Kristinn Hrafnsson, the editor at Wikileaks, wrote a post on his Facebook page, regarding the Icelandic government selling its stake in the bank Íslandsbanki. In his post, Kristinn uses the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk as a metaphor.
„If I was like Sif Sigmarsdóttir, Iceland’s most prominent columnist, I would surely write about Jack and the Beanstalk,“ Hrafnsson begins his post.
„Jack was a silly boy that allowed himself to be fooled into selling his family’s milking cow in exchange for three beans. In the real world, this is where the business tale ends.“
He then talks of the widely criticized sale of part of the government’s stake in Íslandsbanki:
„Less than a quarter of the citizens wanted to sell the bank. The majority was completely against it. Jack’s mother realized that it was not a good deal at all to receive ISK 100 billion for a bank, that in the last seven years alone returned ISK 103,6 billion in pure profit.
When people have been fooled, a story about a beanstalk and endless prosperity must be created.“
Hrafnsson ends on a strong note:
„In the real world, Jack and his mother lost their little apartment in Seltjarnarnes, were driven out of town and now live in an apartment in Reykjavík, provided by social services.
The one that fooled Jack then wrote the fairytale, because that way he will be able to deceive more fools like Jack, and then afterwards laugh all the way to the bank… his bank.“
The response to Hrafnsson’s post has been immense and the tale of silly Jack clearly resonates with many.
This article was originally published in Icelandic by Björgvin Gunnarsson.
Athugasemdir