Iceland, A Country Where A Human Life Still Matters.

When I came across this piece of news, I was amazed. Apparently since Iceland (the country) gained independence in 1944, armed police has never had to shoot anyone dead until last December and there have been no further shooting since then. Now, some may argue that the population is not that large compared to other countries with huge crime rates and high police brutalities, thereby giving the Icelandic police no cause to shoot anyone. The police hardly carry weapons and violent crimes are pretty rare there. Others may argue that Iceland is a peaceful place with one culture therefore making allowances for misunderstandings, rare. The fact remains that in 69 years since their independence, the Icelandic police force never shot anyone to death for any crime. (Now if they've used other means to kill a suspect or convict, I can't tell you now.) The man who was shot dead was a 59-year-old man with mental illness who started shooting at the police as soon as they entered his building, thus giving them no choice but to retaliate immediately. 

According to Thora Arnorsdottir, news editor at RUV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, "The nation was in shock. This does not happen in our country. The nation does not want its police force to carry weapons because it's dangerous, it's threatening. It's a part of the culture. Guns are used to go hunting as a sport, but you never see a gun." The officers involved have been put through grief counselling and the police have apologized to the family of the deceased, not because they did anything wrong but because, according to Arnorsdottir,  it's a respectful thing to apologize as "no one wants to take another person's life".

I think Iceland is looking very welcoming to me on this note and seeing as my quest to relocate to another planet due to the depth of craziness going on in our world right now isn't panning out yet (Richard Branson's spaceship isn't ready yet), I just might settle for Iceland.