Posted by:
summer
(
)
Date: June 23, 2023 09:26AM
I'm guessing it's hubris -- for the same reason that the original "unsinkable" Titanic has held continuing interest, or a disaster on Everest (i.e. Krakauer's "Into Thin Air") is fascinating to many. You see the best and worst that humanity has to offer all wrapped up in one event.
Many years ago I used to teach about the Titanic disaster to my elementary students as a part of our ELA curriculum. At the end of the unit, I would ask them to write an essay about Captain Smith's decision making that evening -- did he make reasonable, or bad decisions that night, and why? My thinking is that you can make a case either way.
I would also read to them about other famous shipwrecks, many of which came after the Titanic. You would think people had learned valuable lessons from the Titanic disaster about staying safe at sea, but evidently not.
One notable shipwreck that happened only two years after the Titanic was that of the RMS Empress of Ireland, which went down in the St. Lawrence River, killing more than a thousand people. While it had an adequate number of lifeboats due to the Titanic disaster, I seem to recall that many of the passenger portholes had been left open. Therefore the ship took only 11 minutes to sink. The shipwreck is at a relatively shallow depth, and advanced divers can access it. Again, working from memory, human remains are still aboard the ship -- just bones, now. One compartment on the ship is full of them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_IrelandAs for migrants, I think that everyone understands that they are desperate people in a desperate situation. They are just trying their best to feed their families and put a roof over their heads in safety. I know that for two of my students' families, they walked all the way to the U.S. from Central America. One of the mothers was pregnant at the time. Can you imagine? So, IMO there is no hubris involved -- just desperate people willing to take significant risks in order to further themselves and their loved ones.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2023 10:18AM by summer.