Iceland (and liberalism)

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

In the spirit of how to debunk misinformation and disinformation, I encourage you to examine The Financial Services Forum, The American Accountability Foundation, The Epoch Times, Fox News, and One America Network(OAN), among others, using the media literacy skills taught by the News Literacy Project from #1 above under "How to Debunk."  Click on the News Literacy Project link to start your work.

Humor me here. This is a blog about my recent trip to Iceland, but writing about Iceland invites at least an entry level discussion on liberalism. I read this article from Encyclopedia Brittanica to refresh my knowledge of liberalism. As you likely already know, Liberalism is not always what it is simplistically represented to be. In fact, many old school Conservatives might be surprised at what Liberalism stands for in reality.

Anyway, read this article to any degree of detail that you like, but at least consider this before reading my thoughts on Iceland. …”modern liberals hold that the point of government is to remove obstacles that stand in the way of individual freedom.”

My brain is constantly looking at connections between people, ideas, events and places and time. So, here I am again going where my average brain takes me. Again, humor me. That is if I haven’t already scared you off!

And here’s a feel good story from a Massachusetts college graduation that we read about on Sunday morning over breakfast. We’ve decided to duplicate the gesture at Christmas time with our family.

On to the most intriguing place that I have ever had the opportunity to visit. Iceland.

Quick Facts:

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Iceland.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Constitutional republic.
CAPITAL: Reykjavík.
POPULATION: 317,000.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Icelandic (Others include: English, Nordic languages, German)
MONEY: Icelandic króna.
AREA: 39,769 square miles (103,001 square kilometers)

Fun Facts:

You can find five, 10, 18, 100 fun facts about Iceland.  Here are a few of them:
_______________________________

Iceland has no mosquitos (can you guess why?).
You can have 23 hours of darkness or 23 hours of sunlight (depending on the season).

It is loaded with Viking history and stories (sagas).

Iceland is constantly growing (It sits on top of an open crack in the Earth's crust)

Iceland and St. Louis, MO have about the same number of people.

Prohibition ended in 1989.  Some Icelanders celebrate Beer Day on March 1.

Many Icelanders believe in the "hidden people" (Trolls and Elves)

Very strict gun policy.  The Police do not carry guns except for a special force called the Viking Squad.  Approximately 90,000 people own guns, but they are primarily used for hunting and sport.

Icelanders enjoy a good quality of life even though they work the longest of any country in Europe (43-44 hours per week).

It's southern-most point is the youngest place on Earth (Surtsey Island was born from 1963-67).

11% of Iceland is covered by ice.  Story has it that the Vikings named the relatively hospitable island "Iceland" to discourage anyone else from coming here.

Psst:  There are lots of other fun facts (do an Internet search using "fun facts of Iceland."

I visited Iceland for the first time from May 10-20 and came away with the feeling that this Nordic people, decendants of the Vikings, are my people. I was initially drawn here by the natural history of this island country in the northern North Atlantic ocean.

But what has bonded me to this place is the Scandinavian roots of it’s population. They are independent, egalitarian, enterprising, compassionate, creative, hard working, fun loving and, for the most part, liberally happy people.

They eat lots of cod (baked, smoked, steamed, fried, raw…) and to help it go down, they might indulge in the Icelandic delicacy of fermented shark meat. This vegetarian was the only person in our Road Scholar group that would admit to liking it. It is supposed to have probiotic qualities. I can’t confirm or deny it, but I was able to eat a good amount of seafood and not pay the price for it.

These people have a long and rich literary tradition that goes back as far back as the 13th Century when the early Viking stories of Iceland were finally written down in the form of Sagas which have a style all there own. My own interest in the written language may very well have its roots in my Swedish blood.

Traveling around the country mostly by motor coach one can see in the stark volcanic landscape the very essence of the Icelander. Nearly 2/3 of the population live in and around the capital city of Reykjavik (Smoking Harbor/vik means harbor). The rest of the population is scattered around the island in small towns and an occasional large town.

The place generates lots of electricity. About 30% of it comes from magma heated water (geothermal) and 70% comes from running water (hydroelectric). It generates so much surplus electricity that Australia operates two Aluminum processing plants in Iceland. Yes, they ship the ore rock Bauxite all the way from Australia to Iceland to take advantage of the cheap and plentiful electricity. Aluminum processing requires very large amounts of electricity.

Iceland’s golden age of freedom and independence was the 9th and 10th centuries. The old parliament called the Alpingi was formed in 930 and in 1000 Christianity was adopted as the official state religion.

The golden age didn’t last long as warring chieftains gave in to Norwegian rule. The Norwegians gave way to the Danes who ruled Iceland from mid-13th Century to the mid-20th Century. Iceland became a sovereign state in 1918 and independent republic in 1944. It was one of the few European countries to have actually benefitted from World War Two. They gained independence and received substantial Marshall Plan Aid money. The current international airport in Keflavik was built by the American military and the domestic airport in Reykjavik was built by the British military. At one point there were 50,000 American soldiers on an island with about 120,000 Icelanders!

Economically speaking, Iceland started the 21st Century with a robust period of economic growth and prosperity. Iceland was hit hard by the global recession of 2008 in which all of the main banks collapsed. This “Crash” resulted in declining living standards and a period of “psychological shock” for the people. Bu things are looking up for Iceland thanks in large part to an increase in tourism.

So, as I reflect on this first visit to Iceland, I reflect with a sense of individual pride. The liberal traditions that Icelanders carry on from their Viking forebearers also lives on in me. I don’t think that it is any accident that the history of this island nation lives on in me as well.