Analogy Of The 20 Titanic Lifeboats

The Titanic had just 20 lifeboats aboard when it sank April 15, 1912. There were 2,223 people onboard that day. One might surmise that many, most, or all of them had little or no fear that lifeboats would become necessary for their survival on this journey.

From a preparedness standpoint, we can draw several practical parallels or analogies from the disaster of the Titanic – and your adherence to the lessons learned will put you in a better place of readiness and safety…

 
The Titanic was originally fitted with enough lifeboats for more than everyone on board. However the company ordered the removal of two-thirds of them claiming that the 64 lifeboats made the ship look bad.

Not Enough Lifeboats On The Titanic

For this reason, of the 2,223 people on board, 1,517 lost their lives while only 706 survived.

Nearly as alarming was the percentage of lives that survived based on their cabin class.

61% of 1st-class passengers survived.
42% of 2nd-class passengers survived.
25% of 3rd-class passengers survived.
24% of the crew survived.

The Lifeboats of the Titanic
lifeboats-of-the-titanic

 
What can we learn from the Titanic tragedy?

Never fully trust that others have secured your safety.

There were two clear but false assumptions made by the passengers on the Titanic.

1. The Titanic will not or cannot sink.
2. Missing or ignoring the fact that there were only 20 lifeboats.

It was such a magnificently huge ship and such a marvel of industry that it looked and seemed entirely invincible. The ship was so big that when you were on it, your perspective changed such that it barely seemed like a ‘typical’ ship of its day.

The hype leading up to its voyage bolstered even more of the indestructible façade (appearance) and perception. Many of the ships passengers were no doubt gleeful and filled with some self-importance while playing their roles within the ‘high society’ of the 1st-class crowd – as surely feelings of exuberance also spilled into the 2nd and 3rd class cabins as well while the ship furthered its journey…

The Titanic sailed on – even through iceberg infested waters. After all, the Titanic was indestructible.

However we all know what happened that night.

The Iceberg That Sunk Titanic

The iceberg suspected of having sunk the Titanic, as photographed by the steward of a passing ship the morning after the Titanic sinking. The other ship had not yet received word about the Titanic sinking but the steward reportedly saw red paint smeared along the base of the iceberg, indicating that a ship had struck it within the last several hours. April 15, 1912. (Wikimedia Commons)

Titanic Parallels and Analogies

The Titanic and the Economy

One analogy is the comparison between the Titanic (and its passengers) to the current economy (and the public at large).

The US economy (and much of the global economy) has been pumped up into a seemingly indestructible and never-failing success bubbles – while the majority of the public truly believe (assume) that everything’s fantastic and always will be (normalcy bias). This ship cannot sink. At least that’s what they think…

What they do not know is that this ship is navigating through waters filled with icebergs, and all it’s going to take is one long gash in the hull and it’s over. The ship will sink. In the mean time, the band plays on…

The Titanic Lifeboats

The company’ ordered that most of them be removed. Not only did they want the appearance of the Titanic to look better, but they did not want to present an image that the ship may actually need that many lifeboats. They were managing the Titanic’s image.

Today’s ‘masters’ of the world /economy (the Bankster Cabal) have been doing everything they can to present a positive image while keeping it pumped up and hiding the things which may ‘alarm’ the masses. The vast majority of the passengers on this economic ship have no lifeboat (or a seat on a lifeboat), and when the ship goes down, well, they will go down with it.

Incredibly, some of the lifeboats which were eventually lowered from the sinking Titanic were far from filled to capacity. While none of us were there, and we don’t exactly know what was going through their minds, it’s probably safe to say that some of other human traits were exposed (e.g. ‘dog eat dog’) while panic and desperation set in for one’s very survival.

If we hit an iceberg today and suffered a full-scale economic collapse, there’s little doubt that a portion of the desperate populace will revert to a similar ‘dog eat dog’ (dangerous) mentality.

When realization set in on the Titanic that it was sinking, reportedly the band (entertainment) was ordered to play on in an attempt to continue an illusion towards the passengers that everything’s still okay. Today’s analogy is the mainstream which continues to push the message propaganda that everything’s fantastic regarding the good ship ‘Economy’.

The Titanic Survivors – Who Survived?

Lets look at who survived the Titanic. The clear majority of survivors were the 1st-class passengers, while the lower classes suffered progressively worse. Is it not generally the same in real life? Interesting parallels, yes? Those ‘in power’, in higher positions, will take advantage of their position and resources to secure their own survival first. When it comes to survival, and it’s every person for themself, don’t expect the powers-that-be to save your a$$. Think about that.

 
CONCLUSION

Let the Titanic be a lesson to you. Maintain a skepticism of anything that might be considered to be ‘unsinkable’.

Be skeptical. Look out for your own safety from a sinking ship perspective. Recognize the systemic risks, especially the big one’s. Analyze the risks. Think things through. Try to mitigate them to the extent possible. Position yourself for better odds of survival in case the ship sinks. Remember, the Titanic was unsinkable…

11 Comments

  1. When the President and the Fed took actions to save the big banks in 2008/2009 saying they were: “Too big to fail”. The image of the Titanic immediately came to mind. My lifeboat back then was relocation out of the state of California. Most political types and many economists stated that “nobody saw this coming”. California was one of the epicenters of this latest, large financial recession based upon the housing market. I was surprised later at the scope and magnitude of the damage after people stopped BS’ing themselves. I stayed in California until the Governor tried to pay us in IOU’s. (Gov Pete Wilson did that for 8 months back in the early 1990’s…nothing new under the Sun)

    Now you may understand why those Cali Transplants have relocated to a neighborhood like yours. My accountant referred to this as an economic tsunami and he was the one that suggested leaving the Golden State.

  2. The captain of the Titanic must be related to Joe. Both had blinders on, had been at their job along time, and show incompetence in decision making. Build your own lifeboat.

  3. Titanic sank four days into a six-day cruise. Except for nearly swamping another large ship in port due to her massive size, it was an unremarkable voyage, until… As a maiden voyage there surely was much merriment being made. The accident happened at night. So folks were lulled by four days at sea, eating and drinking, and slumber. The ones most likely to survive were those on the upper floors of cabins, with easy access to the decks. Is it any wonder that the lesson of the wise and foolish virgins starts out, “Watch, therefore…” Preparedness and prepositioning seem to be good lessons, too.

  4. My Trident submarine had no lifeboats aboard while I was a crew member. There would not have been any chance of using a lifeboat. We compensated by always maintaining our designed submerge to surface ratio at exactly one. Most of us were convinced that it was an elaborate simulation, and that we were actually still tied to the pier and that the boat just tipped and swayed, and we never really went anywhere.

    1. There’s not much preceived movement patrolling at 3 knots at 400 feet… My boomer patrols on a Lafayette class boat many years ago felt the same way. Of course we still needed to come up to periscope depth to blow sani tanks, shoot trash etc… and when in the north atlantic in winter you knew you were at sea at that shallow depth…

  5. Farmers do everything within their power to keep their livestock from panicking.

  6. Good reminder to stay vigilant. Sometimes I get ‘prepper fatigue’ from constantly reading Zero hedge and others…but we all know we’re on a ship that has no chance of staying afloat. Trillions in debt? No chance. The WEF has their plans and we little people are expendable. 3rd class passengers…but never give up even as you see the icebergs.

  7. 61% of 1st-class passengers survived.
    42% of 2nd-class passengers survived.
    25% of 3rd-class passengers survived.
    24% of the crew survived.

    Indeed, this is the most frightening of statistics. It clearly shows that a major “calamity” – government induced – will focus on the prols. Such “tragedies” are a means by the “1st-class” to systematically eliminate the lowest ranks. That is, those without the means to defend themselves. The weak, the aged, the feeble. Consider the record of the “Joe” and his relentless attacks on the economy. His attitude on free-speech and his indifference to free-will. He has cut the number of lifeboats in half with his policies. But not all “the people” depend on lifeboats and he will find this out sooner or later.

  8. Consider that on the night of the collision, Normalcy Bias was at work. The initial shudder caused by the contact with the iceberg did not alarm the passengers because the ship still seemed sound enough. “This ship is a modern marvel. What could possibly go wrong?” The prospect of getting into a lifeboat and setting out on a black night in the ocean was extraordinarily off-putting, and the recognition of the consequences of their bad decision came too late to save their lives. All of this was classic Normalcy Bias.

    Rather than passengers fighting for a seat in the earliest lifeboats that departed, it seems far more likely that, given the relatively normal conditions still existing on the ship, those in these lifeboats could not convince the other passengers to join them, so they set off on their own rather than waiting and trying to argue with/convince the other passengers that their lives were in peril.

    I won’t dispute the stories that say that after the true danger was realized and later lifeboats were departing, there was considerable competition, and even violent behavior in the effort to obtain a seat in lifeboats. Yet, the scenario I laid out concerning the early departures makes more sense to me than simply accepting the traditional explanation that those passengers who got away were the ones who won the fight with other passengers to survive, or that they simply could not have cared less if the other passengers lived or died when they departed.

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