Political novice wins Iceland presidency in anti-establishment wave...

[MickeyW]

Reykjavik (AFP) - History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannes...ial-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

 

[joG]

Reykjavik (AFP) - History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannes...ial-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

And I had thought they had taken him because he was the only educated one without accounts in Panama.

 

[Grand Mal]

Reykjavik (AFP) - History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannes...ial-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

He got 130,000 votes and now he's President.
Trying hard here, but just can't seem to care...

 

[DaveFagan]

Reykjavik (AFP) - History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannes...ial-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

Iceland, where they put the bankers in Jail after the 2008 debacle. Now a successful economy. Perhaps we could learn from them. Also note that it is not a two party system controlled by an entrenched status quo.

 

[MickeyW]

Iceland, where they put the bankers in Jail after the 2008 debacle. Now a successful economy. Perhaps we could learn from them. Also note that it is not a two party system controlled by an entrenched status quo.

Exactly, and looks to be a trend for many countries in the future...hopefully ours as well.

 

[Captain Adverse]

He got 130,000 votes and now he's President.
Trying hard here, but just can't seem to care...

Well, when the total population is just 338,000, and you subtract about 100,000 who are under the voting age of 18, that's nearly 55% of the adult voting population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Iceland

I'd say that was a respectable percentage for that nation. Can you recall any U.S. President who was voted in by 55% of the total voting age population?

Having said that...

Reykjavik (AFP) - History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannes...ial-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

It is a fairly small population, and the people are pretty invested in the voting process.

It is not unusual for the population to swing back and forth. They voted out the government that led them into the 2008 financial crises, and then voted out the government that pulled them out of the crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/europe/iceland-voters-oust-government.html?_r=0

 

[Grand Mal]

Well, when the total population is just 338,000, and you subtract about 100,000 who are under the voting age of 18, that's nearly 55% of the adult voting population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Iceland

I'd say that was a respectable percentage for that nation. Can you recall any U.S. President who was voted in by 55% of the total voting age population?

Having said that...



It is a fairly small population, and the people are pretty invested in the voting process.

It is not unusual for the population to swing back and forth. They voted out the government that led them into the 2008 financial crises, and then voted out the government that pulled them out of the crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/europe/iceland-voters-oust-government.html?_r=0

Sorry, I screwed up the math. He got about 39% and I multiplied it by the total population, forgot to subtract the under-age.

 

[Carjosse]

Well, when the total population is just 338,000, and you subtract about 100,000 who are under the voting age of 18, that's nearly 55% of the adult voting population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Iceland

I'd say that was a respectable percentage for that nation. Can you recall any U.S. President who was voted in by 55% of the total voting age population?

Having said that...



It is a fairly small population, and the people are pretty invested in the voting process.

It is not unusual for the population to swing back and forth. They voted out the government that led them into the 2008 financial crises, and then voted out the government that pulled them out of the crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/europe/iceland-voters-oust-government.html?_r=0

The best was Ulysses S. Grant with 39.6%, I think.

 

[Captain Adverse]

Sorry, I screwed up the math. He got about 39% and I multiplied it by the total population, forgot to subtract the under-age.

That's okay. I didn't read the article myself before responding and just took your figures at your word.

 

[PerfectStorm]

He got 130,000 votes and now he's President.
Trying hard here, but just can't seem to care...

You did read that voter turnout was 76 percent, right?

 

[eohrnberger]

Reykjavik (AFP) - History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/johannes...ial-vote-partial-result-000003789.html?ref=gs

Anti-establishment sentiment in Iceland.
Anti-establishment sentiment in the UK.
Anti-establishment sentiment in Italy - possibly next to exit from the EU.
Anti-establishment sentiment in the US - why else how far both Sanders and Trump have come.

Seems this anti-establishment sentiment is pretty much world wide.

 

[Chomsky]

Iceland, where they put the bankers in Jail after the 2008 debacle. Now a successful economy. Perhaps we could learn from them. Also note that it is not a two party system controlled by an entrenched status quo.

Exactly, and looks to be a trend for many countries in the future...hopefully ours as well.

And let's not forget Iceland did not play the game of world-wide foreign bailouts or capitulance! They basically told the worldwide banking community:

"Work out a deal to forgive, forget, and keep us and our citizen's whole, or we're going to nationalize everything we got - screw you"!

 

[DaveFagan]

And let's not forget Iceland did not play the game of world-wide foreign bailouts or capitulance! They basically told the worldwide banking community:

"Work out a deal to forgive, forget, and keep us and our citizen's whole, or we're going to nationalize everything we got - screw you"!

Sounds like a haircut by Donald Trump. HeHeHe.

 

[MickeyW]

Anti-establishment sentiment in Iceland.
Anti-establishment sentiment in the UK.
Anti-establishment sentiment in Italy - possibly next to exit from the EU.
Anti-establishment sentiment in the US - why else how far both Sanders and Trump have come.

Seems this anti-establishment sentiment is pretty much world wide.

It seems so.

And let's not forget Iceland did not play the game of world-wide foreign bailouts or capitulance! They basically told the worldwide banking community:

"Work out a deal to forgive, forget, and keep us and our citizen's whole, or we're going to nationalize everything we got - screw you"!

You got it!

 

[eohrnberger]

And let's not forget Iceland did not play the game of world-wide foreign bailouts or capitulance! They basically told the worldwide banking community:

"Work out a deal to forgive, forget, and keep us and our citizen's whole, or we're going to nationalize everything we got - screw you"!

Ahh, if only the Bush administration would have called out the Banksters like this, rather than shoving money up their asses with TARP (whether the bank in question needed it or not).

 

[Chomsky]

Ahh, if only the Bush administration would have called out the Banksters like this, rather than shoving money up their asses with TARP (whether the bank in question needed it or not).

Yeah - and it wasn't just a matter of:

"We're going to nationalize our stuff".

But also:

"We're going to nationalize *your* stuff, too"! Got it?

:lamo

Now in all fairness, all of this going down did cause a crisis and loss of faith in their banking system, particularly in the EU response, but it might be said that the Icelandic government drove a hard bargain for their citizens and in turn seemed to get a reasonable compromise for them.

I suppose with a highly involved & high percentage voting population of only 300K, and nearly all living in one small city, as a government you've gotta' be responsible to your people or your ass is out faster than a Democrat at an NRA convention! :mrgreen:

 

[eohrnberger]

Yeah - and it wasn't just a matter of:

"We're going to nationalize our stuff".

But also:

"We're going to nationalize *your* stuff, too"! Got it?

:lamo

Now in all fairness, all of this going down did cause a crisis and loss of faith in their banking system, particularly in the EU response, but it might be said that the Icelandic government drove a hard bargain for their citizens and in turn seemed to get a reasonable compromise for them.

I suppose with a highly involved & high percentage voting population of only 300K, and nearly all living in one small city, as a government you've gotta' be responsible to your people or your ass is out faster than a Democrat at an NRA convention! :mrgreen:

Agreed. I think the banksters who were one of the many root causes of the financial collapse got of really, really lightly, especially compared to Main Street who got royally screwed.

I think you've perhaps identified the start of the electorate's dissatisfaction with the political elites. I suppose one could view TARP as the political elites bailing out the economic elites, in which case raises the legitimate question of 'Where's Main Street's bail out?' This, and the stagnant middle class wages when compared to the economic / business elites making huge gains might capture a goodly part of why the electorate is so angry with the elites. Don't you think?

But then, this might be a bit straying off of the thread's topic.

 

[Mr Person]

Exactly, and looks to be a trend for many countries in the future...hopefully ours as well.

The candidate who is running in this country as "anti-establishment" IS the establishment.