As regular readers will know, the Whole Hog is not a person of faith. It’s nothing to do with the deep flaws of the institutional infrastructure of the faith industry. It’s a matter of evidence and knowledge. Reason is the word. But while we here in Hog Haven hold no truck with the supernatural, that is with gods, saints and spirits, we are enthralled by the super natural, of which the latest example is the fantastic volcanic eruption in Iceland.

Again and again we mere humans are given juddering reminders of who’s boss. Already this year we’ve had the seventh largest earthquake ever, in Chile, as well as the less powerful but far more deadly earthquake in Haiti and others close to Indonesia and Japan. We’ve had volcanic eruptions above ground in Java and Chile and deep below the ocean in the mid-Atlantic.
And, of course, we’ve the present eruption in Iceland which has disrupted the travel plans of many and generated twin plumes of ash and hysteria.
Of course, the blogosphere is full of apocalyptic faith babble about Sodom and Gomorrah and the end of the world and all that rubbish. Nonsense. It’s just a mother-earthly hippy hippy shake.
These huge tectonic events, the earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions, are far beyond our control. No decision we make is involved in their generation.
In their majestic irresistibility they expose the shabby evasions of those who describe the recent financial troubles as having been caused by external forces over which we have no influence.
They weren’t. The current recession/depression is an outcome of thousands of decisions made by individuals who subscribed to an ideology of greed and risk-taking comparable to bungee jumping into the crater of a volcano.
That some Icelandic bankers were among the worst offenders, even worse than our own, is beyond dispute. And, just like us, the Icelandic people will have to shoulder the burden.
But at least they have shown admirable defiance, far more than we have (yet). While governments agreed that they would reimburse the UK and the Netherlands for the €3.8bn euros paid out in compensation to customers in 2008 in the wake of collapse of the Icesave bank, the famously independent people of Iceland made their anger and resentment clear in a referendum on repayment – nine out of ten of them voted no.
That’s not to say they won’t pay eventually. They will, but they have a point to make. And, if I may conflate the supernatural and the super natural, it looks like one of their old gods is weighing in on their side – the countries most directly in the path of the ash from the current eruption are the ones that demanded the reimbursement!! And it all cut loose on a Thor’s Day!
But this is just one eruption among many. There’s also considerable activity at Egon in Indonesia and Colima in Mexico, a possible plume at Miyakejima in Japan and dome growth at Soufriere Hills in Montserrat.
Meanwhile in Iceland itself, there’s a significant risk that another volcano, the much more active and powerful Katla, could also erupt. In which case, the present problems would seem like a picnic. It could well disrupt weather over an extended period…
Much the same is true in the parallel universe of financial services and economics. The eruption in the Quinn group is an example. Some economists worry that a new plume may emerge from the personal credit area. But while we can do nothing about the volcanoes and earthquakes, we CAN do something about ash plumes and pyroclastic flows in the economy.
A previous Icelandic eruption, of the volcano Laki in June 1783, had far reaching effects. It threw billions of tons of minute ash particles into the atmosphere. Crops were starved of sunlight and ruined by acid rain, and trees lost their leaves in midsummer. It was cold enough for the Mississippi to freeze at New Orleans. Tens of thousands died from respiratory problems and from famine.
A strong case can be made that the poor harvests were a critical factor in the widespread discontent that triggered the French Revolution.
Disrupted travel won’t set off anything as big as that, but there’s a more than an outside chance that the sulphuric gases emanating from the financial crisis could precipitate something to parallel the French Revolution.
But of course, those released from the Bastille in 1789 were forgers, embezzlers and swindlers. Sound familiar?!? So I guess that, this time, the purpose of the storming will be to round them up again!!
Look out!! It’s about to blow!!