Iceland, a land of Vikings, braces for a Pirate Party takeover

hope they win, this could set an example for the USA and UK. no more sites taken down by Hollywood stooges

*BUMP* - I would consider moving to Iceland if this takes root.

Originally Posted by angelatc

*BUMP* - I would consider moving to Iceland if this takes root.

I've speculated before that this would be a suitable place to cultivate liberty. See you there.

Originally Posted by luctor-et-emergo

I've speculated before that this would be a suitable place to cultivate liberty. See you there.

I have to get my kid through high school. He's a senior this year. What language should I be studying?

Originally Posted by angelatc

I have to get my kid through high school. He's a senior this year. What language should I be studying?

Icelandic... Or whatever it's called, they have their own language but I guess most people speak English as a second language.

it could happen anywhere

First Iceland brought crooked bankers to justice and now it looks like they may be embracing liberty, if they can do it so can we.

Originally Posted by angelatc

*BUMP* - I would consider moving to Iceland if this takes root.

Two things.

Firstly, they will not let you in. Period. If you had billions... maybe. Short of that, you have better chances in Switzerland, and those aren't very good.

Secondly, Icelandic is one of the true $#@!ers of world languages to learn. Not as bad as Basque, which is considered to be impossible or an adult to learn fluently, but worse than Hungarian, which is pretty tough stuff.

One litmus test of this purported spike toward freedom will be their position on firearms. If they free up availability of all types of firearms, I will consider them to be the real deal. Short of that, it will be just another load of bunk where talk is big and action short.

Monetary policy would be another - I would start buying up PMs, perhaps go full-bitcoin... something rational. No central bank... not even sure if they have one now.

If they do such things, look out for cross-hairs to appear on them. OTOH, Iceland is smaller than my back field, so they may escape scrutiny awhile... long enough to arm themselves in various ways beyond just guns.

Originally Posted by osan

One litmus test of this purported spike toward freedom will be their position on firearms. If they free up availability of all types of firearms, I will consider them to be the real deal. Short of that, it will be just another load of bunk where talk is big and action short.

Monetary policy would be another - I would start buying up PMs, perhaps go full-bitcoin... something rational. No central bank... not even sure if they have one now.

If they do such things, look out for cross-hairs to appear on them. OTOH, Iceland is smaller than my back field, so they may escape scrutiny awhile... long enough to arm themselves in various ways beyond just guns.

Yes they have a central bank right now. They have their own currency, it gets issued by their central bank. There are still voices that want to adopt the Euro in Iceland but I guess it is unclear what the position of the pirate party is... Although, if decided by a democratic referendum, I guess the people of Iceland do not want the Euro or membership of EMU or EFTA.

As far as firearms go, yes, not an ideal libertarian position yet.. A lot of people own guns though and there is pretty much no gun violence over there. Lots of restrictions but I guess this is something more easily changed in a small country than a large one.

As far as the cross-hairs go, Iceland does not need to import vast amounts of energy to keep the country running.

Renewable sources—geothermal and hydropower—provide effectively all of Iceland's electricity[133] and around 85% of the nation's total primary energy consumption,[134] with most of the remainder consisting of imported oil products used in transportation and in the fishing fleet.[135][136] Iceland expects to be energy-independent by 2050.

(wiki)

And what do they have for sale ? Stuff the whole world wants but hardly worth invading for.




Also.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandskei%C3%B0

Do they even support small government or is it just a matter of overlap on privacy positions while supporting the usual welfare state policy? Seems there is reason to be a bit skeptical but not trying to be a buzz kill and open to hearing more details.

Originally Posted by insidemanpoker

Do they even support small government or is it just a matter of overlap on privacy positions while supporting the usual welfare state policy? Seems there is reason to be a bit skeptical but not trying to be a buzz kill and open to hearing more details.

Iceland has a flat tax system: the main personal income tax rate is a flat 22.75%, and combined with municipal taxes, the total tax rate equals no more than 35.7%, not including the many deductions that are available.[113] The corporate tax rate is a flat 18%, one of the lowest in the world.[113] There is also a value added tax, whereas a net wealth tax was eliminated in 2006. Employment regulations are relatively flexible and the labour market is one of the freest in the world. Property rights are strong and Iceland is one of the few countries where they are applied to fishery management.[113] Like other welfare states, taxpayers pay various subsidies to each other, but with spending being less than in most European countries.

(wiki)

Yes they have taxes. Ups and downs I guess but leaning towards libertarian views I'd say.

Originally Posted by angelatc

*BUMP* - I would consider moving to Iceland if this takes root.

WTF for ?

https://blog.pirate-party.us/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...s_Pirate_Party

https://www.google.com/#q=usa+pirate+party

Originally Posted by luctor-et-emergo

Yes they have a central bank right now.

Central bank is not in itself evil, but people in power tend to be, which is why CBs fail in practice.

Assuming their bank is honestly and capably managed under a proper architecture at this time, I would recommend to them they eliminate fiat monies and allow outside competition. This will tend to keep the CB honest and motivated to improve the architecture of their operations. If the people are free at any time to abandon the national money, there is little to no worry of hanky panky in the fundamentals of the national economy. I would adopt on-demand convertibility for citizens ONLY. Foreign nationals would not be able to do so. This is clearly anti-liberty, but it is an absolute necessity for the following reason. If we assume money backed with gold, just to keep it simple, stupid, were foreigners such as tourists to be allowed conversion, any other sufficiently endowed nation seeking to wreak havoc upon the Icelandic economy could simply send waves of "tourists" to that land and have them buy up all the backing stores, thereby gutting the national sink of value. That would be disastrous. Some may argue that the gold could be banned from exportation. That could still fail in practice because those so-called tourists could be given instructions to dispose of the gold by tossing it into the sea, down the geothermal vents that abound, and so forth. Liberty for Icelanders; screw the rest of you. A sad, but potentially necessary deviation from proper liberty in a world rotting in its own tyrannical filth.

In fact, I might have two national currencies, the first being the fully convertible, real asset-backed money, and a fiat currency for international settlements. This could position Iceland well for international trade without giving foreign nations access to the "gold" reserves, which would remain safely at home. Or perhaps simply accepting foreign currencies like the Euro to circulate freely would be the better solution, all international settlements to be conducted in those foreign currencies and similarly insulating reserves from plundering.

There are still voices that want to adopt the Euro in Iceland but I guess it is unclear what the position of the pirate party is... Although, if decided by a democratic referendum, I guess the people of Iceland do not want the Euro or membership of EMU or EFTA.

Kudos to the Icelandic people if they are that smart and resolved. But this underscores my concerns regarding those cross-hairs. I grant that Iceland is smaller than my master bathroom and of little to no global consequence, speaking generally. But in they eyes of these globalist tyrants Iceland may still pose a threat to Theire plans for central government. As the rest of the world descends into the New Dark Age (NDA) and the foist of the Khmer Rouge dream is globally perfected, even a single point-source of non-orthodox national operations would serve as a sore-thumb beacon to the billions whose lives have been reduced to such a bereft state. Assuming the internet survives in a form that still allows sufficiently free flow of information, I would think that such messages of prosperity in a land of less than 350K souls would tend to upset the global applecart. I cannot imagine Theye would tolerate such a thing, and thereby would Iceland and any place similar attract the attention of the large predators.

As far as firearms go, yes, not an ideal libertarian position yet..

And I repeat: this is an all-or-nothing litmus test. If this fails, Iceland fails as a free land regardless if every Icelander becomes a billionaire.

A lot of people own guns though and there is pretty much no gun violence over there. Lots of restrictions but I guess this is something more easily changed in a small country than a large one.

http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/iceland

As far as the cross-hairs go, Iceland does not need to import vast amounts of energy to keep the country running.

But it needs trade, and that is a weakness. Any nation worth its guano for sense renders itself as fully self-sufficient as is materially possible. Global interdependence is globalist bait.

Originally Posted by mrsat_98

WTF for ?

https://blog.pirate-party.us/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...s_Pirate_Party

https://www.google.com/#q=usa+pirate+party

Why did you link to the US Pirate Party? The subject at hand is the Icelandic Pirate Party.

Regardless, it is nice to see the system upended and fresh ideas that are libertarian leaning to some degree taking root, and rather quickly...

Originally Posted by cindy25

hope they win, this could set an example for the USA and UK. no more sites taken down by Hollywood stooges

Example? Hell. How about a place to move to?

Originally Posted by angelatc

*BUMP* - I would consider moving to Iceland if this takes root.

My thoughts exactly. I just wish Iceland wasn't so....well....icy. Weren't their pirates in the Caribbean?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...-their-ballots

Icelanders started voting in a snap election that polls show could propel the populist Pirate Party into a ruling coalition after the sitting conservative government became tainted by the Panama Papers scandal.

Braving rain, gusty winds and temperatures not far above freezing, Icelanders starting voting at 9 a.m. on Saturday across the north Atlantic island. Voting closes at 10 p.m. with final results not expected until late into the night.

The election is taking place against the backdrop of rising populism across the western world and what Allianz SE chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian called spreading disruptions from the “politics of anger."

Surveys published in the final days of the election campaign point to a defeat for the ruling conservative alliance and victory for opposition parties spearheaded by the Pirate Party and the Left-Green Movement.

AAaarrrrgghhhhh Mateeeeesssssss

That Left-Green Movement sounds pretty scary...

http://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/elections2016/

polls close in a little over an hour

The general parliamentary elections take place on Saturday October 29th.
Follow our live updates of the vote results as they come in.
The first results of the vote counts are expected at around 10 pm (GMT) on Saturday.
The final vote count is expected on the morning of Sunday October 30th.