skoðun Mikilvæg gagnrýni eða tilraun til valdayfirtöku í Sósíalistaflokknum? Ása Lind Finnbogadóttir skrifar
Skoðun Matvælaverð hefur nær þrefaldast frá stofnun Viðskiptaráðs! Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir skrifar
Skoðun Dagur líffræðilegrar fjölbreytni 2025 Rannveig Magnúsdóttir,Ole Sandberg,Ragnhildur Guðmundsdóttir,Rebecca Thompson,Skúli Skúlason,Sæunn Júlía Sigurjónsdóttir skrifar
Skoðun Konum í afplánun fjölgar: Með flókin áföll á bakinu Tinna Eyberg Örlygsdóttir,Sigríður Ella Jónsdóttir skrifar
Skoðun Enginn á verðinum – um ábyrgð, framtíðarsýn og mikilvægi forvirkrar stjórnsýslu Guðjón Heiðar Pálsson skrifar
Hvernig gengur nýjum kennurum í grunnskólakennslu? Ingólfur Ásgeir Jóhannesson,Aðalheiður Anna Erlingsdóttir,Andri Rafn Ottesen,Maríanna Jónsdóttir Maríudóttir,Valgerður S. Bjarnadóttir Skoðun