Artist and Writer Jon Gnarr: Serving as Mayor of Reykjavik Changed My Attitude Towards Politicians

My experience of working in a democratically elected role as Mayor of Reykjavik dramatically changed my attitude towards politics and politicians, stated artist and writer Jon Gnarr at the 16th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting, “Happiness Now. New Approaches for a World in Crisis”, organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

“I was prejudice against politicians and made generalised judgements and assumptions. However, after being elected, I realised that politicians are humans just like you and me.” he said.

Gnarr advised people not to have prejudices about artists and comedians going into politics either. “It’s not crazy for comedians to go into politics. They are usually very clever and talented people. The fact that comedians are funny does not mean that they cannot be serious.” he concluded.