Friday, June 23, 2023

Deeply Unimpressed

"What you're about to see may be disturbing," said Anderson Cooper unironically as he then proceeded to direct your attention to the spectacle of a sardine can of wealthy extreme tourists (one of whom had already taken a rocket ride to outer space with Jeff Bezos) and their cosplaying captain Nemo-- rather than privately taking an exclusive $250,000 a piece sightseeing tour to the wreck of the Titanic 12,500 ft (3800 meters) below the surface of the Atlantic as they intended-- went suddenly virally global as their toy boat lost contact with the ship they had launched from within an hour and a half of submerging and became the object of an intensive breathless search that was chronicled and speculated upon for days by our overpaid and underdelivering corporate media.  

It was disturbing all right, but not exactly in the way Anderson Cooper intended.  4 days later the mystery was solved -- their prefab coffin had imploded within an hour and a half of submerging, instantly rendering all of the passengers unrecognizably obliterated it was surmised, in retrospect mercifully as the media chronicling the incident  while the world assumed the submersible was impaired but still intact had painted an increasingly horrific alternative picture of the diminishing prospects for the passengers as the 4-day supply of air and sustenance were presumed to be dwindling in a cramped and enclosed space in which by design they would have been unable even to stand for their last moments.  But perhaps they got to see the Titanic up close for their money before it all went awry. 

On CNN's Situation Room last night, the sycophants of CNN desperately wanted you to see this as the latest tragedy in our ongoing human drama of exploration and discovery, but the experts they had on to sanctify the proceedings for once could not in good conscience spin the episode as anything other than what it was -- an entirely predictable and utter waste.* 

Ocean's Gate, the company of the submersible's pilot had this to say about their customers:

These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.† Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.

Speaking for myself, I could have done without them.  They were free to do what they wanted with their money of course, unlike 99% of the planet.  It's the private extreme tourism that disturbs me.  If, rather than mere privileged gawking, there is true value to be found in exploring the wreckage of the Titanic and other artifacts on the sea floor-- or for that matter space-- then perhaps it's worth engaging the cooperation of nations and universities on exploration as a human project.  As a destination for those who have more money and self-regard and stunted adolescent dreams than they know what to do with, I'd rather not be bothered.

It's not like the careful tourist couldn't have seen this coming.  The company had already been scrutinized and reported on for its lack of regard for its customers.  As the pilot of the craft, the ex-CEO and founder of the company had famously boasted to a journalist:

You know, at some point, safety just is pure waste. I mean if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed, don't get in your car, don't do anything. At some point, you're going to take some risk, and it really is a risk/reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules.

This elective recklessness sounds like the operative strategy of every capitalist huckster out there and it's exactly why the planet is in the shape it's in and why those among these people who remain, who likewise use their obscenely outsized slices of the pie to consume the only planet we have rather than to save it,  need to be de-funded and de-balled yesterday.

~~~~~

*  Elsewhere in the sea, as many as 700 and possibly more African and Asian refugees died in the Mediterranean in 3 incidents in the same week when the overcrowded boats by which they were escaping poverty, war and drought caused by global warming wrecked off the coast of Greece.

† “….a deep passion for … protecting the worlds’ oceans.” Oh, please.  Funny way of showing it.  

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