Tragedy- No Longer Just for Greeks

The elements of a tragic hero-

1.A great or noble person Icelanders and their Viking history, strength and attitude

2.Makes a mistake of some kind usually because of hubris-tried to buy the world on credit 

3.Reversal of fortune-KREPPA

4.Has a downfall- buried by debt, they begin to bury their houses and cars

5.Recognizes his mistake- this final act has yet to be played out

 

An important part to a tragedy is that the audience should feel pity for the hero and experience fear.

We feel pity for the Icelandic hero beause we can place ourselves in his position.

We feel fear because we too do not know our future or our fate.

Aristole himself would be impressed by how well the Icelandic crisis is following the classic Greek artform.

 

GTB

Eyðilagði íbúðarhúsið

Athugasemdir

[Guðmundur Ásgeirsson, 17.6.2009 kl. 22:19]

STFU SOB! For your sake I hope you are kidding. This poor man probably only wanted to put a roof over his head and his family, but instead got treated like he was to blame for other people's recklessness. The guilty ones are those who caused him to be buried in debt without reason. If none of them will be held responsible for their crimes and thievery, then pots and pans will soon be replaced by pitchforks and rocks as the tools of civilian justice. Viva la revolution!

[Gregg Thomas Batson, 18.6.2009 kl. 01:18]

Kári,

Thanks for clarifying how Aristole would not be impressed.  As far as GTFO of Iceland, I am sure everyone who could, would. I unfortunatley am stuck in the same fucking boat as the rest of you.

Guðmundur,

STFU SOB? My mother is going to be very unhappy when she reads that.

I wish I was kidding.  I guess I should have wrote about how funny it was or wrote how the evil bank got what it deserved, which, by the way, was what? I have no doubt that the man was trying to do the right thing. The hero in a tragedy must be seen as a good person or else the audience thinks he gets what he deserves. I never wrote that he was to blame.  I wrote he made a mistake that causes his downfall.  The fact that he falls not due to greed of vice, but because of a miscalculation is the important element to the tragic hero. Without trying to explain a Greek tragedy more, (perhaps a bad choice on my part to compare the kreppa to, even though it fits) I empathize with his plight as he is not the only one in Iceland with such a story. 

There are more to blame than just the banks.  What about the car dealers who sold cars with foreign currency? Or the towns that allowed overbuilding? How about the builders themselves? Who was going to live in all those houses? How about all the people and businesses and towns that took foreign currency loans? Or the people who took 100% loans because they didn't have a down payment.  If you don't have a down payment that should be a warning that maybe you can't afford the house. I took one of those foreign currency loans. Not for very much but is was enough.  I asked my friend if it was good idea.  My friend asked me a simple question- How do you get paid, in foreign currency? I of course said "no".  Then he said I should only take a loan in the currency that I get paid in.  Simple, plain, straightforward advice that I didn't take.  Am I mad at the bank? YES. Did I make a miscalulation? YES.  Should Iceland be strapped with the debt of these banks-NO. 

 The Icelandic Unversity taught a class on the Icelandic economic model and how great it was.  I'm all for the revolution as long as we learn something from it and don't go down the road again..  My grandpa was right. Debt is evil and it is always best to save.

GTB

[Guðmundur Ásgeirsson, 18.6.2009 kl. 03:27]

Gregg, excuse my heated reaction before which was obviously unwarranted, your explanation puts a better perspective on your intention. I tend to agree with a lot you have to say, however in the same position as that man in Alftanes I would probably do the same thing or similar. For the sake of constructive discourse I will offer you some perspective of my own.

"usually because of hubris-tried to buy the world on credit"

The majority of Icelanders were actually quite weary of the attempts of a handful of jet-setters to do just that. Most regular people (like myself) wanted nothing more than a decent life for our families, and resorted to the available means to achieve that. Myself, I always thought I just didn't understand the business side of things and that's why I chose to go into the technical and study computer science instead. Now I've learned it was not me that didn't fully grasp the meaning of sensible business strategies, but explaining to the world that everyone else is crazy but yourself is always an uphill struggle.

"What about the car dealers who sold cars with foreign currency?"

Been there, done that! Forex deal now at 120% of original price despite having paid the dues for 2 years now, monthly dues +150%. And I DID NOT get a RangeRover or LandCruiser, just the modest most economical car that my family could fit in. In Reykjavik you need wheels just to get from home-work-kindergarten in time for dinner! Never expected the result would be financial doom however.

"How about all the people ... that took foreign currency loans?"

Actually, those are illegal! 'Guess the dealer should have mentioned that when I was signing the contract. (And of course that specific legal interpretation is strongly disputed by the financiers.)

"Or the towns that allowed overbuilding? How about the builders themselves?"

Personally I always thought that was crazy, but no one else seemed to care back in 2006. I actually made it a pasttime to count how many construction cranes were visible from my apartment during the construction boom. Same thing happened in Florida during the wave of cocain pouring in from Latin-America, all that dirty cash had to be invested somewhere, right? And now, perhaps due to global warming or whatever, banana republics can also be found far into the North-Atlantic. ;)

"Or the people who took 100% loans because they didn't have a down payment.  If you don't have a down payment that should be a warning that maybe you can't afford the house. "

Well, back in 2006 when monthly payments on such loans was significantly lower than rent for a similar dwelling, using your money in a way that would have you end up owning the thing actually made a lot more financial sense than throwing it away at some landlord. My parents built their house way back during a time of runaway consumer price inflation and savings erosion, so I was raised up believing that concrete was the safest investment because property values tend to increase over time. Until recently that was the hard 'truth' learned by generations of Icelanders living under an unstable currency-regime, and we all have to live somewhere anyway, don't we?

I didn't even build or buy new, instead we chose a modest apartment in a house built in 1967. With previously unheard of (+10%) unemployment rates it's still difficult for many like me to keep up with the payments.

"The Icelandic Unversity taught a class on the Icelandic economic model and how great it was."

Having the experience of being a small figure in that model, this "greatness" you talk of always seemed to escape me. Perhaps because I consistently refused to play along with those "Mickey-Mouse" kind of business strategies through my professional work. (Yes, "ethical" is not a completely lost word from the Icelandic language, not for me anyway!)

P.S. Apologies to your mother, I bet she's a fine lady! :)

[Axel Þór Kolbeinsson, 18.6.2009 kl. 09:50]

Your analogy to the great Greek tradegies is fairly accurate, but personally I think that the entire situation the Icelandic public is more like a movie directed by David Lynch.

[Gregg Thomas Batson, 18.6.2009 kl. 17:54]

Guðmundur,

No apologies are necessary.  This is an extremely difficult time and the discourse will sometimes get heated.  It is good to see some people have a passion for action.  We are in a situation where we are no longer living but merely surviving.  And the future is completely uncertain.  It just plain sucks.

Axel,

Yeah, you are probably right.  It does have a sort of surreal feeling to it.  Getting back to the interest rate debate, did you notice the banks did not change their rates in response to the 1% change from the Central Bank? That is because the CB did not change the bank deposit rate. By not changing that rate it is as if they did not lower that rate at all since it has no effect on the rates the banks charge. Just a show and nothing more.

When is the next meeting? And thanks for the previous invite. 

GTB

[Axel Þór Kolbeinsson, 19.6.2009 kl. 10:11]

Actually Sparisjóðurinn changed their rates at the 11th, but I don't know by how much.  The three banks have not changed their rates, but one has to give it to them that they have lowered their rates more than the CB.  Lowest loan rates one can get today are at 8% non CPI linked, but those are only availible to students.

We have not decided on the date of our next open meeting, but it will most likely be later in this month in Reykjavík.  I'll keep you posted.