Published February 9, 2012

Observing Iceland from afar, say through Facebook or the local media, is interesting. A perspective is granted. There is a spasm in the discourse. People are so heated, they get intensely inflamed about every issue, ready to scream and knock down buildings with the sheer force of their frustration. Yet nothing ever seems to happen, nothing gets done, nothing is accomplished, nothing changes; we are left with nowt but a foult taste in our mouths and a disgust for our compatriots. Worked up to the point of rambling irrationality and mindless anger, we scream and prod and post and poke. And then nothing.
A case in point would any of the BIG BIG FIASCOS we dealt with through January and have now completely forgotten. Poisonous breast implants or gendered ice cream or industrial salt or snow plowing or pubic grooming or bankster revelations (those keep on coming) or whatever else ruined our lives in the last month are all in the past now, having made way for whatever is ruining all our lives today or will ruin them tomorrow.
There’s something broken in the way we handle things, the way we communicate and talk to one another. We scream for a day and then forget. Life on a sparsely populated and uneventful island perhaps requires that we never solve anything or move forward— what would we then have to talk about?
We are a very eager people, but perhaps we would do well with just shutting up and getting on with it. The wave of indignation we confront ourselves with every other day seems pointless and only serves to make our lives worse and more boring. SO BORING!
Of course we need to get involved. But maybe we need a better way to involve ourselves. Perhaps it’s time for less talk, more action? I’m not saying we need to go out and bomb the PMs offices or anything (sort of been done by now), but if we managed to harness our frustrations and ride through some sort of path to somewhere we might actually accomplish something, and move forward. And not HATE LIFE whilst doing so.
Love to you.
Haukur SM
Editor In Chief