Icesave - please think before you apply

molly_mandy_2

I have been reading these boards for a while and now I feel compelled to make my first post.

Last week I applied online to open an Icesave account. Everything went very smoothly and my welcome pack arrived in two days. I was VERY impressed. I was all set to send off my initial large deposit cheque.

Last night on the news I watched the Icelanders "celebrating" the slaughter of their first whale in, I believe, fifteen years. They have been given the go-ahead. They relished the slaughter of up to, I believe, seven more in the coming months. I looked at this huge, beautiful, intelligent, endangered species. Did it really need to die to accommodate expensive eating habits?

I am not sending off my cheque to Icesave today. Icesave is one of the largest banking institutions in Iceland. It has power. It can help to make changes in it's country if it wants to.

My cheque can now go elsewhere. I may lose £8 per month in interest by accepting a slightly lower rate. But my conscience will be easier.

martyn4764

Dziekanowski wrote:

Because the directors of the company should ensure that the company behaves in a socially responsible manner.

The directors of the company are responsible for achieving a good return for their shareholders. NOTHING else.

Dziekanowski wrote:

I can't vote in Iceland but I can advise my father where to save his money. If advising him to save with another bank is a legitimate way in which I can make a decision which might add even a small amount to the weight of argument against the willful slaughter of an endangered species, then I am very comfortable with my decision.

Aah, so you're happy for your Dad to lose a few quid every month, as long as YOUR conscience is salved. Nice.

Can't wait until you have to stop buying Japanese goods as well... (Sorry, I meant until you have to tell other people to stop buying Japanese goods).

Why not open the Icesave account, work out the difference in interest between that and the next best account, and see if your Dad wants to send that amount to Greenpeace (or not)?

Chrismaths

I have to say that I would be far less likely to save/invest with a company if they were so far up their own bums as to have a policy on something that has nothing to do with them!
Landsbanki have nothing to do with whaling, if you don't like whaling and want to make some grand gesture, write to the Icelandic government, or the fishermen who's livelihoods depend on it, and tell them they are naughty, naughty people. But don't think that not putting your tuppence ha'penny with a bank totally unrelated to their government's decisions has any logical basis.

It's the same as saying if you don't like the war in Iraq, don't shop in British shops.

MORPH3US

ginger_nuts wrote:

Do you eat cow beef ,lamb, pig ,chicken,turkey or cod in my book there is no difference.
What has whaling got to do with banking

I am yet to see a cow / sheep / pig / chicken etc have multiple hand grenades fired into its back, have its internal organs blown to pieces before having its dying (but alive) body dragged alongside a ship by barbed harpoons until it is dead.............

Whether boycotting Icelandic banks and institutions is the right thing to do is up to the individual to decide, but I am greatful to anyone who does anything to try and stop the idiots that think this is ok!

M

climbgirl

I'm dead against the resumption of whaling in Iceland, but I really fail to see how boycotting a bank which has no direct connection to whaling makes any difference? There is far more effective ways of taking direct action than boycotting a company which has no direct (or indirect) link.

Do you support the Iraq war? If not, are you making a point of boycotting all products and companies that operate in the UK and US? I think not. And I'd be willing to bet all the money that's sitting in my Icesave account on that! Are you avoiding any products or companies that are in any way linked with Japan, they conduct whaling as well?

Unless you go through every single purchase and investment you make with a similarly fine-toothed ethics comb, then I find this original post rather hypocritical.

There are far more effective and direct ways of taking action against the resumption of whaling, than boycotting a bank who has no link whatsoever.

molly_mandy_2

How does boycotting a bank make a difference?

Well, the way I see it - In the last 24 hours the news of the resumption of whaling has been appearing on the media. Some members of the public are now suddenly aware of Iceland's stance on this emotive issue with an endangered species.

If tourism to Iceland becomes affected - the Government have to take notice. If investment in Iceland's banking is affected (and we are talking the largest bank here) - the Government too have to take notice.

It is up to concerned individuals to voice their concerns in as many ways as they can. If that means boycotting an Icelandic bank - so be it. Each individual can only make a tiny difference. But lots of tiny differences can add up.

If everyone had the attitude "what is the point, my actions are too small to matter", then change would never happen.

Those of us who are concerned, have to at least make the effort and try.

sham63

The Fin whale is an endangered species - this means that there aren’t many left and are in danger of becoming extinct (sorry to have to spell it out but some people obviously don’t understand). Therefore comparisons with chickens, cows, war in Iraq etc are not relevant.

This issue is about boycotting Icelandic goods/services etc whether they have any direct links to whaling. It's a way of demonstrating to the Icelandic Government that you don’t agree with their decision to resume whaling - Surely it's not that difficult to grasp – the boycotting of a country’s goods is not a new concept.

Redrum_2

Don't forget to boycott all Atomic Kitten albums as well - after all, Kerry Katona is the face of Iceland on tv ads.....

Seriously though, equating a business no matter how big or small, with a national government's policy is short-sighted to a fault

So you don't agree with the war in Iraq/Afghanistan etc - out goes British, American and Australian products

Anti torture and human rights abuse? Well, there goes your Chinese takeaway and green tea. Not to mention toys, electrical goods and clothes

What about the right for Muslim women to wear a veil? Quite a topical subject at the moment - well, out go baguettes, croissants and a nice glass of Bordeaux

Equality for women in the eyes of the law? So now we've lost products from a lot of the Middle-East

I'm sure if you looked at policies supported by most world governments, there'd be one or two that you found abhorrent in all of them - so what are you going to do, boycott products from 95% of the world's population?

If you don't agree with whaling, fight back a different way. Join Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth, petition the government, write to your MP

But don't add 2 and 2 together, and get 65

sham63

Quote;


"If you don't agree with whaling, fight back a different way. Join Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth, petition the government, write to your MP"


.... and boycott Icelandic goods.


Every little helps

Paul_Herring

sham63 wrote:

Quote;


"If you don't agree with whaling, fight back a different way. Join Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth, petition the government, write to your MP"


.... and boycott Icelandic goods.


Every little helps

I thought that was Tesco's tagline, not Icelands....