this is probably the best take I’ve heard so far on the debate of people being told that they aren’t having enough ‘compassion’ for billionaires making bad decisions and paying the obvious consequences for it
The thing that gets to me the most about OceanGate (and there’s many), but… the fact that it’s the fucking Titanic. Like, this could’ve been just a generic failure. This could’ve been about allowing people with more money than sense to go explore the sea floor, see coral reefs from a new perspective, view icebergs from below, whatever.
But no. It’s specifically the Titanic. The ship declared to be unsinkable. The ship whose builders refused to bring enough lifeboats, because it would compromise their aesthetics, and make their rich customers uncomfortable to see them. Which famously sank on its maiden voyage.
And here comes the OceanGate CEO and without a hint of irony, has gone on record saying shit like this:
You know, there’s a limit. 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
And just… if you were writing a story to explore the hubris of rich people, how much more on the nose than that could you get?



















































