The Titanic Anniversary Teaches Us
What we get when we believe in our own invincibility
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Very Unpopular Strong Opinions Blog by Christyl Rivers
There was a mighty ship, a titanic ship was she
She rode the waves a goddess, upon a man-tamed sea|
|She could not be swallowed, to the ocean quite undrinkable
Big hubris made her mighty — all agreed — quite unsinkable
A warning came of ice, but no one was concerned
Only after impact was her whole world over-turned
A distress call on the wire, the first one was ignored
The closest ship went on her way, disinterested, or bored
Even filling lifeboats, they felt no need to panic
This was no ordinary boat, this was THE Titanic
And so until the final hour, Nearer My God to Thee
Grand standing ran, the band played on, unto eternity
Last week Antonio Guterres of the UN warned that the “world is on fast track to climate disaster.” The warnings are not the first, nor are they the last, but they are this time, more urgently vehement that ever before.
Not everyone is going to drown.
Many are going to burn.
Or starve, or fall victim to heatwave, cold snaps, refugee conflicts.
It’ s not gloom and doom-saying, it’s already happening whether you believe it or not. War still blares in Ukraine, but profiteers are spinning that tragedy into black gold, and not enough renewable green hopes.
It is up to all passengers on board, to behave in ways that display we are ON BOARD. Many of us can still be saved.
Guterres stressed that business and governments have failed. We can still make progress, but only if we demand immediate change, and we must all man a lot of lifeboats ourselves.
More than a century ago, the Titanic battled icebergs and lost. Human hubris, and denial were bigger than the iceberg, but they are tiny in comparison to the ego and denial we see today.
Lots of promises have been made. Lots of pledges, enough hot air and speeches to melt all the ice at the poles.
Today, we are not going to lose a ship or two. We are losing spaceship Earth. The icebergs, melting and floating off Greenland and Antarctica are on schedule to drown Florida.
As tempting as it is to think Nature is burning mad at Florida (and DeSantis) for being the American dick lately, it’s not just Florida who will flood. It’s all coastal low lands in may nations.
The rising seas will envelop all low-lying areas, but of course, only the most impoverished will perish first. Technology and engineering will stave off disaster for some who can afford it.
No one, however, will escape to Mars. At least not for a while.
