Globally, there have been many recent changes on the political scene from left to right. The divisiveness makes for an unsettling and anxious time. With the Ontario premier Doug Ford poised for the next election, to the incoming new leadership of the federal liberal party, and our neighbours to the south, there are many diverse opinions.
From my perspective, one of the biggest variations is between Iceland and the United States. With a population nearing 400 million in the U.S. and a population of only 400,000 in Iceland, the difference in philosophy and politics is as cavernous as their difference in population size.
The U.S. is about to be led by older, wealthy men accused of bullying, disrespecting the law and manipulating facts to get their way, compared to the three female-led parties in Iceland, who are working co-operatively together for the overall betterment of everyone, as their major consideration.
The quotes below taken from newspaper articles, are from both outgoing President Joe Biden, and the acceptance speech of the recently elected incoming Icelandic president, Kristrún Frostadóttir, former socialist prime minister.
Biden warned the country of “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people.”
There are dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked, he said. “Today an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
“Powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interests for power and profit.” He warned about “the concentration of technology, power, and wealth.”
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation,” he said, “enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling [or] disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.
He called for reforming the tax code to make billionaires pay their fair share, and for ethics rules and an 18-year term limit for Supreme Court justices, and for banning members of Congress from trading stock. He also called for a constitutional amendment to make it clear that no president is immune from crimes they commit in office. “The president’s power is not unlimited,” he said. “It’s not absolute.”
The concentration of wealth and power threatens democracy, Biden warned, by eroding “the sense of unity and common purpose,” noting that when people feel they don’t have a fair shot at success, staying engaged in the process becomes “exhausting and even disillusioning.”
Biden noted the “short distance between peril and possibility” but promised that “what I believe is the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. It’s up to us to make our dreams come true”.
Compare this with Iceland where in recent months there have been big developments.
Since the social democrat prime minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, 36, formed a government with 59-year-old Inga Saeland, of the centrist People’s Party, and 65-year-old Porgerour Gunnasdóttir of the centre -right pro-European reform party– for the first time in its history, Iceland has both a female president, and a female prime minister, Halla Tómasdóttir.
At 36, Kristrún is also the country’s youngest ever leader and understood to be the world’s youngest serving state leader.
“It just so happens that these three parties were run by women. We were not striving for feminism but there is a certain type of co-operative dynamic when three women, all different stages of their lives, work together.”
They hope to bring a new type of governance, not about feminism but appealing to the average person rather than the elite.
Their philosophy encapsulates a uniquely Icelandic idea – "konur eru konum bestar" (women are the best to women) – which gained popularity in recent years as a guiding principle for how women should treat one another, to the ultimate benefit of both men and women.
They ask the public for suggestions as to how to best govern so it’s the people’s say, and the people’s opinions that are more important than their own.
We all have our own ideas as to how countries should be run, most of us are not aware of just how complex it can be to get three levels of government, federal, provincial and municipal working co-operatively together. It is a complex process and reaching a consensus takes time and thought.
As I learn about the various incoming governments, to me the best is one that listens to and cares about all it’s citizens. All genders, nationalities, abilities, economic resources and education levels should be thought about, incorporating everyone, not just the elite. The next year will be interesting to witness and hopefully humanity will survive it.
Whether connected by interests, hobbies, work or personal circumstances, women-only groups seem to play an essential role in connecting Icelandic women and, crucially, giving them a place to decompress and share that is outside their immediate family or social circles. And Iceland being Iceland, nature often has an outsized part to
Having a space to do it with only women is important because it enables them to have the space for the deep conversations that they crave. Konur eru konum bestar feels good and those who live by it benefit from it too, says Inga. Other women being able to do difficult things acts as inspiration, says Hafdí.
The feeling is, “If she can do it, I can do it too.”
