Anti Establishment "Pirate Party" set to Rule Iceland

[Blobfish]

A radical fringe political party is set to win the Iceland election this weekend.
The Pirate Party didn't exist 4 years ago, but in similar circumstances to the uprising of Donald Trump and Brexit, people
in Iceland are over the establishment parties.

Is there anyone on MMO from Iceland or Scandinavia that can fill us in on the Pirate Party?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...6a6_story.html

Its members are a collection of anarchists, hackers, libertarians and Web geeks.
It sets policy through online polls — and thinks the government should do the same.
It wants to make Iceland “a Switzerland of bits,” free of digital snooping.
It has offered Edward Snowden a new place to call home

A Pirate Party win would offer a vivid illustration of how far Europeans are willing to go in their rejection of the political mainstream, adding to a string of insurgent triumphs emanating from both the far left and far right.

To Jónsdóttir and other Pirate true believers — who define their party as neither left nor right, but a radical movement that combines the best of both — the election here could also be the start of the reboot that Western democracy so desperately needs.

[Wyrt]

They're going to have to leave the EU, get their own currency, and rely heavily on banking if they want to be Switzerland. Good luck to them.

[Cyberowl]

Pirate parties are a phenomen in a lot of countries in western Europe.

Born in the internet qqing about downloadz into the political stage, usually attracting protest voters and young voters. Their party has like no experience at all and already backpedaled on their original idea. They realize Iceland isn't in a vacuum and can't just dismiss already created treaties. I expect 1/3 of the elected officials to give up within half a year.

[nextormento]

They're going to have to leave the EU, get their own currency, and rely heavily on banking if they want to be Switzerland. Good luck to them.

Iceland is not part of the EU, and they have their own currency.

It's heartwarming in a sense that anarchists and libertarians are having a bit of success, but I'm skeptical that they can maintain the edge for long.

[Wyrt]

Iceland is not part of the EU, and they have their own currency.

It's heartwarming in a sense that anarchists and libertarians are having a bit of success, but I'm skeptical that they can maintain the edge for long.

Oh, I thought they were. They're part of the free trade agreements right?

[nextormento]

Oh, I thought they were. They're part of the free trade agreements right?

Yep, the're part of EFTA, along with Switzerland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

[Deleted]

Here's the page of the Finnish version, Pirate Party of Finland: https://piraattipuolue.fi/english

[Independent voter]

Such a wimpy flag. It should look like

[Flarelaine]

Iceland is not part of the EU, and they have their own currency.

It's heartwarming in a sense that anarchists and libertarians are having a bit of success, but I'm skeptical that they can maintain the edge for long.

They're small enough to approximate direct democracy. And a guy who originially ran as a joke ended up mayor of Reykjavik (which does have more than half the population). With all that in mind, they may even succeed to some degree.

[TrumpIsPresident]

People waking up to the fact that government is corrupt and/or only working the serve the interests of a few select groups and rebelling by means of political power rather than violence.

It actually is progress when you think of it like that.

[Deleted]

Iceland is a non-country. The smaller the country the more exotic it can be, hence why it's borderline a country.

[Hottage]

Ironically, by becoming elected, they are the mainstream.

[Kaleredar]

The "reboot" of western democracy starts in a place with a tenth of the population of Los Angeles Iceland?

Sure.





The issue with anarchists/Libertarian rout is that they always presume they'll dig themselves a pond and be the biggest fish. When a bigger fish comes along, suddenly they're the food, with no one and nowhere else to swim to. And no one's there to stop the bigger fish from eatin' em.

[Afrospinach]

Such a wimpy flag. It should look like

Eh, I actually think that logo is pretty clever.

[Dezerte]

In Sweden, the Pirate Party has been around since 2008 (I believe, thereabouts at least) but haven't gotten past the 4% limit to sit in Swedish government as of yet. They've had better success in the EU elections however, where they usually have a seat or two. I'm not completely up-to-date with this party but the Swedish version wasn't that radical (maybe that has changed), it was mostly about anti-surveillance, open Internet, revised copyright laws and that sort of thing.

[Deleted]

In Sweden, the Pirate Party has been around since 2008 (I believe, thereabouts at least) but haven't gotten past the 4% limit to sit in Swedish government as of yet. They've had better success in the EU elections however, where they usually have a seat or two. I'm not completely up-to-date with this party but the Swedish version wasn't that radical (maybe that has changed), it was mostly about anti-surveillance, open Internet, revised copyright laws and that sort of thing.

Indeed, the first Pirate Party was the Swedish one, and was essentially a one-issue party. The Icelandic one is hence more of a sidetracked evolution of pirate parties with a clear and broad ideology.

It will be interesting to see how the party fares but like mentioned earlier, the problem with radicalists is that they have to at some point adjust to reality.

[JohnBrown1917]

Iceland is a non-country. The smaller the country the more exotic it can be, hence why it's borderline a country.

You're not very good at making jokes.

[caervek]

They're going to have to leave the EU

Iceland aren't part of the EU, they were applying but gave up after it became apparent the UK was going to block them due to their part in and response to the financial crisis.

[Seani]

I wish this was the colonial era of history so we could just conquer these idiots lol

[Vargur]

I wish this was the colonial era of history so we could just conquer these idiots lol

I happen to like Iceland and I find your comment insulting.
I don't even know which "we" you're talking about, but since you're insulting whole other countries, you probably live in a superpower.