What sort of country do we want to become?

The Icelandic government has undergone a shift in priorities over the past few years.

Not too long ago, the welfare and wellbeing of its people were seen as an utmost priority, and everything else existed in order to facilitate that wellbeing.

Today, tourists and specifically the money they bring, are valued far more than the lives and livelihood of the people who call Iceland home, and furthermore those people now exist mostly to facilitate the wellbeing and comfort of those wealthy tourists.

The government likes to claim that the vast amounts of money brought in by tourism will naturally trickle down and wash over the population, bringing prosperity to all it touches.

This might be a reality in a fair and just system, or one where the biggest industries are not owned by a tiny handful of people and their families.

In that reality, the riches only get concentrated in a few hands and then squirreled away offshore to avoid scrutiny from the tax office.

The end result of this kind of a system is for Iceland to end up as a place just like Monaco. One which is hugely expensive, and where the vast majority of jobs are in the service industry, whose workers cannot even afford to live in the cities which they work, serving the rich who travel there.

In these kind of places, the government does not care about high prices for food, housing or transportation because they know that the visiting tourists are happy to pay a premium for the privilege of visiting. Therefore there is no incentive to lower costs.

Lower prices mean lower profits.

Conversely, the workers are forced to pay these extortionate prices because they have no other choice. They are trapped in a system where they spend their entire paycheck just to survive.

If the Icelandic government wants to live up to its well-polished, massaged image of equality and a high standard of living, which it likes to portray to the rest of the world, they must state clearly that the people who live here are prioritized more highly than tourist dollars, and to act accordingly.

We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The GDP of Iceland in 2022 was almost 7 percent, which equates to around 25 billion dollars.

There is no reason for people to not be able to afford to survive.

No excuses.

The author is a member of Efling Union.