Open letter to the Icelandic right-winger

You are a socialist.Don't despair. You don't need to get a Ché Guevara shirt or sing along to the chorus: „Fuck you, I won‘t do what you tell me!“ Of course, those things have something to do with socialism, but a socialist is anyone who cares about societal concerns. In the book Höfundur Íslands by Hallgrím Helgason, the main character says about his radicalism in his younger years: „To be a socialist was to be a man.“ There he really hits the nail on the head, except that the past tense is a little misleading. To be a socialist is to be a man.

Fairness is intertwined with our nature as mammals. Everyone who is in touch with their conscience wants people to enjoy the fruits of their labor regardless of their ownership relationship with the means of production. I dare to go so far as to say that everyone except sociopaths are in fact socialists. Most right-wingers I know agree with left-wingers on all ideals. „Of course, it would be best if we could have equality, justice, and brotherhood,“ they say, but then add: „It's just not feasible.“

Look, I told you: you are a socialist. You are just a pessimistic socialist.

The fundamental idea of socialism is that everyone should do what they can and reap what they need. (According to Karl Marx, this was the very cornerstone of communism, but let's reclaim one concept at a time.) As the anthropologist David Graeber points out, friendly human interactions would be impossible if they were not based on this foundation. Then we would have no human society. Then humanity would be an extinct species. Graeber's contribution to discussions that begin with the statement: „Socialism doesn't work“ is simple. So, to paraphrase him slightly: „Socialism is the only thing that works.“

If you had to choose between allowing investors to profit from patients or providing Icelanders with free healthcare, you would always choose the latter.

If you had to choose between allowing 'sea barons' to massively profit from the nation's resource and store the money in offshore companies, or allowing those who catch and process the fish to enjoy the profits from it, you would always choose the latter.

If you had to choose between allowing temp agencies to practice slavery on Icelandic soil or granting foreign staff contractual rights to a decent livelihood, you would always choose the latter.

If you had to choose between allowing financial companies to buy up apartments and massively profit from them, driving up housing prices, or giving young people hope of owning their own home somewhere south of fifty years old, you would always choose the latter.

You would always choose the latter.

Because you are a socialist.

The thing is, you just think you have no choice.

The good news is that you are wrong.

Símon VestarrThe article first appeared in Morgunblaðið.