Editorial: A Model of Democracy, Aware Of The Threats

How an interview for an English-language paper is cause for celebration

Iceland has just been voted, again, the most peaceful nation in the world. Unemployment is low. While the cost of living is difficult, there are plenty of reasons to come to Iceland. But the language is difficult to learn.

Twenty percent of the population of Iceland does not speak Icelandic at the level of native speakers. Those who haven’t mastered the language are working on it. And, most importantly, they’re working. I owe the new Icelanders — the healthcare staff who learned Icelandic more recently — who helped my mother-in-law with her battle with Alzheimer’s in ways I can’t repay, and I believe a number of Icelandic locals have the same debt.

Kristrún Frostadóttir, the current prime minister, who did graduate studies at Yale and Boston University, understands that it’s worth talking to locals and new Icelanders who haven’t mastered the language yet. She sat down with Elías Þórsson for a wide-ranging interview. I could not be more proud to run this feature. But I also believe her willingness to engage with an English-language paper suggests this government could have enormous possibilities. The prime minister dedicated a good portion of her interview to the possible dangers ahead. She focused repeatedly on the disengagement that has been so prominent in international politics, and the way this has given rise to anti-democratic instincts. “I think that if the government I’m now leading doesn’t meet expectations, then there’s a risk of that,” she told us. “If we fail to reform the state, to use resources better, to execute, then a space opens up for voices saying, ‘I have an easy fix for this,’ and that entails breaking up everything we hold dear.”

What exactly do we hold dear, then? In this home to Alþingi, on paper the oldest continuous parliament in the world, does the world still celebrate democracy? And what is needed to keep these democracies healthy?

A key to a strong democracy is an active press, engaged voters and transparency. Kristrún’s interview here is a virtuous gesture.

As for an active press, we are doing our best. In this issue you will also see our attempts to mediate and report on a massive crisis for our readership: the inability for University of Iceland students to obtain residence permits in time to attend school, resulting in massive financial and psychological stress among our readers. We do not take this situation lightly. We will continue to report on this issue, though we understand that for many, the reporting is simply not enough.

Finally, there is a topic not covered in our magazine that has been the source of extensive coverage in the Icelandic media. A fan of Annie Applebaum’s outstanding reporting, and her most recent book Autocracy, Inc., I witnessed the platforming of outdated ideals, immediate public outcry, and the rote follow-up argument that hate speech is free speech, with a mixture of dread and boredom.

As an English-language paper in Iceland, we have been baited frequently into jumping into sub-moral arguments of no cultural value. Twenty years ago, it was Stormfront attacking us for featuring a non-white Icelander in traditional Icelandic costume. Back then, we made the decision that we are a magazine, not a bathroom wall, and would not engage people who feel that scribbling graffiti is enlightened debate. The same holds true today. We are happy to discuss real political concepts, but arguments against basic human dignity do not need a platform beyond, again, a bathroom wall and a Sharpie.