I take it back
Once upon a time, I expressed a desire to live in Iceland. Unfortunately, these tough economic times have been even tougher on Iceland, what with the government collapsing and all.
Our government came close to dissolving. It looks like that won’t happen, however, now that the Liberal party has a new leader who’s decided he’ll support the Conservative budget. Many people are upset with this about-face by Michael Ignatieff.1 Since I don’t understand economics and don’t know how to manage money, the best I can do is shrug and hope that our government isn’t planning to do anything silly.2
Meanwhile, I plan to switch back to the barter system. Think about how much the barter system benefits from the digital world! I don’t have to trade chickens; I can just trade electrons with you. It is, by definition, electronic currency. If you prefer a rarer commodity as a currency, you may also trade positrons. Be careful with those, however, as they are liable to annihilate electrons—so I‘d keep my bank accounts separate, if I were you.
Now that we are indubitably living in the End Times, we should kick back and relax. The world’s ending, so it’s not like there’s much of a tomorrow to worry about, now is there? Regarding the afterlife, the majority of the world’s going to be wrong in any event. So pick a religion (or a non-religion) and stick with it; it’s not going to matter much in the end.
And since you won’t be around, this is a great time to take out more of those credit cards the banks eagerly thrust into your hands. You might be saying, “Wait, isn’t that how we got into this mess in the first place?” That’s true, but we’ve dug the hole so deep there’s no getting out of it, and when that happens, you might as well keep digging.
You can then use the credit cards to buy every one of those products advertised on TV. You know the ones I’m talking about: infomercial products, the kind with the toll-free number at the end and the fast-talking voice that informs you about doubling your offer for free (plus expensive shipping and handling fees). If you‘re like me, you’ve often wished your job consisted of ordering those products just to see if they really work as well as advertised. Well, thanks to your fraudulent credit cards, you can!
This massive buying spree using fake credit will keep the delivery companies going for the next ten or fifteen years until the evil army of robots rises up and destroys us. Survivors will be utterly and mercilessly destroyed, since robots aren’t evil overlords and don’t make the same mistakes.
So thanks a lot, Iceland.
Anyone from Iceland out there?
Canada is an excellent place to live. We have a high standard of living, lots of yummy technology, a diverse mosaic of culture, and many other advantageous qualities that make us a good country in which to birth your offspring. But I don’t think Canada is necessarily the best place to live. Naturally this begs the question, where is?
Which makes me think about Iceland. For those of you who do not live in Iceland, let me jog your memory: island somewhat between Greenland and the United Kingdom. It’s got volcanic activity, which makes it a geothermal hotspot—literally. For such a northern country, it has a good climate (or so the literature tells me). Not only that, but it’s also second in the world in human development and fifth in GDP. According to Wikipedia, its population is slightly over 300,000—in other words, about 3 times the population of my city. Iceland, like Canada, has a 99% literacy rate.
Put all these facts together, and Iceland seems at least on par with Canada in terms of quality of life. But wait—there’s more! 
Iceland is small, has few people in it, and is remotely located. Who would want to invade Iceland? What does Iceland have that anyone would want to take? Unlike Switzerland, which is another peaceful nation with a high quality of life, Iceland is not located in the middle of a continent that has a history of marching troops through other countries. Germany would be very hard pressed to find a reason to march their troops to Belgium via Iceland.
Iceland seems like a pretty cool place. So what’s the catch? It sounds almost too good to be true, so what are the disadvantages to living in Iceland? Since the tourist literature is conspicuously lacking in these points, I‘m not sure. If there’s anyone out there from Iceland, or who has lived in Iceland before, do chime in. If you don’t fall into those two categories, don’t bother commenting.
(Unless you have something to say, of course, in which case you should comment anyway. 
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