hvusslax

Since the mayor won't be giving you a good answer I hope you accept a comment from a random citizen.

It's a mixed bag. I know these hyperbolic articles about the wonders of Iceland, how we stood up to the banks and crowdsourced a new constitution. Most Icelanders would laugh at such claims because they seem so far removed from the reality of the average person. I think there is even a tendency to over-correct and understate the positive things that have actually happened. There was a thorough report by an special investigative committee that involved a lot of navel-gazing and there were charges brought against former PM Geir Haarde for alleged mismanagement on half of the government during the crisis. He only got a slap on the wrist, but I don't care as much about that as the fact that the process happened.

As for the bankers themselves, immediately after the crash, the office of a special prosecutor was founded to deal with any suspected criminal conduct in the Icelandic banks leading to the crash. People have been impatient for results, until December '13 there had only been relatively minor convictions. But in December we got a major conviction in the al-Thani case. If the supreme court doesn't overturn the verdict, we are actually looking at four major players in the pre-crash banking sector going to prison. Those include the CEO and chairman of the board of Kaupthing Bank which was by far the largest of the Icelandic banks. It's something.

Iceland has in the last years gained a reputation internationally for being a hub of direct democracy and transparency. A place that stood up the bankers and crowsourced a new constitution. Do you think this reputation is deserved?

The Netherlands has amongst the lowest rates of cannabis consumption in Europe despite having probably the easiest access to the drugs. Decriminalization of Cannabis in Portugal and downgrading to a lower class in the UK has been followed by reduction of consumption amongst the youngest groups.

I don't quite understand why people choose to be ignorant about this.

How involved is Julian Assange in the affairs of Wikileaks these days? Do you know him personally?