Our friends in the frozen north

Interesting, inspirational, article via open Democracy, Iceland: "It will fix itself" by Tobias Munthe. I like the idea of thetta reddast, especially the it will be done interpretation. We will do it and we will be better, stronger and more able to weather future storms. The impact of the global downturn on a small country is substantial and the article recognises this and the opportunity it provides for fundamental change...

... there is consensus on the need for change, not only in terms of political and economic restructuring, but also in relation to values and even to national identity. The era of Icelandic excess - parading around in shiny Range Rovers (now referred to as Game Overs), weighing up the benefits of Greek versus Spanish extra virgin olive oil - has come to an end.

and maybe...

For a population as small, interconnected and homogenous as Iceland, the possibility of a genuine cultural shift is less of a pipe dream than it might be for a larger nation with greater class, race and net-worth inequality than this insular outpost in the North Atlantic.

There are some interesting concepts; scratching your own itch is very Icelandic, Auden would have been proud, and the thing about bubbles is that they burst. What I would like to see is a culture of ‘bubble wrap'.

Clearly the "In Cod We Trust" mentality is not enough to save the nation at this stage, but that is not to say that Iceland might not find some salvation in its old religion.

Good luck to them I hope they share any lessons they learn with us!