Anatomy of a collapse

I have to say, ever since Tuesday, when the compounding cascade effect started after the Parliamentarians refused to meet while protests raged outside their doors, it has been so exciting to be here in Iceland, to watch the collapse of a government. I've never seen anything like it. These things do not happen in the United States; even when George Bush was at 23% approval ratings, he was still our President, no one was calling for impeachment (and only a few left leaning Berkeley types even did so after no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq). Nope, we stay loyal, stick it out until the next election. Here in Iceland, there seems to be more of a sense that the government only gets a few chances to get it right, and then the people give up on them and they have to leave. Being a Libra, I can only say that I see the benefits of both approaches. But being an American, the first seems much more comforting to me, less of an us-them dynamic. Afterall, it's a democracy, not a dictatorship; armed revolt ought really not be necessary. 

Comments

Thordis said…
Well, I have thought a bit about this and I have to disagree. This has only happened in Iceland about 3 times in the past, the last time being 20 years ago and in my opinion this is just the true voice of democracy speaking.

When I lived in the US I often felt that people were indifferent to the politics going on around them, not really feeling they had any say in the matter and therefor the corruption and lobbyism flourished...poison to democracy. I often remember going to work when something huge (in my opinon) had happened and nobody was talking about it.

I will never forget how everyone just stopped talking about the WMD scandal after just a few days, the distraction was the Martha Stewart trial. I was so suprised. Tony Blair almost had to resign and kinda did not long after.

I think the excitement you feel (and I too :) is because democracy (and the government) are closer to the public here than in the US. More people vote and belief in their power that way here than in the US. I always felt that so many Americans did not really respect and take seriously their right to vote (except many of my great CA and Berkeley friends :) :) All my family dresses up when they go voting, my grandpa put on his suit and tie :)

Now the situation is unique, obviously. A crisis on this scale has never happened before. People are filled with righteous anger and because they live in a working democracy they can do something about it. But they are also filled with hope and optimism that things can be put right--- if they can only vote :)
January 27, 2009 at 3:35 PM
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