Iceland: fire, ice, but no burgers.

There's a whole lot of schadenfreude goin' on, now that MacDonald’s has announced they will no longer be peddling their filthy-but-delicious wares in Iceland.

"McDonald's is pulling out of Iceland next week, in a fresh blow to the island nation a year on from a financial crash that nearly left it bankrupt"

..gloats the Guardian.  A 'fresh blow'? In exactly what fucking sense is the loss of Ronald bloody MacDonald and all his spotty acolytes a 'blow'?

All the pro-European droolers are delighted. "See what happens if you're not protected by the super-state?", they crow. "No more yummy burgers!"

But hang on. Hang on just a fucking minute.

MacDonald’s care about one thing only. Their profits. They're not running away because they disapprove of Iceland, or are concerned by its banking crisis, or disagree with the steps Iceland is taking toward recovery.

No, they're giving up on Iceland purely because the difference between what it costs them to put together a disgusting, dripping Big Mac and what they can sell it for in Reykjavik is too small. They won't make any fucking money.

So why the fuck would they carry on? There are hundreds of other countries where they can flog their loathsome heart-stoppers at a handsome margin.

And the Icelandic people probably don't care much either. They've got a weak currency, so they're going to import less crap across the board. They're also supporting local businesses, and beginning to export more. Why? Because they are in control.

Iceland’s economy is recovering a fuck of a lot faster than Ireland's. Why? Because Ireland is stuck with fixed exchange rates because of its membership of - guess what? - the Euro.

And what of the UK? Well, we've certainly got all the MacDonald’s we need, thanks. Whole towns seem to live on little else.

We've got a little bit of a banking crisis on too. And what are we doing? We're doing exactly what the EU super-state tells us to, that's what. We're breaking up our banks: Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland are being forced to sell off chunks of their retail branch networks. Forced? Yes, forced as part of a "European Union-mandated plan".

Is that good for us? Who knows? We just have to do what the super-state tells us.

So, what would you prefer? Control over our own economy or a centrally controlled economy with MacDonald's?

And would you like fries with that?

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