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Iceland: “It will fix itself”
Tobias Munthe, open Democracy
K8LIceland Review staff writer Tobias Munthe explores the upside of downsizing and asks if Iceland’s economic collapse might not be an opportunity in disguise.
There is a uniquely Icelandic expression which means something like “it will fix itself” – thetta reddast. While it may sound a little devil-may-care, these two strange words have never had such symbolic significance as they have today. Grammatically, there is no subject in this sentence, no one in particular is meant to do the fixing – Iceland’s arcane language allows for such impersonal thinking.
But thetta reddast doesn’t exactly mean “someone else will fix it” – in a nation this small the buck always stops pretty close to you anyway. It promotes both the “we can do it” attitude of the Special Olympics and afterschool sitcoms, but crucially also the “it will be done” attitude of the underground railway and the Exodus. As such, it represents a much-needed commitment to curbing panic, maintaining perspective and moving forward despite obstacles.
“For centuries, Icelanders lived in very harsh conditions,” says sociologist Helgi Gunnlaugsson, at the University of Iceland, “but we have always adjusted to whatever was thrown at us. If weather conditions were good then we could fish and harvest, but some years there was just no summer! No grass was grown, so we adapted. Some months, years even, there were no fish, so we found alternatives.”
… Squeezed harder than most in the credit crunch because of a heavily leveraged and vastly outsized market, October 2008 saw the nationalization of Iceland’s three biggest banks and the virtual dissolution of any recognizable economic infrastructure. Icelanders have been left reeling as they watch the enormous material growth of the last decade and a half shrinking to unrecognizable proportions.
… Despite the anxiety, anger and confusion, there is nonetheless a widespread opinion emerging that this colossal blow to national self-confidence may nonetheless be a masked opportunity. People speak of reviewing the political process, re-imagining Icelandic entrepreneurship, reinforcing commercial self-reliance, reversing the trends of materialistic excess and rebuilding alliances with Iceland’s erstwhile friends on the global stage. All over the island, Icelanders are seeking to reconnect with the values buried by the consumerist frenzy that has had the nation in its thrall for over 15 years.
(14 January 2009)
‘Food Security’ in Boise
Robert Blurton, Energy Bulletin (via email)
I just returned from a ‘Food Security’ meeting at the Boise City Council Chamber. Over 100 people showed up and the enthusiasm was damn near out of control. I have never been to a citizen gathering that was as electric as this thing was tonight.
It was a led off by Elaine Clegg of the Boise City Council who talked about farming and farm animals in the city, and how the council is about to write a new plan and wants urban farming and sustainable agriculture to be a part of it.
This was what we will probably remember as the beginning of the Boise Transition Town Movement, or the Boise Peak Oil Task Force as these things are called in other cities. There was a film crew that taped it and the meeting was facilitated by a professional, corporate leader that was outstanding. (The ‘Man on the White Horse’ turned out to be a woman, again…)
I just can’t tell you how amazing this was. We voted on an initial direction and a huge amount of the folks there volunteered to use their particular expertise on a variety of work groups such as Information, Planning, Production, Distribution, etc. This new group will pull together all of the small farming, landowners, distribution activity, etc in the Treasure Valley and create a communication network between them all.
This is a VERY solid and huge first step toward a local, organic, low energy food system that is not dependant on California or Mexico to feed the people of the Treasure Valley. The more you know about Peak Oil, the more you understand how immensely important this is. Our food system is extremely fragile, and our current distribution system has only 3 days worth of food on the shelves. A dollar collapse could literally end the flow of food to Idaho. This thing is really important. If you want to find out how to join in this effort, just let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction to sign on in some way.
Bob Blurton,
Boise, ID
(17 January 2009)
Email. Events like this are why Transition Towns seem to be undergoing meteoric growth. Transition Idaho. -BA
[Bob added the following January 19]
I’ve been a part of the ‘Boise Sustainable Living Community’ group that was using Relocalize.net as a net presence. We met for about 2 years now to talk about mainly food issues in a peak oil context. We will be joining the ‘food security’ groups efforts.
We just launched our new website at http://www.boisesustainableliving.com/
Top 7 alternative energies listed
Catherine Brahic, New Scientist
The US could replace all its cars and trucks with electric cars powered by wind turbines taking up less than 3 square kilometres – in theory, at least. That’s the conclusion of a detailed study ranking 11 types of non-fossil fuels according to their total ecological footprint and their benefit to human health.
The study, carried out by Mark Jacobson of the atmosphere and energy programme at Stanford University, found wind power to be by far the most desirable source of energy. Biofuels from corn and plant waste came right at the bottom of the list, along with nuclear power and “clean” coal.
The energy sources that Jacobson found most promising were, in descending order:
• Wind
• Concentrated solar power (mirrors heating a tower of water)
• Geothermal energy
• Tidal energy
• Solar panels
• Wave energy
• Hydroelectric dams
(14 January 2009)
