Jason (not from the horror film)

For 20 years, I've known a guy in Cambridge, England. He's the son of a plumber, became a plumber himself. He's also quite the world traveler, which is how I met him, and as I have come to discover through the years, incredibly good at staying in touch with all his friends around the world. He was the first to get me signed up to Skype, pestered me about it for two years I think before I actually signed up.

Anyhow, today I asked him about Icesave, expecting any minute a tirade about how unbelievably irresponsible Icelanders are and threatening to come blow us out of the water (not really, but then British journalism is so strange, one never quite knows what to expect).

Instead he shared an anecdote making its way through the press, about a little old lady who went to take her money out of the Royal Bank of Scotland this week, and in the process launched into a full scale lambast of the teller, of the bank, of banking in general.

We came to the conclusion that this story meant bankers are expected to be responsible, government officials are expected to be responsible, but the average citizen is not really expected to be responsible.

Which I think is why a popular referendum on Icesave is such a strange idea. If the bankers weren't responsible, and the government was not either, the odds of the general populace being so seem pretty darn remote. But then, stranger things have happened.

California has elected an actor to become governor, twice.

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