Here’s an interesting idea for the starting of a New Year. A positive, informative article about one person’s journey from being an “old punker and comedian” to become the relatively-new Mayor of the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik.
It’s the address he gave prior to presenting the budget of his party – The Best Party. It’s called We Have A Choice.
It’s an interesting view of how the banking crisis in Iceland has fundamentally changed not only the people who are replacing the previous politicians, but how they are now formulating policy.
Change to taking an interest
He passed from not being at all interested in Politics or the news, before the banking crisis, through to anger at those he felt had let the people down. In his words, “the more I followed the news, the angrier I was. I was angry with the capitalist bankers. I was angry at the system that failed. But I reserved my fiercest anger for the politicians. Every last one of them an incompetent, self-serving idiot, I thought. ”
“I was angry with myself, and angry with people for having voted for these politicians. I wanted to do something,” he continues, but, “I became scared of all this anger, the anger inside of me and the anger that surrounded me. I was worried that it would amplify and grow, and in the end something awful would happen.”
He then went on to form the Best Party, because of his love of his city, his country and the “people that inhabit it.”
Old punker to mayor
“The old punker and comedian has become a mayor. This amply reaffirms one of Moominpapa’s axioms: You don’t need to be big to be brave.”
What’s disarming is his apparent open approach? Not presenting to the public that ‘they know best,’ but instead being honest – explaining they, like most people of the Planet, they don’t have all of the answers.
But what kind of party is The Best Party? I don’t really know. We are not a proper political party. We are maybe more of a self-help organisation, like AA.
We try to take one day at a time, to not overreach our boundaries and to maintain joy, humility and positive thinking.
We are grateful for the chance we have been given, and we want our stay here to benefit the city and the people in it.
A different way to deal with financial cuts
They appear to take a practical approach to the financial situation they find themselves in, dealing with cuts, but in a different way to that which is happening in the UK.
These are troubled times. Our society collapsed, and we are still dealing with the consequences. We need to make cutbacks for the third consequent year.
Over the last weeks and months we have sat in meetings and tried to find solutions. Where can we find necessary funds? We are being trusted with dividing a cake between our citizens.
We have to try to divide it as evenly as possible, and according to the people’s needs. How many times can that cake be sliced? Who gets a small slice? And who needs a really large slice? What is a luxury, and what is essential?
Finding people to trust
After explaining how they work with city officials – taking advice from those they trust – and likening the way they make decisions, to the experience he had with one of his children that fell ill with a rare disease, he closes with the following.
Dear officials, city employees and citizens. Together, we can make ReykjavÃk into the cleanest, most beautiful and fun city in the world. All we need is a positive attitude. It was the Icelandic optimism that got us through the Móðuharðindi, tyrants, famine and plague. And it will get us through this mess too.
Read the full article
Well worth a read and food for thought, particularly at the start of what we are constantly being told, will be a difficult year.
Jon Gnarr: His mayor budget address
Happy New Year to you all.
Photos by Hörður Sveinsson
