this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2024
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[–] [email protected] 48 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Economic systems are no longer a huge part of political discourse. Back when the Titanic sunk, communism vs capitalism was big.

Coincidentally, the crew of the Titan sub that crushed diving to check out the Titanic could very easily have had "Victim of Capitalism" inserted into their obituaries.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

Was it the one with the reckless billionaire and his plaything sub who ignored all safety regulations because he knew better?

Those people are the select few beneficiaries of capitalism, and also absolutely fucking stupid so I have a hard time considering them a victim.

[–] Nikls94 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They did not exactly ignore safety regulations (which are written in blood btw) - they worked around them

[–] NateNate60 2 points 4 months ago

They followed all the safety regulations. But that was a time when the safety regulations were wholly inadequate, and they knew it but chose to proceed anyway.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

The reference to being a 'victim of capitalism' wasn't because the people were poor. It was because greed trumped safety.

[–] NateNate60 4 points 4 months ago

They followed the safety regulations. The regulations were inadequate at the time but since they weren't forced to do more, they didn't.

The Titanic was originally designed with enough lifeboats for everyone. They removed lifeboats down to the minimum required by law to save money. Back then, the number of lifeboats required was determined by a ship's tonnage rather than the number of passengers on board.

[–] dohpaz42 1 points 4 months ago

They were victims of capitalism because they benefited so greatly by capitalism.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Sends wife, 5 kids (!) and a freaking nanny to the US on Titanic (!), but does not identify as a capitalist...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

? The old school definition of middle class was being able to employ a servant. Nannies also simply werent as costly at the time.

There are/were trades you could make enough of living without exploiting the value of other's labor through the ownership of means of production. Think a plumber or lawyer running a one man business, or equal partnerships.

And, of course, one can be both a capitalist and a victim of capitalism. Kind of a major socialist point in and of itself, that capitalism eats its own. In this case, one must assume he's blaming corporate greed for the sinking, the lack of lifeboats, the preferred treatment of 1st class passengers, etc.

[–] umbraroze 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Kind of annoys me that the Finnish Wikipedia has a few paragraphs of the fate of the Panula family but there's this giant commercial Fandom wiki thing going on about Titanic victims that's pretty extensive. Wikipedia, too, is a victim of capitalism.

[–] halcyoncmdr 6 points 4 months ago

Fandom needs to die. Ad-ridden toxic BS. Blatantly falsely inflating their streaming counts by having their Twitch stream auto-play in a tiny corner on every page load.

[–] Etterra 4 points 4 months ago

JFC he lost his while damned family. Harsh man.

[–] Godric 3 points 4 months ago

Cant beleive they agreed to go on a Capitalist ship when Communist transport never fails, that was foolish of them

[–] Psychodelic 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Why was this one capitalism's fault?

Are they referring to the owners cutting costs on like the lack of lifeboats or something else?

[–] Cleggory 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Making vehicles progressively larger with less functionality is the basis of the US auto industry.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Us cars probably kill more people each year than the titanic did...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

~40 times more people die from cars each year in the US than people who died on the titanic

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Probably that plus packing the poorer families below the waterline where they had no chance to even get to the lifeboats even if there had been enough. And the extra bonus$$ the captain was seeking by trying to break a speed record rather than proceeding cautiously in winter at night.

[–] EvacuateSoul 5 points 4 months ago

It was a crash due to not steering away. I personally think those riding in steerage should bear responsibility.