Skírnir - 01.09.2002, Side 97

SKÍRNIR
BÖRN SÍNS TÍMA
319
En við sjáum hjá þeim, og öðru vel staeðu fólki á þeim tíma, svipaða
afstöðu til fátæks fólks og algeng er meðal margra valdhafa og auð-
manna í heiminum nú um stundir, e.t.v. mest í fátækum löndum en
einnig þar sem ríkidæmi er mikið: Takmarkalaus fyrirlitning á fá-
tæklingunum og skeytingarleysi um örlög þeirra.
Summary
The article begins with a story, or thought experiment, that transfers two centuries
back in time the volcanic eruption of the Westmann Islands of 1973. It is well
known that the societal response to the 1973 eruption was very effective in every
way. The story of the societal response to the volcanic eruption of the so-called
móðuharðindi, of 1783-1784, is used to find out how the Danish-Icelandic society
of that time would have dealt with the human consequences of a volcanic cata-
strophe in 1773. The autobiography of the clergyman Jón Steingrímsson
(1728-1791) is extensively used for this purpose. The story begins by describing
the dismal life of the people of the Westmann Islands during the 18th century. Part-
ly as a consequence of this, but more because of the negative attitude of the aut-
horities towards the poor, it is maintained that hardly anything was done to allevi-
ate the life of the victims of the hypothetical catastrophe. Destructive con-
sequences of natural catastrophes to humans during the 18th century may mostly
be explained by the Iack of societal organization and to a conservative mentality
both of the authorities and the population in general.