The less fortunate in Reykjavík will step in from the cold and demand power this spring

A general meeting of the Socialist Party of Iceland held in Gerðuberg on April 4, 2018 adopted the following resolution regarding the party's candidacy in the upcoming municipal elections:

Growing inequality has undermined public trust in politics; parliament, local governments, political parties. Growing inequality can be attributed to the unequal distribution of wage and capital income, the rapid accumulation of wealth by a few at the expense of the many, and the exclusion of the less fortunate from politics; low-wage earners, poor pensioners, immigrants, tenants, disabled people, and the poor. These people have few, if any, representatives within politics; their voice is weak, they are not addressed, and their interests are never taken into account when issues are discussed.

The exclusion of the less fortunate from the political discourse has corrupted and destroyed the democratic platform that was meant to ensure equal access to issues for all. The remaining power holders cannot reach a just conclusion when a third of the population, who are worst off, have been isolated from the discussion.

What is reasonable in our society can be attributed to the class struggle of the worst off in the last century. What is most alarming in our society can be attributed to recent decades when this class struggle was isolated from general political discourse and suppressed. Without an active class struggle of the worst off, we would grant the wealthiest even more economic and political power, thereby continuing to build a plutocracy here.

The candidacy of the Socialist Party of Iceland for the city council is not only intended to put the issues of the less fortunate on the city's agenda but also to allow those groups of voters, who have been kept from political participation by the elites of political parties, to participate in decisions. A city council, where a homogeneous group occupies all seats, will otherwise continue a wrong policy, reach a wrong conclusion, and violate the groups who are worst off.

By doing so, the city's administration undermines society. Equality will not increase without the active political participation of the less fortunate. Without their uprising, inequality will continue to grow and eventually undermine the living standards of all the public.

Low-wage earners recently rose up and reclaimed leadership in Efling, the largest trade union for low-wage earners, under demands for radical class struggle. The uprising of the less fortunate will continue this spring and find its channel in the candidacy of the Socialist Party of Iceland for the city council. The people's demand is to get a seat at the table where decisions are made, to be listened to, and for the interests of the less fortunate to be taken into account when resolving all issues.

The less fortunate in Reykjavík will step in from the cold and demand power this spring.

#spring in Reykjavík

A general meeting of the Socialist Party regarding the city council candidacy will be held at the Cultural Center Gerðuberg in Upper-Breiðholt on Wednesday evening, April 4th at 19:00. See Facebook event about the general meetinghere.