National Geographic Magazine lýsir álvæðingunni á Íslandi

Ég bendi á þessa fínu grein í marshefti National Geograpic sem heitir "Power Struggle". Reyndar er ég ekki alveg hlutlaus því ég leiðsagði Marguerite Del Giudice, höfundi greinarinnar, um Ísland í tvær vikur haustið 2006 þegar hún aflaði sér heimilda í greinina. Löngu síðar, nokkrum mánuðum fyrir birtingu, var mér falið að lesa greinina og yfirfara íslenska stafsetningu og staðreyndir.

Allur er varinn góður

“As soon as you open your mouth,” one observer said, “they’re all over you.” It’s like living on a mobile—disturbing any part of it could generate a ripple throughout. So while Iceland in many ways remains an open and transparent society, there’s an underlying guardedness among the people when it comes to talking politics and public policy—concerning such things as how the country should go about striking a balance between protecting its environment and growing its economy, which is more or less what this story is about.

Viðhorf til Reykvíkinga 

They [the people from Reykjavik] want to come here in their Jeeps and have a look at the beautiful nature and the people too. And the people must be few and the more strange the better,” says Smári Geirsson, a high school history teacher and onetime head of the 16-member association of eastern municipalities, shaking his bowed head.