DeeGeesLifeBlog ~ Life as Art ~ Or is it Heart?

Titanic tragedy recapitulated in many ways

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? ~ Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

Pandra Selivanov, American Thinker: I admit I’ve never been much interested in the story of the Titanic. I know of it, of course. I don’t think it’s possible to live in the developed world and not know about the Titanic to some degree. It has left a legacy in our culture, inspiring books, plays, and movies. Its sinking and the enormous loss of life caused safety changes that are still followed today, including such painfully obvious procedures as carrying enough lifeboats for all passengers on a ship, and periodic inspections to make sure the lifeboats will function if they are ever needed.

However, what always struck me about the Titanic was the enormous arrogance of the owners of the ship, the White Star Line, and their boast that the ship could never be sunk. I’m a Christian, but maybe the pagans of ancient times were onto something when they sacrificed to various sea gods for a favorable voyage. Maybe there is something to the idea that hubris invites disaster.

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DGH: Trust but Verify applies not only to foreign affairs but also to innovative new technology. Word is, OceanGate refused to have their sub certified by any established certification organization, from which the cause of this disaster became extreme HUBRIS by the founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, the political views of which have been widely publicized and his quote about “white men over 50” having been repeated many times over various media outlets. It has NOT been “largely overlooked.”

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Pandra Selivanov: Now, more lives have been lost to the Titanic. A tiny submersible built by Oceangate and named the Titan (which seems ominous in itself) took five people down to the wreck and disappeared less than two hours after it was launched. Director James Cameron, a submersible designer himself, has gone on the record to ponder the eerie similarity between the fates of the Titanic and the Titan.

There were warnings about the safety of the Titan, just as the captain of the Titanic was warned about ice. In 1912, Captain Smith went full speed ahead. In 2018, Oceangate employee David Lochridge was fired after warning that the submersible could not withstand the depth where the Titanic rested, and Oceangate went full speed ahead. No doubt there will be investigations and recriminations, as well as lawsuits against Oceangate, despite the fact that everyone on the Titan was fully aware of the terrible risk they were taking.

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DGH: Without pointing fingers any which way etal, it would appear that Stockton Rush may have misrepresented his “innovative” Titan submersible. One could quite well say it was false advertising to claim his vehicle was safe when it hadn’t been tested against industry standards. However – it strikes me that the Titan’s viewport was not rated for depths anywhere near that of the Titanic’s – a known inadequate rating that was totally and completely disregarded.

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Pandra Selivanov: Not everyone was willing to take the trip. Josh Gates, star of Expedition: Unknown, has taken some truly insane risks in his travels around the world. He took a short trip on the Titan but refused the opportunity to dive into the wreck of the Titanic because of safety concerns about the sub. Deepwater salvage master Robert Mester refused to go down in the Titan at any depth because of a number of safety issues, including off-the-shelf electronics. Arthur Loibl did go down to the Titanic on the Titan submersible after a part of it had been repaired with zip ties.  After it was over, Loibl called the trip a suicide mission.

Clearly, the people who go on such adventures have a taste for endangering their lives. Now, the crew of the Titan, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani investor Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, have died in a catastrophic implosion. Their bodies are probably unrecoverable, leaving them to remain with the Titanic. It is a sorrowful addition to a tragedy that took place so long ago.

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DGH: And the most tragic figure of tragedies, the young Suleman Dawood, the fact of which yours truly simply cannot get over that this young man was torn between his fear and desire to get out of this voyage and pressure from his father. Totally and completely innocent, caught in a death vise created by a tragedy he had nothing to do with 111 years ago that unfortunately, his father became fascinated with.

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One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. ~ Ecclesiastes 1: 4-6

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• Pandra Selivanov, American Thinker: The Titanic tragedy, recapitulated

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Soli Deo Gloria!

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