Ögmundur Jónasson: Social justice is the key for a left government
Interview with Ögmundur Jónasson,
the former Health and Interior Minister for the Icelandic left government (2009-2013
Icelandic politician Ögmundur Jónasson (born 17 July 1948), was the former Health and Interior Minister for the Icelandic left government between 2009-2013. He has been active in various grass-root activities, a prolific commentator and public speaker. As minister, he gained international attention in connection with three issues. First, he proposed measures designed to protect children from the harms of violent pornography as part of his broader support for human rights and women’s rights. Secondly, he rejected a plan by Chinese business tycoon, Mr. Huang Nubo, to purchase a huge tract of land in the North East of Iceland attracting much geopolitical and media attention. Thirdly, he refused all cooperation with FBI agents who arrived in Iceland in 2011 —on the pretext of investigating an impending hacking attack on Icelandic government computers— and directed them to leave the country because he believed that they were, in fact, engaged in a broader swoop to gather intelligence on WikiLeaks in trying to frame its founder Julian Assange.
aus: ANALYZEGREECE!
Governing under such a difficult situation, as was the crisis just like Greece is now, must have been a very difficult task. Which are the main problems and obstacles for a left government?
Tackling a serious economic crisis is difficult for all governments, whether they are left wing or right wing. It is important for everybody to be aware of this, politicians and voters alike.
There is, however, a fundamental difference between the right and the left in this respect: Their objective is not the same. Of course politicians in general want to succeed in their endeavour to get their country out of serious trouble but they tend to evaluate the situation differently. This depends on their political conviction. Left wing, socially responsible forces, above all want to preserve, if not strengthen the social fabric of society – the welfare system – while the right wing under such circumstances is likely to use the crisis for system change, i.e. to marketise and privatise the system.
Rumour has it that when hurricane Katarina swept over Louisiana in the United States in 2005, Milton Freedman, who was then in his mid-nineties, rose from his bed and said that now the time was ideal for privatisation in Louisiana! Naomi Klein wrote her book, The Shock Doctrine to remind us that neo-liberals often use a crisis to push through unpopular change. When people are in a state of shock, which often is the case during a devastating economic crisis, they are likely not to be on guard or they simply are mentally unable to resist.
Some right wing politicians want to market the welfare system and sell off valuable recourses belonging to the community, out of crude interest, either because they themselves or the people they represent want to make money out of it. It may also be the case – which indeed is nobler – that it is their conviction that a competitive society based on inequality is more effective than an egalitarian society based on cooperation.
The problem is that dominant international forces in the OECD, IMF, EC not to mention the banking and financial institutions of the world, tend to agree with the right wing approach. This means that the struggle for the left is upstream. Pressures from the outside world tend to be in favour of marketisation and privatisation. The IMF, e.g., sees itself as the guardian of private ownership rather than human rights in a broader perspective. During the Icelandic crisis our visitors from the IMF never asked, to my knowledge, how people were doing in the hospital ward while they were always highly concerned about how stakeholders in the financial world fared.
Of course this international environment is more difficult for the left rather than the right. All the more important it is for those who want to preserve and strengthen a just egalitarian society to have a left wing government in times of economic crisis.
What do you think is the most important thing for a left government to overcome these difficulties? Wide consensus in the society? Allies with specific social groups? Which was your main “weapon”?
We have a saying in Iceland that if those who come into rough seas are to have a chance to survive, they must take to the oars together in a concerted effort. But there is a precondition. They must be on the same boat! So the task of government in crisis is to take measures which are socially just, measures that in effect put us all on the same boat. Political measures must therefore be egalitarian in nature. You higher the taxes on the rich while you try to alleviate the burden on the poor; cuts in public expenditure must also have this bearing, you cut in investment which is not likely to affect employment much while you try to protect the welfare system. Those forces, trade unions or others, which are willing to work with the government towards this end should be welcome partners.
Which measures did you take to stimulate the suffering economy?
We were faced with a sharp fall in state revenue while public debts soared at the same time. Some wanted us to respond to this solely with heavy cuts in public expenditure, while others wanted us to only raise taxes. We tried to find a middle ground in this respect and mixed the two approaches. We cut public expenditure and raised the taxes of those in society who are better off. What is all important, is that we tried to do this in a socially responsible way as I have mentioned. An important aspect is always to bear in mind the effects individual measures have on the employment rate. To keep as many people in work as possible is not only a question of social justice and therefore of importance in preserving consensus and peace in society, but it also has an economic effect, full employment stimulates consumption and thus contributes to a thriving economy.
You were voted out of government after 4 years. Why do you think you were not re-elected? What would you have done differently, what advice would you give to a left government in Greece? And what would you consider as a success for a left government?
We succeeded in getting Iceland on its feet again and while standing people tend to forget that they actually were on their knees. We also did our best to protect the welfare system from collapsing –we may have gone too far in our cuts in some instances. And we should have recognised this publicly. But the reason we were voted out in my opinion is that people did not see us as radical enough in changing our financial structures and were too lenient towards them during the crisis. Many people thought it was time to give the right a chance. We are on the other hand now seeing that this chance was not deserved.
I see it as success for a left wing government to preserve, even strengthen the welfare system during an economic crises and protect valuable national resources against international vultures which always flout the sky when they see hardship and difficulties somewhere.
There are of course differences between Greece and Iceland, between now and back then. But much like your party, SYRIZA is about to come into power being a left wing party in a period of crisis, after a long period of neoliberal governments. Judging from your experience, what should be avoided in the pre-election campaign and what should be highlighted?
Be open and be honest. Face the fact that there is a crisis and that it must be dealt with. Stringent measures must be taken but we do have a choice as to whether they are in favour of an egalitarian society or a society based on inequality. The proponents of the latter got us into this situation. They are not likely to be good guides out of our troubles! There is a tendency among leftists to feel that it is difficult for them to handle a crisis because they must go against their principles. This is nonsense. It is never difficult to do what you think is right and socially just!
What advice would you give a left government in Greece? In times of crisis, when trying to save a ruined economy and a suffering society what becomes the major priority, how can a left wing government really make a difference?
The left must never try to emulate the right. The left has been discredited so much over the past two decades that there is a tendency even amongst leftists to believe the propaganda directed against them. The facts are absolutely clear in my mind: An egalitarian approach to solving a serious economic crisis is the most effective method, apart from being the only way which is socially acceptable. Ronald Reagan and his political friends, believed in what has been called trickle- down-economics: Allow the rich to bake big bread, the crumbles from their tables will benefit the rest of society. This proved to be no solution, on the contrary this proved to be the ideology of a crisis, both an economic and a social crisis, not the solution to get out of a crisis.
According to your opinion, how significant are the Greek elections (25.1.2014) for Europe and especially the option of the left government?
The world follows the outcome of the Greek elections with great interest. The political clock of the world has a big pendulum. For all too long it has been swinging to the right in the interest of speculators and vulture capital. This has created enormous inequalities throughout the world and is in the end the reason for our crisis. I have a feeling that this pendulum is slowly swinging again towards the left. It is important that it does so. It is important for the poor and socially insecure, it is important for a socially just world. But for those who are sceptical about left wing politics remember: Our solutions and approaches have proved to be effective!
Ögmundur Jónasson interviewed by Ioanna Meitani and Stratis Bournazos
griechenlandsolidarität 