Ingibjorg Egilsdottir
Posted on 05/11/2016 4:57:31 PM PDT by cornfedcowboy
Several years back, I visited Iceland in the dead of winter. I was researching a book on global happiness, and the small Nordic nation intrigued me. What was this country, adrift in the freezing North Atlantic, doing perched atop the world’s happiness rankings? In pursuit of answers, I buttonholed anyone willing to talk, dined on harkl (rotten shark), drank excessively, and, of course, took a dip in the Blue Lagoon, the otherworldly geothermal waters that have become synonymous with Icelandic bliss. Shortly after I left, Iceland’s largest banks went belly up and the nation’s economy teetered on the verge of collapse, collateral damage from the global financial meltdown of 2008. The unemployment rate spiked eightfold. Trust in institutions, like the banks and parliament, plummeted.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
They came to a fork in the road and DIDN’T take the Too Big To Fail Route.
And THEY shall have the last laugh.
It’s still hard for me to believe we went the other way, and I shudder to contemplate how badly we’ll end up paying for that.
They did the right thing.
Yes. Several decades ago. Locals seemed to be partial to a regular diet of mind altering beverage. Would not be a first choice for additional visits.
Ingibjorg Egilsdottir
My thoughts would get me a timeout.
that says it all..
Great article, but the author is missing obvious things:
They have a very resilient SHARED CULTURE.
They have a great attitude, but if you suddenly imported phalanxes of people who OPENLY HATED ICELANDIC WAYS, that would all fall apart.
Per Sweden.
The Marxian author latches onto, “equality of happiness permits their resiliency”.
He’s itching to substitute “income” in for the word, “happiness”, there.
He’s calling for higher tax, but the Icelandic key seems like a COMMON CULTURE they still have.
Might just get you thrown in the pokey if you acted out on them.
It also doesn't hurt that the Icelandic rank near the top on frequency of having sex according to another survey I read.
It may be partly due to those long winter nights, but I bet their women are also a major factor in said statistic.
"I can walk home safely.."
I live in a small town in the Midwest and we don’t let our kids do much walking around. Sad. Really degrades our culture.
I bet they’re so happy because the Muslims haven’t invaded Iceland for like seven centuries.
Their secret is: they told the Muslims in order to immigrate to Iceland, you have to be willing to eat Bjork :D
I could marry that even if we don’t speak the same language.
Heck, it would probably be a much more peaceable marriage if we don’t even try to learn!
Kind of like the old story (truncated for brevity sake)
of a guy and his wife move into a small town and before long they get involved in local politics and push for sidewalks, a stop light at the ‘intersection’, paid firemen and a cop on duty 24 hours a day etc etc.
When all their ‘dreams’ come true and the bills start coming in, the couple showed up at a town hall meeting complaining about the tax raise and throw in
“I can’t understand it, when I first got here this was a nice little town and now it has turned itself into what I moved away from.”
They need the U.N. to step in and diversify them fast!
Over 80% of Iceland's electrical needs are provided by geothermal energy.
They are pretty much crime free since they are isolated from the criminal class that dominates the United States and the muslims in Europe.
They have a very high alcohol consumption rate, but who wouldn't considering they have over 130 active volcanoes and the winter months of darkness and cold.
Since their women are pretty hot looking, who can fault winter darkness, cold and booze and hot looking women?
Sounds like a cool place to visit (no pun intended) but not a place I would like to live........
Iceland has opened its door to the Muslim invasion. They are already causing trouble.
Problem with todays world is if one asks those questions they are looked at as racist, bigoted, close minded, islamiphobic - Not only by Libs but by enough R’s to make it very ‘scary’.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.