May 12, 2012
Iceland’s peaceful revolution is a stunning
example of how little our media tells us about the rest of the world.
Read details about Iceland’s wonderful social
evolution at DailyKos, Posted below.
Another great article is on Bloomberg.com.
The following summation has been posted by
countless people on Facebook; I’ve re-posted it in its entirety:
ICELAND (GP) – No news from Iceland? Why?
Last we heard, people were rising up and
overthrowing the bankers.
Then, no news on the television or newspapers
for two years.
What happened?
Why won’t the papers and TV tell us how the
bankers successfully crushed or minimized another rebellion?
Because…
THEY DIDN’T!
This time,
the people won.
The
people of Iceland have overwhelmingly risen up and forced their government
puppets of the banks to resign. Primary banks have been nationalized. The debt
scam imposed by Great Britain and Holland money printers was declared null and
void. A public assembly has been created to rewrite Iceland’s constitution.
.
.
The
best part is, all of this happened without violence or bloodshed. A whole
country’s revolution succeeded against powers that created the current global
crisis without a shot being fired.
A very good reason exists for the apparent failure of television and newspapers to provide any publicity on this unprecedented event: what would happen if the rest of the EU and the United States took this as an example?
The
following is a summary of the facts:
2008
~
The main bank of Iceland is nationalized.
The Krona, the currency of Iceland devaluates and the stock market halts. The country is in bankruptcy
2008
~
Citizens rise up at Parliament and succeed in forcing the resignation of both the prime minister and the effective government. New elections are held.
Yet, the country remains in a bad economic situation. A Parliament act is passed to pay back 3,500 million Euros to Great Britain and Holland by the people of Iceland monthly during the next 15 years, with 5.5% interest.
2010
~
The people of Iceland again take to the streets to demand a referendum. In January of 2010, the President of Iceland denies approval, instead announcing a popular vote on the matter by the people.
In March, a referendum and denial of payment is approved by popular vote of 93%. Meanwhile, government officials initiate an investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the crisis. Many high level executives and bankers are arrested. Interpol dictates an order to force all implicated parties to leave Iceland.
An assembly is elected to write a new constitution (based on the Denmark’s) to avoid entrapments of debt based currency foreign loans. 25 citizens are chosen ~ with no political affiliation ~ out of the 522 candidates.
The only qualifications for candidacy are adulthood and the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly started in February of 2011.
It continues to present ‘carta magna’ from recommendations provided by various assemblies throughout the country.
Ultimately, it must be approved by both the current Parliament and the one created through the next legislative election.
IN SUMMARY OF THE ICELANDIC REVOLUTION, WE SAW:
~ resignation of the entire corrupt government of the country;
~ nationalization of the bank
~ referendum enabling the people to determine their own economic system
~ incarceration of responsible parties, and
~ a rewriting of the Iceland Constitution by its people
THIS IS SIGNIFICANT STUFF.
Have we been informed about this through the main stream media?
Has any political program on radio or TV commented on this?
Not
that I’ve seen.
The Icelandic
people have demonstrated
a way to beat the
international money printers
and controllers of
information.
The last thing
entrenched usurers want
is for you to think
you could also free
yourself from their chains.
ICELAND'S ON-GOING REVOLUTION
Reposted May 16, 2012
An Italian radio program's story about Iceland’s on-going
revolution is a stunning example of how little our media tells us about the
rest of the world. Americans may remember that at the start of the 2008
financial crisis, Iceland literally went bankrupt. The reasons were
mentioned only in passing, and since then, this little-known member of the
European Union fell back into oblivion.
As one European country after another fails or risks failing,
imperiling the Euro, with repercussions for the entire world, the last thing
the powers that be want is for Iceland to become an example. Here's why:
Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland,
(population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world.
In 2003 all the country’s banks were privatized, and in an effort to attract
foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed
them to offer relatively high rates of return.
The accounts, called IceSave,
attracted many English and Dutch small investors. But as investments
grew, so did the banks’ foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to
200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent.
The 2008 world
financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks,
Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the
Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the
year Iceland declared bankruptcy.
Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in
Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct
participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But
only after much pain.
Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister of a Social Democratic coalition
government, negotiated a two million one hundred thousand dollar loan, to which
the Nordic countries added another two and a half million. But the foreign
financial community pressured Iceland to impose drastic measures. The FMI
and the European Union wanted to take over its debt, claiming this was the only
way for the country to pay back Holland and Great Britain, who had promised to
reimburse their citizens.
Protests and riots continued, eventually forcing the government
to resign. Elections were brought forward to April 2009, resulting in a
left-wing coalition which condemned the neoliberal economic system, but
immediately gave in to its demands that Iceland pay off a total of three and a half
million Euros.
This required each Icelandic citizen to pay 100 Euros a
month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5% interest, to pay off a debt
incurred by private parties vis a vis other private parties. It was the straw
that broke the reindeer’s back.
What happened next was extraordinary.
The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents.
The Head of State, Olafur
Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s
citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a
referendum.
Of course the international community only increased the
pressure on Iceland. Great Britain and Holland threatened dire reprisals that
would isolate the country. As Icelanders went to vote, foreign bankers
threatened to block any aid from the IMF. The British government
threatened to freeze Icelander savings and checking accounts. As Grimsson said:
“We were told that if we refused the international community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North. But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North.” (How many times have I written that when Cubans see the dire state of their neighbor, Haiti, they count themselves lucky.)
In the March 2010 referendum, 93% voted against repayment of the
debt. The IMF immediately froze its loan. But the revolution
(though not televised in the United States), would not be intimidated. With the
support of a furious citizenry, the government launched civil and penal
investigations into those responsible for the financial crisis. Interpol
put out an international arrest warrant for the ex-president of Kaupthing,
Sigurdur Einarsson, as the other bankers implicated in the crash fled the
country.
But Icelanders didn't stop there: they decided to draft a new
constitution that would free the country from the exaggerated power of
international finance and virtual money. (The one in use had been written
when Iceland gained its independence from Denmark, in 1918, the only difference
with the Danish constitution being that the word ‘president’ replaced the word
‘king’.)
To write the new constitution, the people of Iceland elected
twenty-five citizens from among 522 adults not belonging to any political party
but recommended by at least thirty citizens. This document was not the work of
a handful of politicians, but was written on the internet. .
The constituent’s
meetings are streamed on-line, and citizens can send their comments and
suggestions, witnessing the document as it takes shape. The constitution that
eventually emerges from this participatory democratic process will be submitted
to parliament for approval after the next elections.
Some readers will remember that Iceland’s ninth century agrarian
collapse was featured in Jared Diamond’s book by the same name. Today, that
country is recovering from its financial collapse in ways just the opposite of
those generally considered unavoidable, as confirmed yesterday by the new head
of the IMF, Christine Lagarde to Fareed Zakaria.
The people of Greece have been
told that the privatization of their public sector is the only solution.
And those of Italy, Spain and Portugal are facing the same threat.
They should look to Iceland. Refusing to bow to foreign
interests, that small country stated loud and clear that the people are
sovereign.
That’s why it is not in the news anymore.
Photos courtesy Trey Ratcliff
Photos courtesy Trey Ratcliff
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