The “catastrophic implosion” of the Titan, killing all five on board, has evoked widespread discussion which makes one wonder: How debased can the ongoing culture war in America truly become.
Last week I wrote about how extremists at both ends of the political spectrum debase political debate by relying on name calling and insults rather than rational discussion. Their unwillingness or inability to participate responsibly in rational discourse may reflect a larger unwillingness or inability of much of society to discuss political and cultural issues in general with any degree of reason or compassion.
To be sure, much of last week’s commentary was well-meant. We were told, for example, that the implosion took place within a millisecond, that those who died had no clue as to what was happening, and that death was mercifully painless and instantaneous. One can hope that all that was true, but one can also wonder how those who haven’t died can know what those who died actually experienced, or failed to experience.
And the quantity of commentary could be justified by the enduring hold the Titanic has on our collective imagination. A two-minute search on the internet produced the titles of about 100 movies, TV miniseries, documentaries, etc. on the Titanic, its passengers, and crew. No doubt there are more shows, articles, books, etc. out there produced to try to meet the seemingly endless demand for more and more commentary on the Titanic.
But much of the commentary seems to imply that those on board the Titan somehow had it coming. The Daily Beast published an outstanding article, “The Missing Titanic Sub is Already a Culture War Battlefield,” by senior columnist Matt Lewis, who summarizes much of the commentary offered by culture warriors from both the left and the right ends of the political spectrum.
Some sniff it was wrong to devote so much coverage to the fate of 5 rich white guys when during the same week a ship with hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of Greece. And the very fact that all on board the Titan were rich and white—tourists had to pay $250,000 a person to ride on the Titan–and some, at least, were Republican donors, somehow diminished their value in the eyes of leftist critics.
Some on the right have also weighed in, especially with criticisms of Stockton Rush, the Titan’s owner and designer. Some critics have charged that Rush, who had a degree in aerospace engineering from Princeton, designed and built the Titan with inferior materials to cut costs. Further investigation is required to learn whether that criticism is justified.
But those on the right have been especially critical of Rush’s hiring practices. In a now-infamous interview, Rush claimed that most companies operating submersibles hired “ex-military submariners” and “50 year-old white guys.” But Rush said he wanted to hire younger and more diverse personnel to staff his company, Oceangate, and thereby inspire more young people to become explorers. Was Rush sacrificing experience for diversity? Was he being too “woke?” Did his personnel practices contribute to his demise and that of the Titan and its other passengers? Again, further investigation is needed for a truly fair assessment. But the implication from the right is that Rush went woke, and the Titan thereby broke. Served him right.
Anti-Biden conspiracy theorists have also seen sinister motives behind the reporting of the search for the Titan. Apparently, last Sunday afternoon, about two hours after the Titan began its descent to the Titanic, naval personnel in the area heard a noise “consistent with” an implosion. Yet it was not until Thursday afternoon–five days later–that the Coast Guard announced it had found pieces of the Titan on the ocean floor, thereby indicating that the implosion actually took place.
So why the delay in reporting the implosion? Naval authorities said that an ongoing search was necessary to better determine exactly what happened, as well as to try to rescue the Titan and its crew in case the Sunday-afternoon sound was not related to the Titan after all and they were somehow trapped among the debris of the Titanic. But the more conspiracy-minded on the right have suggested that the implosion, while detected Sunday, was not reported until Thursday as part of a plot to prolong the search and divert public attention away from reports of Hunter Biden’s legal difficulties. And even some who are not necessarily conspiracy-minded, such as Texas congressman Dan Crenshaw, have darkly hinted at unspecified failures in leadership in the Navy and Coast Guard which somehow affected their quest for the Titan.
The Titan and the Titanic remain on the ocean floor. Neither will sink further. But the criticisms of the Titan’s owner and passengers from both the left and the right, the hatching of more dark conspiracy theories, and the questioning of the competence and motives of our Navy and Coast Guard leadership all indicate that the quality of discussion of this tragedy will continue to sink along with the overall quality of our ongoing political and culture wars.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville and taught politics and government at Tarleton from 1987 until 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990 to the present). He was Mayor Pro Tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He is a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Stephenville Rotary Club and does volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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