Less Than Human

    Is it possible to be devoid of humanity? By that I mean, people being so lacking in empathy or sorrow, that he or she (yes, I'm only using those two pronouns...I respect the science...have at me) can get their humanity membership card revoked? I really wanted to write about how I was becoming the king of yoga. It was National Yoga Day just recently and I thought to myself, "What a good time to have a little fun and try and bring a smile or a laugh to my dear friend Don Juan. Or to write something so hilarious that Dorothy from Kansas or Cheri from Alaska would, at least for a few minutes, forget that they actually live in Kansas and Alaska! Ah, we kid because we love. At the very least, I'd get my favorite put-down..."Peter, you're an idiot!" But alas, it was not to be. That piece, and others, will have to wait. You see, life, as it usually does...got in the way.

    For those of you living under a rock, a week ago 5 men took a really small submarine in order to see the Titanic. Yes, THAT Titanic. The Titanic, the indestructible vessel, is resting on the seabed of the North Atlantic Ocean, some 700 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and approximately 3 miles below the surface. Even with the most modern equipment/technology it is not an easy trip. But these 5 gentlemen said, "We don't care. We're going. It's the freaking Titanic!" Sadly, it wasn't long into their journey that something went horribly wrong. The latest news is that the submarine had imploded. It is assumed that all five men were killed instantly. If there is a saving grace, that is it; that they died instantly. The wreckage of that submarine and the bodies it contains now sit, ironically, not too far from their destination. It would seem that the "ship that could not be sunk" can add 5 more victims to its log. 

    But I do not type and try to put nouns and verbs together in order to pass judgement on these men. They did what human beings have done for thousands of years. Whether they consciously knew it or not, they risked everything. They took a huge gamble. These men journeyed into the abyss, in a submarine the size of an Audi, in order to see something up close and personal that only a few human beings have ever seen. They did that whole "one small step for man," thing. And they died. Their decision will not be debated by me. What will be discussed here is the reaction by certain people. Reactions that are, how do I put this delicately..."less than human."

    To my surprise, and I hope to many others' surprise, there were literally hundreds of thousands of people who celebrated this disaster! Let me repeat that for those of you on the West Coast...they CELEBRATED this disaster! It seems that because two of the people were very rich...and according to some, if you are VERY rich, you are not quite human...you are part of the problem and therefore, deserve to die. Please note and understand before I go on, I'm not making any of this up.

    First on my docket is Ben Collins, who is NBC's chief "disinformation expert." Whatever that means. Collins characterized the whole event as "comforting...and kind of fun." It's clear to me that Collins is a psychopath. One woman wrote that because Hamish Harding, who owns the company that sponsored the trip (he also owns a private jet company and was on this expedition)..."It's good he's dead." Understand that her entire reasoning for saying that was because...wait for it...HE OWNED A PRIVATE JET COMPANY! Hold on, I'm just getting started. For those of you that followed what was happening, at one point authorities picked up what they interpreted was "banging" from their sonars. It was later assumed that the banging was the implosion. Well, one idiot Photo-shopped a picture of orcas swimming around with instruments. "Big Bang," was the caption, "the water's fine, send more billionaires." Not to put too fine a point on it, but 75,000 people "LIKED" that tweet. Matt Bernstein, a left-wing "influencer" (whatever that is) and someone who is popular with the "disinformation experts," joked that the "rich were finally being eaten" (by sea creatures). I hope he's smart enough to know that his line about "the rich being eaten" is a Marxist trope that is at least 100-years-old (but I'm guessing he's not that smart). Lastly, at least for now, one guy, The New Republic's Daniel Strauss (a publication, while leftist, has been an honest broker of news and political commentary for decades), might have written the most horrific line of all (and that's saying something). He wrote that the "CEO may be slowly dying 13,000 feet below the surface, but let's also keep in mind he donated money to a few Republicans." REALLY? Is this what it has come to? The rich are the scourge of the universe? Or is it just some rich people? Or rich people of a certain political/philosophical persuasion? Dear Mr. Strauss...Fuck You! Boss, are you trying to get Facebook to ban you? Phil Collins, Sancho...Phil Collins. My bad, Boss. We Don't Care Anymore.

    Look, I'm not here to be the joke police, a censor...or most of all, the thought police. I mean, I loathe the mainstream press, and a lot of the non-mainstream press...but what the fuck is going on here?! Everyone has the right to be as depraved as you want to be. I know I even get a little crazy sometimes on this website. But c'mon. The outright dehumanization of these now dead gentlemen by the above writers and the thousands who "Liked" their work and others who wrote similar content, is loathsome. Let me type the following before I forget. May each and every one of you pricks die a long and painful and lonely death.

    So where do we go from here? In this kind of classist/Marxist stew (and trust me, there's a similar race issue/stew that mirrors this as well) that gives us a public discourse from hell, is it any wonder that certain people come to a celebration of some people's death? I mean, I have no problem celebrating the death of Hitler, Stalin, David Duke...pick your evil. But some guys wanting to see the Titanic? Because they can afford it?  Really?? That's your measuring stick now? Grow up! If this is the dominant strain of thought today...I'm going to get banned and cancelled, or whatever, a lot sooner than I thought I would. Easy Boss, I can hear the clapping now!

    All that said, you know what really disappointed me (other than the whole dehumanization aspect of it?), was the alarming push-back against the human spirit by what seems to be an anti-intellectual Left. I mean, the whole exploration, "into the unknown" thing...this is what humans do. These people trashing the explorers, and that's what they were, seemed to take a stand against what it is to be human. What these nitwits were saying, in essence, was that these men who perished had it coming. "They could have seen the Titanic on YouTube!" Or something like that. Well, that's not how it works. Life isn't safe. Sometimes it's not even safe when you think it is. 

    Look, if our ancient cavemen ancestors hadn't eaten the first poisonous mushrooms, fruits and vegetables, and died, we couldn't enjoy our strawberries and bananas and whatever vegetables today. Thank the gods for the crazy cavemen. Marie Curie discovered polonium and radium and developed techniques for use in treating tumors. Tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of lives have been saved because of her work. She died from radiation exposure. How many explorers died charting the oceans before America was found? How many men died in combat fighting for, and protecting, this nation. Hell, how many fisherman have died so you, dear reader, can enjoy your crab legs or lobster at your favorite fine dining restaurant? Life is risk. And the risk is what makes us special. We risk it because it can be done. We are nothing without risk. The list goes on, and because I'm a dork, I'll probably come back to these thoughts in the future. Why did he/she do it? They did it because they are braver people than I am. 

    Anyone that's committed to misery or inhumanity can find an element of the submarine voyage to condemn, or even mock. There's more than enough material for you. But these men took a risk; a risk I wouldn't even think of taking...and I'm pretty sure a lot of you wouldn't think of taking, either. At the same time, these men also lived. How many of us can say the same?

write to Peter: magtour@icloud.com