Diary: The REAL happily thereafter fairy tale of the 21st century.

(Put together with some help from a cool hippie care2 friend who once was there when them Hippies tried to surround the Pentagon, to try and raise it out of the dirt. Such a great thought, and how sad they failed. Bee Hive is her handle. ) A time long ago, 2008, there was a small happy prosperous country. Some details about this country. It had a fantastic single payer health care system. In 2008, it was the closest to carbon neutral of all industrial countries. All of its municipal, industrial and residential energy needs were met by sustainable non-polluting hydro power and geothermal power. It was and is a world leader in developing hydro and geothermal power. It was planet friendly country on our poor planet. (Well, almost, they are a whaling nation, Alas.) It led the world in 19 disciplines within the Information Technology field. That was 2008, additional IT disciplines have been developed by this country since then. Healthy food, in a large variety, is available and affordable. Comfortable housing is available and affordable. Gainful and emotionally satisfying employment is enjoyed by most. It is impossible to describe the educational opportunities or the creative, healthy, leisure activities that are an integral part of the life of the people. LO!!! A dark cloud is spreading across the sky. The banks of the small nation have been carelessly and greedily involved in speculation. The banks have behaved horribly. Through sale and resale, manipulation and repackaging, their assets are assets no longer. The financiers of the world rush to ICELAND to explain how the banks can be bailed out at the expense of the people. The International Monetary Fund arrives at the doors of the government with a primary austerity program to help the people begin to pay the debt they will be incurring from bailing out the banks. And, the government of Iceland lets the banks DEFAULT. Strange government. It does not believe that banks can be too big to fail. It does believe that the people are too big to fail. So what does Iceland have left out of all of this ....? Single payer excellent health care system, earth friendly power, people friendly food, comfortable abodes for all, enjoyable employment, world leadership in the two technology fields that will dominate the globe in the 21st century AND the people of Iceland are living happily ever after.