The 100th Anniversary of The RMS Titanic

Adam Howard

Well-known member
The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. One of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, she was built between 1909–11 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She carried 2,223 people.

And there ends the history lesson. Or does it?

A lesson naturally indicates that something of value was learned. But now today, the 100th Anniversary of Titanic sinking, a 100 years after 1,514 innocent men, women, and children died needlessly; have we in society actually learned anything from that tragic moment in our past?

When many people think about Titanic today, they recall a romantic love story and the tragic loss of two lovers, lost and separated at sea.

While I have no doubt there may have indeed been many lovers aboard The Titanic when the ship hit that fateful iceberg. I highly imagine the majority of their descendants, would call the tragic loss of their friends and family members anything, but romantic.

And yet that very story has sold several movie editions, books, comics, audio records, and a slew of ready to order merchandise. And through this, some how the profiteering of Titanic continues.

The fault of Titanic was that The White Star Line company and various other third parties, sought to maximize profits, by cutting corners and sometimes using cheaper products in order to maximize their savings. They also took steps to avoid adding extra lifeboats and other safety concerns.

A practice in which we continue to utilize in modern-day business even today. And even today, we still hear news stories and read consumer reports about needless injuries and even deaths, all in the name of the mighty dollar and the quest to maximize profits. How many innocent men, women, and children have needlessly suffered or even died in the last 100 years to obtain this goal?

The RMS Titanic also brought awareness of the social issues of its time. In 1912 first, second, and third class was not simply a ticket aboard a ship, but throughout America at the time, everyone was not socially equal in society. We very much had a class structure where the super rich were not just wealthy, but viewed as respected and righteous. A time when your bank account balance and your wealthy determined if you were worth opportunity, given fair justice, or even had a voice in political matters.

The tragedy of the sinking of Titanic placed in prospective that no matter your wealth, you too can suffer in the end. Or at least that is how some historians prefer to quote history. Now today, 2012, 100 years after the fact, how much has really changed?

Wealth seems to still guarantee you opportunity, justice, and a strong political voice. And the lack of wealth seems to almost guarantee the absence of equal opportunity, justice, and no political voice.

And of course the profiteering of our society continues tonight, as a group of wealthy inverters help set sail to hover over with a full crew, over the grave of Titanic. The resting place and grave of 1,514 innocent men, women, and child tonight will be used as a tourist attraction, to which other mildly wealthy people have purchased a ticket to celebrate their death.

To put it into a more modern-day perspective, in such away so that perhaps you can connect better with the understanding of my meaning. Imagine for a moment if a group of wealthy inverters decided to sell tickets, so that a mildly wealthy group could hover over and celebrate the death of the nearly 3,000 innocent men, women, and children who died in The Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001 in New York city.

Have we as a people truly learned anything in the last 100 years?

If anything, tonight we should all reflect on how much further we need to push ourselves as a society to improve upon ourselves. Because we can do so much better if we only try. And that will only happen when you, the reader, stops waiting for the next man or women next to you. Such change starts with us all, but also from the individual, you.
 
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