Posted on 01/20/2012 7:35:10 PM PST by Kaslin
Abe Greenwald of Commentary magazine tweets: "Is there any chance that Mark Steyn won't use the Italian captain fleeing the sinking ship as the lead metaphor in a column on EU collapse?"
Oh, dear. You've got to get up early in the morning to beat me to civilizational-collapse metaphors. Been there, done that. See page 185 of my most recent book, where I contrast the orderly, dignified and moving behavior of those on the Titanic (the ship, not the mendacious Hollywood blockbuster) with that manifested in more recent disasters.
There was no orderly evacuation from the Costa Concordia, just chaos punctuated by individual acts of courage from, for example, an Hungarian violinist in the orchestra and a ship's entertainer in a Spiderman costume, both of whom helped children to safety, the former paying with his life.
The miserable Captain Schettino, by contrast, is presently under house arrest, charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship. His explanation is that, when the vessel listed suddenly, he fell into a lifeboat and was unable to climb out. Seriously. Could happen to anyone, slippery decks and all that.
Next thing you know, he was safe on shore, leaving his passengers all at sea. On the other hand, the audio of him being ordered by Coast Guard officers to return to his ship and refusing to do so is not helpful to this version of events.
In the centenary year of the most famous of all maritime disasters, we would do well to consider honestly the tale of the Titanic. When James Cameron made his movie, he was interested in everything except what the story was actually about.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Actually, neither the passage of time nor changes in mores explains the contrast between the Titanic and the Costa Concordia.
Once asked why he had booked passage on an Italian ship, rather than a British one, Winston Churchill replied:
‘There are three things I like about Italian ships. First, their cuisine, which is unsurpassed. Second, their service, which is quite superb. And then - in time of emergency - there is none of this nonsense about women and children first.’
La plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
I believe we have far too many men now in this nation that do not know the meaning of being chivalrous - or would give up a seat in a lifeboat to a woman.
Mark Steyn ping.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Sigh. He’s such a good writer. Alliteration, poetry and metaphor all timed so well. I swoon.
point taken. Chaos looms in fat, comfortable laziness, where we would throw money or some other commodity at a problem. when left with nothing but virtue, which has been unpracticed, what have we got?
My ninth grade student lads are hard-wired for chivalry. By the end of the year, they are jumping to erase the board, holding the door open, scrambling to retrieve my dropped pen.
The Concordia event has much to tell.
Grrr. I need to use that editing step.
second officer lightower, who was on TITANIC, was also in his boat rescuing soldiers at dunkirk.
“Titanic” is absolutely one of the worst movies I have every seen. What a complete waste of my life taking the time to see it.
Great article, and Mark Steyn makes a great analogy between the behavior of the people on the Concordia and the people in the coming collapse. It won’t be pretty.
As a whole, the evacuation was very orderly. Did you see the ABC 20/20 show tonight which featured a photo of the passengers assembled in a queue, standing on the side of the hull, waiting to rappel down the upturned bottom? It’s amazing that the losses were as low as they were.
I would like to know who it was in actuality that maneuvered the ship onto the shoal where it now rests. In the news they attribute this action reflexively to “the captain”, but other reporting suggests that he was not in control. Anyway, if this ship had sunk in deep water it would have been a lot faster than the Titanic went down, and the casualties would have been upward of a thousand.
True! But before we all get misty eyed about the Titanic remember that on SOME of the last lifeboats, the saved did commit murder by beating those trying to get into already overloaded boats with the oars.
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A tidal wave hits the Poseidon, flipping her over so that all the internal rooms are upside down. A priest takes a mixed band of survivors on a journey through the bowels of the ship in an attempt to survive
Contains five Academy Award winning actors - Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson and Red Buttons.
You are correct. I read a lengthy article on this incident and there were so many men who could not understand the concept and whined about “well you women wanted equal rights” Those kind of men really sicken me. I know I’m old fashioned but I do think the men of yester-year were so much more noble! I liked the times when men were men and women were ladies.... And 2 parent families were the norm...and people were more polite...I could go on.
Try A Night to Remember (1958)- The Brits depict The Titanic in straightforward fashion without the addition of fictional subplots.
or
Titanic (1953) with Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck.
Far superior to the James Cameron version.
The wind and current pushed it to its current position.
No truer words ... from Jeremiah Steyn
You did say “already overloaded” didn’t you? Even if you were that one desperately trying to climb on to the already overloaded lifeboat, could you condemn them for saving their own lives?
How do you figure this? What wind and what current turned this behemoth by 180 degrees? Weren't the conditions calm? I don't say it's impossible, but it seems as though it must have been steered there.
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