Iceland's Pirate Party

Iceland:http://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/1/meet_birgitta_jonsdottir_the_ex_wikileaks?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=6d0872d102-Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-6d0872d102-190239997

Meet Birgitta Jónsdóttir: The Ex-WikiLeaks Volunteer Who Has Helped the Pirate Party Reshape Iceland

In Iceland, the anarchist Pirate Party made big gains in Sunday’s national elections, raising the prospect it will form a coalition government with other left-wing parties. The Pirates won 10 seats in Iceland’s 63-member Parliament, up from three in the last election. The Pirate Party hopes to pass the world’s first crowdsourced constitution. Its core platform calls for direct democracy, freedom of expression, civil rights, net neutrality and transparency. The Pirates saw their popularity surge in April, after Iceland’s prime minister resigned following revelations he and his wife used an offshore company to conceal millions of dollars’ worth of investments. Women also won big in this weekend’s elections, taking 30 seats in Iceland’s Parliament—more than any single party. With female candidates winning nearly half of the seats, Iceland now reportedly has the “most equal Parliament in the world.” For more, we speak with Birgitta Jónsdóttir, member of the Icelandic Parliament and co-founder of the country’s Pirate Party. She is also a poet, activist, web developer and a former WikiLeaks activist. And she is the chairperson of the International Modern Media Institution.
….
…….
….
see link….

…..AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Birgitta, your view, having just gone through your elections, of our elections in the United States of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?

BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Oh, my god. We have now a new saying called being “Trumpified,” when it comes to bizarre things in the election campaign. But, of course, you know, you have somehow managed to create a system that it’s impossible for ordinary people to run. Thankfully, like, for example, the Pirate Party in Iceland only have normal people that just wants to be part of co-creating their society. I occasionally look at my Twitter stream and hashtag Trump or Clinton, and I just lose my faith in humanity because of the level of this campaign. It’s terrible that there is no possibility for a multitude of choices to, you know, be the most powerful person in the world. And, you know, certainly, if—you know, everybody that I know feel that they can’t vote for either, and, you know, the choices are really bad. And so, maybe, you know, the American people could do something historical, and, collectively, everybody that’s not happy with Trump or Clinton to vote for a third choice.

AMY GOODMAN: I see the turnout in Iceland was nearly 80 percent: 79.2 percent. As we wrap up, what words of advice do you have to the U.S. population, where we barely get over half the population in this country voting?

BIRGITTA JÓNSDÓTTIR: Well, first of all, simplify this process. It’s so complicated to run. And restore the rights of prisoners, for example, to vote. We actually went to the big prison in Iceland to talk to the prisoners to encourage them to vote. They have the right to vote in Iceland. If you conduct some sort of criminal behavior, which often is like smoking pot or something, then it’s outrageous that a modern democracy strips away the fundamental right to vote. But simplify the system. I think that is the demand that the U.S. people should have before the next election cycle.

And please, have the cycle shorter. This is like killing everybody, this long campaign, not only in the United States, but elsewhere, because this is—you know, just to get news, endless news, about some personality flaws of people, instead of actually getting to know the policies that these candidates are running with, is just so strange to us. It’s like sort of a reality show.

But I just want to say just another last thing. And that is, we’re not really an anarchist party, because anarchism, in the minds of many people, is about black blocs or whatever. We are more about citizens’ engagement, to facilitate ways for the general public to take responsibility in society and to help facilitate change and to draw from the wisdom of the masses what is needed to do in order to prioritize how we run our society.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, we want to thank you for being with us. And on that issue of smoking pot, we’re going to be looking at ballot initiatives this week, but on the ballot next week. At this point, something like 5 percent of Americans can smoke pot without facing criminal charges. If ballots have their way in a number of states, it will go up to 25 percent of the U.S. population will be able to use pot without facing criminal charges. Birgitta Jónsdóttir, thank you so much for being with us, member of the Icelandic Parliament, co-founder of the country’s Pirate Party, also poet, activist, web developer, former WikiLeaks activist. Birgitta Jónsdóttir is the chairperson of the International Modern Media Institution.

This is Democracy Now! When we come back, thousands of Moroccans took to the streets this weekend. We’ll find out why. Stay with us.