With the recent global economic catastrophe beginning to bite in her home country of Iceland, Bjork has taken time to share some thoughts in a new editorial in The Times.
In the piece titled “After financial meltdown, now it’s smeltdown” Bjork discusses the state of the Icelandic economy, in particular her government’s proposed use of natural resources to get themselves out of debt.
Bjork has protested about intrusions on the Icelandic countryside before. Recent single ‘Nattura’ was in aid of the Nattura charity, dedicated to preserving the Icelandic landscape.
“Usually I don’t notice politics,” Björk writes. “I live happily in the land of music-making. But I got caught up in it because politicians seem bent on ruining Iceland’s natural environment. As the country’s economic crisis continues, many people in power are attempting to get these factories built quickly, without any precautions taken to prevent pollution. They see the aluminum industry as the key to getting Iceland out of debt.”
Bjork continues: “Iceland is a small country. We missed out on an industrial revolution and my hope was that we would skip it completely and go straight to sustainable hi-tech options. If anyone could achieve this, we could. There is a wonderful characteristic in the Icelandic mentality – fearlessness, with an addiction to risk-taking to the point of being foolhardy. In music-making, storytelling and creative thought, this risk-taking is a great thing. And after my introduction to a lot of Iceland’s small, growing companies, I realise how many of them have shown this fearless approach either in biotechnology or high technology.”
