Abandon Ship!
Captain and Officers First
David C. Stolinsky, MD
April 30, 2009
The other night I was channel surfing and came across a fascinating documentary. It involved the cruise ship Oceanos, which sank off the coast of South Africa. The story is relevant to our current situation.
At about 9:30 pm, sea water began leaking into the engine room. As the water rose it neared the electrical system, which had to be shut off. Power for the engines was cut, leaving the ship dead in heavy seas. Only emergency lights remained.
The captain, officers and many crew members believed the ship was doomed. They packed their bags and began readying the lifeboats − for themselves. No precautions were taken. Portholes were not closed. No attempt was made to repair a leaky bulkhead. No alarm was sounded. The passengers remained in the lounge, while entertainers kept them occupied with songs and jokes.
The first inkling passengers had that they were in danger was when they saw an officer in a life jacket. No one had told them to get their life jackets. The cruise director went to the bridge to discover what was going on, only to find it deserted. The courageous young woman returned to the lounge and readied the passengers to abandon ship.
Later an entertainer went to the bridge, found it deserted, heard inquiries from other ships on the radio, picked up the microphone − and directed rescue efforts himself. If it were not for him and the cruise director, many passengers would have perished.
Many of the officers and crew had already left on lifeboats. A few boats were launched with passengers aboard, but soon the ship was listing so badly that no more could be launched. The passengers waited through the night, with thoughts we can only imagine.
The South African Navy and Air Force launched a rescue effort. At first light, helicopters began lifting passengers − two at a time − by harnesses. The first to be rescued was the captain, who claimed he was needed to direct the rescue. When they were full, the helicopters flew the victims to land, then returned for another load. All the while the ship was sinking. The last two to be rescued were a passenger and a Navy diver who had jumped into the sea and swum aboard.
Soon after, the ship sank. By the heroic efforts of the cruise director, the entertainers and the rescue party, all 571 people aboard were saved, with only minor injuries. Later the captain and officers were found guilty of negligence, but the captain was placed in command of ferries − where he again had human lives in his hands.
What can we glean from this event that is relevant to our current situation?
● When the ship sustained damage, the captain and officers assumed the worst and saved themselves. They did not close the portholes or repair the leaky bulkhead. That the ship would sink became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This is similar to leftists and liberals (is there a difference any longer?) who assume free enterprise is sinking, so they use every opportunity to advance socialism − that is, control of the economy by government. They assume that representative democracy is sinking, so they use every opportunity to advance environmentalism and judicial activism − that is, control of everything by unelected bureaucrats and judges.
And when these remedies don’t work, liberals insist that more of what hasn’t worked is needed. More bilingual education that produces graduates semi-literate in two languages, more welfare programs that accelerate family breakdown, more home mortgages for those unable to make the payments − always more. Thus the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling, and the ship continues to sink.
● The problem didn’t begin when the captain and officers prepared to abandon ship without warning the passengers. No, the problem began years earlier, when their parents raised them without a religious foundation, and when their teachers taught them facts in the absence of moral principles. The problem began when they went to sea lacking any of the ethics of seamanship, and took charge of the passengers’ lives and well-being without taking responsibility. The problem began when they viewed their position as merely a job and not a calling.
This is similar to the self-anointed “elite” of America and other Western nations. They too were raised without a religious foundation. They too were taught facts without an ethical framework on which to anchor the facts. They too were handed power over the lives and well-being of others, but they viewed their position as merely a job and not a calling.
The problem didn’t begin when the stock and real-estate markets crashed. The problem didn’t begin when confidence men ripped off their clients’ life savings. The problem didn’t begin when the ship of state actually started to sink.
No, the problem began years earlier, when the officers − the “elite” − abandoned the ship spiritually, emotionally and intellectually, though not physically. Their bodies stayed at their posts on the bridge. But their hearts were far away, in some imaginary place where perfect justice and perfect equality were doled out by…you guessed it, them.
The problem began when law schools and business schools turned out graduates who knew the price of everything but the value of nothing. The problem began when faculties of political science, education and journalism were infiltrated by professors who had no allegiance to free enterprise, free elections − or freedom itself.
The problem began when the “elite” no longer saw themselves as stewards of a precious heritage, but merely as agents of a leftist agenda. So why close the portholes or shore up the leaky bulkhead? That would only safeguard the ship they despised. No, they let the cold, dark sea pour in.
They assumed they would be safe in their lifeboats. They assumed that in a socialist state, they would be on the central committee. They assumed that with socialized medicine, they would be cared for in special clinics. They assumed that the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats and judges would always make decisions favoring them.
But what the “elite” did not foresee is that there is no outside navy or air force to rescue them. Americans rescue others; no one rescues us. The socialist states of Britain and Europe are sinking even faster than we are. The “ordinary” people − the cruise director and entertainers − can keep things afloat only for a time. And then the ship that the “elite” neglected and damaged will inevitably sink. But this time the “elite” will go down with the ship.
Before that happens, we “ordinary” people need to work even harder to keep things afloat:
· We need to raise the alarm and inform the other passengers of the danger.
· We need to fire the irresponsible officers who are dedicated to their own agenda but unconcerned with the ship’s safety.
· We need to close the portholes and shore up the leaky bulkheads − and stop spending money we don’t have.
· We need to build a missile defense against lunatics in Iran and North Korea who are developing nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.
· We need to tell the lookouts to be alert for terrorists who want to kill us, not for returning veterans who risked everything to protect us.
We need to restore faith in our ship, in our own ability to run it, and in Divine Providence that will help us − if we care enough to help ourselves. Otherwise, we’re all going to get really wet.
Dr. Stolinsky writes on political and social issues. He can be contacted at
[email protected]