I am fully willing to admit half the reason it's so popular on the news is the novelty of it. A submarine goes missing, possibly sunk, near the Titanic? The truth is the accidents iwth immigrants and migrants happen so often that most of the media doesn't really care about it so much any more. But it used to, I remember seeing stuff about bodies washing up on the shores of Italy. When it was novel is was more popular and 'sold' well so it was reported on. i guarantee you if subs went missing anywhere near as often in the future you would not see as much about it. That's just how the media works these days, it's unfortunate.
Billionaires or not I don't envy them and if they can be saved I hope they will be. Especially the young guy there with his father.
One is the adventure story that almost seems scripted, one is a tradegy that is so common it makes my brain hurt.
I do concede that the missing sub is missing something, so I'm hoping that International law catches up and demands that all these "experimental" commercial subs also has $500 million in gold as balast . . . so it's a treasure hunt also, just to make the story perfect (because right now it's moved from an adventure story, to a horror, it needs a third act).
I don't need to know migrants are dieing, that's just a function of our world. I know why overloaded fishing boats sink, there is no mystery there, it's inherently a less "fun" (god that's terrible to say) story.
With the submarine story, it's like a film scenario. Every detail is something unusual, and not tragic in itself. Well, depends on who you ask. There are many people who think billionaires existing is a very real tragedy, and rightly so, but I digress.
With billionaires in a comic-book-supervillain submarine lost on their way to see the Titanic wreck, you can laugh at the $30 controller, or wonder where their brains were, or if anybody looked at their financials because this also would work as a movie scenario where 4 billionaires pay someone to disappear them because they didn't pay taxes or something.
Refugee boat sinking is actual tragedy, with the added bonus of the entire western world having some level of guilt in creating. When the average, empathy having person hears about it, they feel complex emotions from sadness to guilty conscience for casually hearing about it from the comfort of their couch... It's difficult to deal with.
I think you just made something really clear for me. We are all rich compared to most of the world that lives in almost complete abject poverty. We hate that part of ourselves that could do something about it but just sits on the couch consuming and adding nothing, and we project that hate on to billionaires so we can feel it outwards.
All rich in comparison, sure, but most of us are probably struggling to maintain our lifestyle or investing in a better future for ourselves and/or loved ones. Atleast some of which is keeping up with the Joneses. Issue now becomes a matter of resources. How much time, energy, finances, patience do you have left over to help strangers in another country? How do you justify (to your peers aswell as yourself) aiding foreigners before your own?
Billionaires likely have a very similar situation going on. Just on a very incomprehensible level due to how far away their class is from lower and middle. Do they have as good of an excuse, though? From the outside looking in, I doubt it. Maybe the necessary security and cost of housing (why would they live in a poor neighborhood and risk burglary or death?) brings their finances down further than we realize. Would explain why they avoid taxes so much, but that's some benefit of the doubt shit. They could just be greedy as hell and have a class culture that encourages it along with wasteful spending. Who knows. Maybe, like a classic White, they're taught to hate "the poors".
It’s unusual, and taps into some deep-seated fears - people imagine themselves trapped in a submarine running out of air, get seriously frightened, and start desperately hoping they make it out OK just because they don’t want to think about the alternative.
There’s also the Colossal Fuck Up angle - people love stories about incredibly stupid disasters because it makes them feel smart and competent. “I’d never get in a submarine that uses a shitty Logitech controller” they say, congratulating themselves on their foresight. (Even more satisfying when the victims include a billionaire, because those are the very best people to feel superior to)
It’s because 100s of migrants drowning at sea is something horrible that regular people can’t do anything about. It makes us sad, and angry. Just like almost every other story about billionaire greed and the coming climate disaster.
Now, a bunch of ultra rich, regulation hating, planet destroying losers dying in a tiny submersible because they have the kind of money to go see the titanic for fun? That’s the kind of story that makes us feel good. It’s karma.
Oh no it’s so much worse than a random boat sinking in the night. The Greek Coast Guard was there and did nothing until after the boat went down. Despite calls for aid. There are also allegations they actively caused the sinking by trying to push the boat away from national waters.
it’s also not that many migrants coming in ~ half a million over the last decade or so[1].
We have severe labor shortages in this country, and since we’re not upping wages, why not let them stay and work. Give them citizenship and they’ll even pay taxes, which is more than can be said for the ultra-rich in this land.
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