Titanic Metaphor

by Bob Schwartz

It has been more than twenty years since the epic, iconic movie Titanic was released. More than a century since the “unsinkable” biggest ship sank. Yet until today, when the movie popped up, I hadn’t fully focused on its metaphoric value. Which makes me one of the last to catch on, but I’m known to be slow.

On the same day, the rich president, whose only “achievement” has been to help other even richer people get even richer, was spouting normal nonsense—all based on America being unsinkable (thanks only to its being in his “capable” hands). Meanwhile, the stock market, a bellwether of confidence, is suffering another difficult day, pointing to an inevitable big correction, or worse.

We’ve had over a hundred years to consider the Titanic, a situation combining arrogance, incompetence, selfishness, ignorance, stubbornness, pride, wealth, along with the tragic power of nature and chance. King of the World doesn’t matter if you’re the captain or just a passenger heading for an avoidable iceberg.