Titanic Trump

Imagine…

One hour before the inevitable, a very privileged occupant of a first class cabin complains to others around him about the lack of proper amenities afforded to him and his entourage. The food, liquor and service has not been to his liking. The privileged families agree with the insistent, pompous fellow.

A bachelor In the group suggests they should take over the ship to correct the situation. When asked how they could possibly do so with the approximately 900 crew members and almost 2000 other passengers on board? Surely, it is suggested, none of the lower decks would go along with such an audacious scheme. After all, none of them had anything good to say about the few upper crust passengers. “We all know that us upper crusters are sucking them dry, as it is.”

The bachelor replies, “They are easily manipulated. If we promise them better conditions and free food, they will gladly join us.”

A British upper cruster retorts, “They hate us. They see us as the very reason for their being on the bottom rungs of a very tall ladder. And I certainly am not going to give up any of my status nor portion of my food. And in no way on God’s green Earth am I going to allow any of them to take over even the closets of my quarters!”

“You don’t understand me. When I say ‘promise’, that doesn’t mean actually giving them anything.”

“Oh. Well then…” The upper cruster ponders. “But how we are possibly going to turn them to our side?”

“With chaos and deprivation. We pay off part of the crew to reduce the rations of the other passengers, cut back on any heat and water they may be getting, make sure the loos are backing up on their levels… Chaos and deprivation. Then we say to them, ‘It is such a shame that the crew are treating you so very poorly. Why don’t you join us and we will make everything right again. Just like It used to be.'”

“Oh. That might work.”

And so, by the time of half an hour before the Inevitable, the rowdiest of the passengers are convinced to lead an insurrection against the crew. The surprised Captain and other officers are led to a lifeboat and told to leave, and do so before the Boss changes his mind and just dumps them overboard. Many of the lower ranks join the Boss, along with most of the crew.

Then a jolt happens that shakes the ship…

Image generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence

Trump’s ascendency has pushed the conversation back to base emotions. All the eloquent and impassioned speeches are now heard only by the respective chorus to whom they are directed. The ability or desire to have constructive discussion is effectively past.
Therefore, it is instructive to speak in terms of base ideas, with an overhead view.
We, as primates, show certain tendencies that are reflected in our cousins. We have been, until about 3,000 years ago, loosely organized in communities that were matriarchies, or guided by the principles of matriarchies: peace within the community, enabled by respectful communication, with the general goals of enabling survival, creativity and family growth.
Rambunctious males would be tolerated for a time within the community, but if their actions became destructive, the designated silverbacks would be required to drive them out. This type of behaviour is reflected in observations by Jane Goodall and the late Diane Fossey, and others.
The rebuked young males would often gather in packs for mutual protection and support. Those packs would occasionally raid their former communities for food or fun, but they would usually be repelled and kept at bay by the concerted efforts of the community.
Until the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
When overpowering personal weapons, converted from agricultural implements, came into the hands of, shall we call them, the punk packs, they started decimating and/or taking over communities. From this came feudalism and other forms of repressive control of communities by the various punk packs.
Humanity has struggled over the past 5,000 years with the balance between the primal need for principles of matriarchal stability, against the randomly directed forces of raw power.
The ascendency of Trump – and the meme of raw power that has spread throughout the world – has set humanity back millennia. Egoistic bluster that was fought during two world wars, and many other more local conflagrations, has once more become the power in charge. The weapon used in this case is not bronze or iron, but money.
Multibillionaire punk packs now rule humanity.
World-wide, those who viscerally feel in jeopardy are protesting. The multibillionaire punk packs and their supporters – whose rallying cry is “down with all regulations” – laugh at the protesters, knowing they now have the Power. They control the power-points of society. They are now in charge of writing and enforcing legislation, which they use to further entrench their power. They have legitimized the focus on Money as being central to all activities in society. Where “money” had been merely a measure of activities in the past, it is now the end goal. That this is a circular argument is beyond the ken of the multibillionaire punk packs or their supporters.
The multibillionaire punk pack is circling the carcass of a gutted society.
So, we have the vision of Pink standing up to Money.
Who do you think will win?