Several weeks earlier, on January 12th, his polar expeditionary party had successfully reached The South Pole only to discover that a Norwegian team had made it there just five weeks before. Planting a British flag on the pole was meant to be a newsworthy moment that would once again confirm Britain's greatness in the post-Victorian world but the pesky Norwegians got there first. Scott wrote "God! This is an awful place! ...The worst has happened."
Two weeks after Scott's death in the bitter white emptiness of Antarctica, the "Titanic" went down in the North Atlantic. That ship was also meant to symbolise Britain's greatness. A huge, "unsinkable" ocean liner - the biggest and most luxurious ever built - and yet it went down on its maiden voyage.
In both cases, human error ensured disaster. Scott experimented with snow tractors and hardy ponies when the Norwegians under Roald Amundsen stuck with dogs to assist their arduous journey over the icy continent. And Captain Edward Smith, aboard the "Titanic", plotted a foolhardy course to New York in order to beat the existing transatlantic speed record.
Today, March 29th 2019, British parliamentarians continue to engineer another self-made disaster as they wrangle about leaving The European Union in a scene of "whirling drift". "I do not think we can hope for any better things now"... "For God's sake look after our people."
Pride and ego are the undoing of many. It's just a pity they often insist on dragging the innocent with them.
ReplyDeleteYou have expressed the essence of this dilemma.
DeleteI knew where you were going with this as soon as I got to the part about the Titanic.
ReplyDeleteTake heart! America is going down the drain at roughly the same speed as England. We're right there with you on this 21st century Titanic so at least we'll all have plenty of good company as everything goes to shit.
Ahoy there Cap'n Trump!
DeleteWhere is Pollyanna when we need her?
ReplyDeleteShe's sitting on the government front bench close to the despatch box.
DeleteBut Pollyanna always pulled through!
DeleteWhat's truly shocking about Brexit is how transparently political it all is for the people in power. They don't do what's best for the country -- they do what's expeditious for themselves and/or their party. Boris couldn't support Theresa May's plan until she pledged to resign -- then, with the way cleared, he suddenly warms to it. Appalling.
ReplyDeleteI hope we are able to emerge from all this with some sense of stability. (And better off than Scott and the Astors, Strausses and Guggenheims.)
Scott and the Astors, Strausses and Guggenheims are all dead and that is certainly not a condition I would recommend though I might make exceptions for child killers, litter louts and tax evaders.
DeleteKylie is right.
ReplyDeleteSo are you.
And you are left.
DeleteYet again I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteThis is becoming a bit of a habit Graham. You used to be more contrary.
DeleteNeatly tied together, Mr. Pudding. There are definitely parallels.
ReplyDeleteThose three things did come together nicely didn't they? Shame it's not just a writing exercise.
DeleteSelf-made disasters? Hmm, you are absolutely right about that.
ReplyDeleteBrexit is like spilling an oil tanker filled with red wine on the carpet.
DeleteHa-ha!
DeleteIt's a fine pickle you're all in up there!
ReplyDeleteYup! I'm a pickled gherkin.
DeleteHey, I like how you link these issues. the Brexit thing is pretty scary.
ReplyDeleteIt is the true "heart of darkness".
DeleteThis post resonates with me in so many ways, as I try to keep on keepin on here in the US. I've spent many late night hours trying to understand what forces are at work in these global disasters of human making.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, the human error/ego/pride/stupidity is nothing new, but perhaps our ability to communicate so easily with each other is the final factor pushing us toward what seems to be a pretty disastrous tipping point.
Obviously, the benefits and joys of global communication are clear to all of us who use the internet, but the effect of amplifying and extending the reach of people who embody the worst traits of our species seems to outweigh the benefits.
I still believe that the life force is stronger than whatever death wish is ascendant now, but goddamn, this phase of civilization sucks.
Hello Kate. I very much admire this sentence - "Obviously, the benefits and joys of global communication are clear to all of us who use the internet, but the effect of amplifying and extending the reach of people who embody the worst traits of our species seems to outweigh the benefits." I admire it for its incisiveness which of course is the result of crisp and pointed use of English.
DeleteBack in the late 90s-early 2000s, over a period of seven years one of my nephews...my late brother's eldest son...worked down in Antarctica...both at Casey and Mawson bases.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been a great experience for him. It is a place where human beings do not really belong - like a distant planet.
DeleteIf politicians were more inclined to public service, (they are after all public servants) than self service, maybe we wouldn't be in such a mess.
ReplyDeleteThey seem to start with ideals and then soon after election they become careerists and all they hear is the sound of their own voices - apart from Jeremy Corbyn of course.
Delete