Lessons from the Titanic.

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titanic

It was an “unsinkable ship,” crowed its hubristic builders.   But the Titanic wasn’t unsinkable, and there were far too few lifeboats to save everyone it carried, so many of its passengers perished in the ice cold waters of the northern Atlantic during the early morning hours of April 15, 1912.

The sinking of the Titanic was a horrible disaster, but was a small one compared to the impending disaster we are seeing unfold before us in America right now.

The “unsinkable ship” is sinking.

We in the U.S.  have become complacent, believing our leaders who told us that terrorism could never happen in America and we would always be a free nation, safe from dictatorial leaders.  And, at least since the end of WW2, this has been the case.

But now we are seeing where our complacency has taken us. The checks and balances we used to take for granted that would not allow a sociopath like Donald Trump to rise to power have been systematically gutted and now we are facing the unthinkable.

Why did we assume it could never happen to us?   Just because nothing like this has happened in its 241 year history, doesn’t mean it can’t now.   This country isn’t even half the age that the Roman Empire was when it fell.

We think we are special but we’re not.  We’re not the first nation something like this has happened to.   It’s happened in Russia, Germany, China, Eastern Europe, and many other nations.    The danger is that we are so big and powerful in comparison to, say, 1942 Germany, or even the Soviet Union before communism fell, that what has happened can and probably will have worldwide consequences.   The fallout may reach far beyond its borders.

We are not special and this isn’t the first time in history, or even in recent history, that something like this has happened.   We never learn from history though, not from its big lessons, like WW2 Germany, or its small ones, like the sinking of the Titanic.

27 thoughts on “Lessons from the Titanic.”

  1. Another lesson from the Titanic. The survivors were from the upper classes. The poorest didn’t get the lifeboats.

    Must you keep calling him a “sociopath?” All bad people aren’t ‘paths. Other than that, we’re on the same page. Trump isn’t taking his time. This is making the years we were in Vietnam look like a picnic.

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    • That’s true too. The poorest were far more likely to perish on that ship.
      He is a sociopath, Fran. You and I both know a sociopath isn’t the same thing as a psychopath so there’s no need for you to be offended.

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    • For nowve666:

      According to Psychology Today [How to Spot a Sociopath]:
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      In The Mask of Sanity, published in 1941, Hervey Cleckley distilled what he believed to be the 16 key behavioral characteristics that defined psychopathy.

      Most of these factors are still used today to diagnose sociopaths/psychopaths and others with antisocial disorders. (Psychopathy and sociopathy are terms with an intertwined clinical history, and they are now largely used interchangeably.
      ~~~~~~~~~
      Reading that article and others with similar descriptions, I must agree that he is probably NOT a psychopath, or even a die-hard sociopath.

      The proper diagnosis is more likely to be on the Narcissistic continuum.
      ~~~~~~~~
      The DSM IV and DSM 5 Criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder describes it as:

      “A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

      1 Has a grandiose sense of self importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
      2 Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
      3 Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high status people (or institutions)
      4 Requires excessive admiration.
      5 Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations.
      6 Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends.
      7 Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
      8 Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
      9 Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.”
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
      But you could be right – the man-child who would be king might possibly be simply bad to the bone – and as naked as any emperor in the story books.
      xx,
      mgh
      (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
      ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
      “It takes a village to transform a world!”

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