Gnarr by Jon Gnarr Read Free Book Online Page A

failed, while societies that embody an active democracy seem to be quite resilient. In welfare states, social justice is much better developed than elsewhere, even with an extremely competitive job market. This is a good thing. We Icelanders have over the years moved increasingly away from the line followed by the Scandinavian welfare states and we must now pay the bitter price. The economic crisis has hit us particularly hard and meant the crash was deeper for us than it was for most of our neighbors. Unfortunately, the mood in the country is correspondingly lousy. That’s why the Best Party now really has to roll up its sleeves and be a model ofreconstruction, economic stability, social justice, and a better standard of living, a torchbearer to free us from the dark ages and lead us into a better future. We want to maintain freedom of trade and an open, non-state-controlled economic order.
    To be honest: We don’t have any party program of our own. But we still act as if we did.
    The Best Party is a liberal, rock-solid party with a Scandinavian twist. We want to tackle the urgent problems that affect us all and set in motion far-reaching social reforms, operating with the necessary farsightedness and not neglecting social justice. We defend the systematic statehood and economic and cultural independence of Iceland, including its parliamentary democracy and its legal system. Citizens are being extremely cautious these days. That is understandable. For us, individual human beings are paramount, and by that we mean women as well as men. We don’t think that women are naive fools who only come out with trivial crap, but serious people who have something to say: their voices must be heard. Therefore, we want to open a women’s cafe, where women can indulge in every imaginable specialty coffee, in flavors such as vanilla or cinnamon, while chatting away to their hearts’ content and slagging off whoever and whatever they want—and every word will be recorded and carefully archived. We’ll also arrange mystery tours for our grandmothers and grandfathers.
    As a transparent, democratic reform party we arealso planning to set up an Ideas Bank, a Sustainability Center as we shall call it, to provide citizens with a forum where they can present their ideas for the future and give them a transparent environment for discussion. The best ideas will be rewarded with a solemnly conferred special prize, also favoring sustainability. (For example, how about training the whales and fish off the Icelandic coasts?)
    In addition, we are committed to environmental protection: we want systematic recycling, a transparent use of natural resources, electric cars, and less pollution of the air and the environment, all on the basis of equality and equal authority—in line with the values of our party. We do not smoke and we do not drink alcohol. We will turn up at all meetings and gatherings and, whenever possible, be in a good mood—we will also be thoughtful, take responsibility, and make decisions.
    We want a new society—the best society that ever existed!

DEMOCRACY
    Democracy is not perfect. It can be extremely tedious and time-consuming. Democracy stands or falls with participation and involvement. Democratically organized states don’t have an easy go of it in times of crisis. It is still to this day the most equitable social order that man has invented. When Iceland was enjoying a turbo-capitalist boom, we put our democracy too thoughtlessly at risk. Now we have to pay for this.
    Politicians in democratic states are a fairly uniform bunch; they can organize themselves into crossover associations that share a certain ideology and by which they are linked internationally. For example, the Swedish Social Democrats are pretty good buddies of Socialist Democrats in other countries, they meet at Social Democratic Party meetings and international congresses. The same is true for the Green Party or the Conservatives.
    If we don’t get