Rich dude spends money building mini-sub to visit Titanic: 2024 edition
May 28, 2024 10:53 AM Subscribe
Independent: Mr. Connor recently announced plans to take a submersible to the Atlantic seabed in an effort to prove that safe, manned trips to the wreckage of the Titanic are possible. Metro: Connor told the Wall Street Journal: ‘I want to show people worldwide that while the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way.’ Forbes: “Obviously he’s got a significant ego and really believes in his own abilities,” Roger Lipson, a longtime partner of Connor, told Forbes this year. @colorlessgrey.bsky.social: I don't know what about being a billionaire leads people to develop feelings about the Titanic that border on religiosity, but I do think taxation is the cure. [Previously]
(slaps roof of Titanic) This bad boy can fit so many tales of overweening pride in it.
posted by condour75 at 11:00 AM on May 28 [94 favorites]
posted by condour75 at 11:00 AM on May 28 [94 favorites]
There's a clear case of evolutionary divergence here that biologists should study: What makes one billionaire seek life in the vacuum of space, while another returns to the cold bosom of the mother ocean?
posted by mittens at 11:08 AM on May 28 [40 favorites]
posted by mittens at 11:08 AM on May 28 [40 favorites]
inside you there are two billionaires
posted by phunniemee at 11:11 AM on May 28 [68 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 11:11 AM on May 28 [68 favorites]
I 100% support sending billionaires to the bottom of the ocean.
I think we should do it at taxpayer expense, actually.
Bringing them back up, though? No, I don't support that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:12 AM on May 28 [44 favorites]
I think we should do it at taxpayer expense, actually.
Bringing them back up, though? No, I don't support that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:12 AM on May 28 [44 favorites]
Go! Go! Go!
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:14 AM on May 28 [4 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:14 AM on May 28 [4 favorites]
Design challenge: Implosion on a budget.
Design a a low cost sub that can reach sufficient depth to produce an implosion powerful enough to instagib the passengers (rather than a slow leak or suffocation).
posted by donio at 11:18 AM on May 28
Design a a low cost sub that can reach sufficient depth to produce an implosion powerful enough to instagib the passengers (rather than a slow leak or suffocation).
posted by donio at 11:18 AM on May 28
I doubt higher taxes would deter him from a mere $20 million expense. But if he wants to pay his taxes and then go risk his life, it's a (semi)free country. Climb Everest, skydive, explore Everest, tug on Superman's cape, or mess around with Jim - take your pick.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:23 AM on May 28 [13 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:23 AM on May 28 [13 favorites]
We really need to take these people's money away.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 11:30 AM on May 28 [12 favorites]
posted by The Manwich Horror at 11:30 AM on May 28 [12 favorites]
Can we assume the new vessel will include a device that will hold his beer?
posted by chavenet at 11:32 AM on May 28 [18 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 11:32 AM on May 28 [18 favorites]
Bringing them back up, though? No, I don't support that.
Down is free. Coming back up costs TEN BEEEELION DOLLARS
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:35 AM on May 28 [18 favorites]
Down is free. Coming back up costs TEN BEEEELION DOLLARS
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:35 AM on May 28 [18 favorites]
More billionaires should do this. I think they should all invest in new and disruptive pressure hull technologies, and then personally test them at great depth.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:36 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:36 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
To paraphrase Sarah Silverman: If we can put a man on the moon, then we can send a billionaire to the bottom of the ocean. And then, maybe, someday, we can send EVERY billionaire to the bottom of the ocean.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:41 AM on May 28 [16 favorites]
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:41 AM on May 28 [16 favorites]
Season 2 is in production.
No spoilers please.
posted by ocschwar at 11:43 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
No spoilers please.
posted by ocschwar at 11:43 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
Only read the title, the mini-sub should just about have room for all remaining Tory MPs when Rishi pilots it down to crush depth.
posted by protorp at 11:45 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
posted by protorp at 11:45 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
I really want to thank this particular rich asshole for not, to this point, making this a scenario where his kid would also be on board. No one else has been discussed to join him at all, as far as I can tell, and that's perfect. That lets me enjoy this as pure unadualterated billionaire hate, untainted by having my basic empathy activated.
At some point, something will happen where I will defintiely be forced to admit that yes, the sudden explosive death of human beings in a terrible accident is a sad thing, but for now, it's a pretty clean fuck that dude, let him sink scneario, and I appreciate that as an outlet.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:51 AM on May 28 [28 favorites]
At some point, something will happen where I will defintiely be forced to admit that yes, the sudden explosive death of human beings in a terrible accident is a sad thing, but for now, it's a pretty clean fuck that dude, let him sink scneario, and I appreciate that as an outlet.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:51 AM on May 28 [28 favorites]
I wasn't aware that a sequel had been green-lit.
Actually, I wasn't aware that a sequel needed to be green-lit.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:51 AM on May 28 [5 favorites]
Actually, I wasn't aware that a sequel needed to be green-lit.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:51 AM on May 28 [5 favorites]
"I'm a billionaire and going to do great things!"
"Like what?!"
"Go to the bottom of the ocean!"
"Oh cool, you're going to explore places no human has been before, see sights unseen, and discover new species?!"
"No, I'm going to visit a rusty, falling apart grave that's been visited a lot before!"
"Let me pack you a lunch."
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:53 AM on May 28 [9 favorites]
"Like what?!"
"Go to the bottom of the ocean!"
"Oh cool, you're going to explore places no human has been before, see sights unseen, and discover new species?!"
"No, I'm going to visit a rusty, falling apart grave that's been visited a lot before!"
"Let me pack you a lunch."
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:53 AM on May 28 [9 favorites]
Actually, I wasn't aware that a sequel needed to be green-lit.
Why not? Everyone I know loved the first one...
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:55 AM on May 28 [3 favorites]
Why not? Everyone I know loved the first one...
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:55 AM on May 28 [3 favorites]
Also, one other upside is that he's not dismembering journalists in his sub.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:55 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:55 AM on May 28 [6 favorites]
Pride goeth before a fall. For a 12,000-foot fall, you need to be quite vainglorious indeed, it would seem.
posted by adamrice at 11:56 AM on May 28 [1 favorite]
posted by adamrice at 11:56 AM on May 28 [1 favorite]
But if he wants to pay his taxes and then go risk his life, it's a (semi)free country. Climb Everest, skydive, explore Everest, tug on Superman's cape, or mess around with Jim - take your pick.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Me. And another argument for a guaranteed annual maximum income. As in an upper limit above taxation is at a rate of 100%. I want to say a hundred thousand but let the crybabies get a million.
George Soros excluded, of course.
posted by y2karl at 12:00 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
Voyage to the Bottom of the Me. And another argument for a guaranteed annual maximum income. As in an upper limit above taxation is at a rate of 100%. I want to say a hundred thousand but let the crybabies get a million.
George Soros excluded, of course.
posted by y2karl at 12:00 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
I think we should do it at taxpayer expense, actually.
One of the funniest things about this is if we actually offered taxpayer-funded sub rides to the Titanic a lot of these folks would become utterly absolutely disinterested. The literal and metaphorical publicly visible ownership of the whole experience is a huge part of the appeal to them. If you built a free magic publicly funded subway to Mars, Elon Musk would almost certainly start talking about how lame and stupid Mars is and how the true purpose of Humanity is going to Alpha Centauri.
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:01 PM on May 28 [35 favorites]
One of the funniest things about this is if we actually offered taxpayer-funded sub rides to the Titanic a lot of these folks would become utterly absolutely disinterested. The literal and metaphorical publicly visible ownership of the whole experience is a huge part of the appeal to them. If you built a free magic publicly funded subway to Mars, Elon Musk would almost certainly start talking about how lame and stupid Mars is and how the true purpose of Humanity is going to Alpha Centauri.
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:01 PM on May 28 [35 favorites]
Despite the good things it has accomplished, the internet has completely robbed me of any hope that an incredibly stupid idea will have no takers. Sure, the world at large and all its scientists and historians can condemn or disprove an idea -- the flat earth theory; the red pill; Trump -- but there's gonna be some takers. And the internet is going to get enough of them together to make this somebody's problem.
Since this guy is rich, he's enough to be anybody's problem by himself. But as long as this is his hobbyhorse, it'll hopefully only be the Coast Guard and/or private search and rescue teams.
posted by Countess Elena at 12:03 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
Since this guy is rich, he's enough to be anybody's problem by himself. But as long as this is his hobbyhorse, it'll hopefully only be the Coast Guard and/or private search and rescue teams.
posted by Countess Elena at 12:03 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
Elon Musk would almost certainly start talking about how lame and stupid Mars is and how the true purpose of Humanity is going to Alpha Centauri.
"And for my next act, I've decided to launch myself directly into the sun!"
[cheering, wild applause]
posted by phunniemee at 12:04 PM on May 28 [16 favorites]
"And for my next act, I've decided to launch myself directly into the sun!"
[cheering, wild applause]
posted by phunniemee at 12:04 PM on May 28 [16 favorites]
And to think I just saw OceanGate: Risk Management Division commemorative baseball caps on AliExpress yesterday.
posted by delfin at 12:06 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
posted by delfin at 12:06 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
God luck to him getting as many extremely rich takers as possible.
posted by Artw at 12:09 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 12:09 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
>I 100% support sending billionaires to the bottom of the ocean.
Q: What do you call a handful of billionaires at the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start.
Lawyer jokes are tired and played out, but billionaire jokes? I can get down with that.
posted by cult_url_bias at 12:09 PM on May 28 [17 favorites]
Q: What do you call a handful of billionaires at the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start.
Lawyer jokes are tired and played out, but billionaire jokes? I can get down with that.
posted by cult_url_bias at 12:09 PM on May 28 [17 favorites]
→
Given that the number of billionaires who pay the proper amount of taxes is extremely low, this trip effectively would be at taxpayer expense
posted by scruss at 12:12 PM on May 28 [13 favorites]
I think we should do it at taxpayer expense, actually.
Given that the number of billionaires who pay the proper amount of taxes is extremely low, this trip effectively would be at taxpayer expense
posted by scruss at 12:12 PM on May 28 [13 favorites]
There are a number of things I would like to say about this guy, but none of them are very nice and a few involve capital crimes, so I'll just say them in my head.
posted by tommasz at 12:26 PM on May 28
posted by tommasz at 12:26 PM on May 28
> OceanGate: Risk Management Division commemorative baseball caps
I wish. The irony would be enough to get me to wear a ball cap.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:29 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
I wish. The irony would be enough to get me to wear a ball cap.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:29 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
What makes one billionaire seek life in the vacuum of space, while another returns to the cold bosom of the mother ocean?
And they say money can't buy happiness . . .
posted by thivaia at 12:29 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
And they say money can't buy happiness . . .
posted by thivaia at 12:29 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
I wish. The irony would be enough to get me to wear a ball cap.
I mean, they're there and they're cheap? You can even get your choice of Safety Technician, Risk Management Team, Safety First, Sink The Rich, I Collapse Under Pressure or Marine Engineer variants, among others.
posted by delfin at 12:35 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
I mean, they're there and they're cheap? You can even get your choice of Safety Technician, Risk Management Team, Safety First, Sink The Rich, I Collapse Under Pressure or Marine Engineer variants, among others.
posted by delfin at 12:35 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
Design challenge: Implosion on a budget.
Design a a low cost sub that can reach sufficient depth to produce an implosion powerful enough to instagib the passengers
Design reasonable submarine to go to that depth. Install shaped-charge cutter where the passengictims can't see it, rigged to make hot linear slicey boi when it's deep enough.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 12:40 PM on May 28
Design a a low cost sub that can reach sufficient depth to produce an implosion powerful enough to instagib the passengers
Design reasonable submarine to go to that depth. Install shaped-charge cutter where the passengictims can't see it, rigged to make hot linear slicey boi when it's deep enough.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 12:40 PM on May 28
We really need to take these people's money away.
Can we wait till they’re at the bottom of the ocean, though?
posted by Thorzdad at 12:48 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
Can we wait till they’re at the bottom of the ocean, though?
posted by Thorzdad at 12:48 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
'Drown all Billionaires' and all that, but this guy at least is working with the founder of Triton Submarines for this trip to the Titanic. If you're going to spend some of your cash horde on a trip to the inky depths of the ocean, that's probably the company to do it with.
He's already gone to the deepest point in the ocean in a craft designed by Triton, so this little joyride doesn't seem likely to end in a compressed metal can full of bloody goo at the bottom of the sea.
posted by Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld at 12:54 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
He's already gone to the deepest point in the ocean in a craft designed by Triton, so this little joyride doesn't seem likely to end in a compressed metal can full of bloody goo at the bottom of the sea.
posted by Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld at 12:54 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
"No, I'm going to visit a rusty, falling apart grave that's been visited a lot before!"
"Let me pack you a lunch."
Is a collapsed submersible filled with billionaires a sandwich?
posted by chavenet at 12:57 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
"Let me pack you a lunch."
Is a collapsed submersible filled with billionaires a sandwich?
posted by chavenet at 12:57 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
inside you there are two billionaires
That's a variation on "eat the rich" I haven't heard before, but it works for me.
posted by Foosnark at 12:58 PM on May 28 [12 favorites]
That's a variation on "eat the rich" I haven't heard before, but it works for me.
posted by Foosnark at 12:58 PM on May 28 [12 favorites]
As much as we all love to pile on the poor billionaire looking for a cool way to spend cash, this guy is using Triton Submarines. In particular, their 4000/2 series which is rated to go down to 4,000m below the surface.
Unlike the trainwreck "trust me bro" folks behind OceanGate, Triton absolutely knows what they are doing.
I'm afraid we will have to wait for another company who thinks that they can build one using some leftover parts from a SpaceX rocket before we get our hopes of another darwin award winner.
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 1:06 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
Unlike the trainwreck "trust me bro" folks behind OceanGate, Triton absolutely knows what they are doing.
I'm afraid we will have to wait for another company who thinks that they can build one using some leftover parts from a SpaceX rocket before we get our hopes of another darwin award winner.
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 1:06 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
I'm afraid we will have to wait for another company who thinks that they can build one using some leftover parts from a SpaceX rocket before we get our hopes of another darwin award winner.
SUMMON THE ORCAS
posted by Wordshore at 1:18 PM on May 28 [33 favorites]
SUMMON THE ORCAS
posted by Wordshore at 1:18 PM on May 28 [33 favorites]
Yeah absent really egregious stupidity (or on preview, heroic orca intervention), this guy will be fine. Article says he's already been to the Challenger Deep with the Triton guy, compared to that Titanic is nothing. For comparison, at ~3,700m Titanic is at about the depth of a reversed Mt. Fuji, while Challenger Deep (~11,000m) is is more like a reversed Mt. Fuji on top of a reversed Mt. Everest. He'll no doubt return safely to enjoy many more years of offending the universe with his billionaire existence.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:21 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:21 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
Just imagine the life you are leading when you decide this is a good idea...
I have some cash, but not this kind of hold my beer kind of hubris. Let alone the OceanGate shitholes. I'd rather check out some cool stuff, or discover a new species than going to see the Titanic. What is the huge draw?
Yeah, it was "unsinkable" (no it wasn't). The allure escapes me.
You found Atlantis? Wicked! You went to the Titanic? KK
posted by Windopaene at 1:23 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
I have some cash, but not this kind of hold my beer kind of hubris. Let alone the OceanGate shitholes. I'd rather check out some cool stuff, or discover a new species than going to see the Titanic. What is the huge draw?
Yeah, it was "unsinkable" (no it wasn't). The allure escapes me.
You found Atlantis? Wicked! You went to the Titanic? KK
posted by Windopaene at 1:23 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
The thing about having some obscene amount of money is that you soon run out of good things to spend it on, so you wind up blowing it on stupid shit like this.
posted by orange swan at 1:26 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
posted by orange swan at 1:26 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
Ah—I see MeFi is back to doing Darwin Awards humor again. How fun!
I know another popular website that enjoys having a few yuks with this sort of thing...
Here's a sampling of the year's top-rated posts* from www.reddit.com/r/DarwinAwards:
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:28 PM on May 28 [6 favorites]
I know another popular website that enjoys having a few yuks with this sort of thing...
Here's a sampling of the year's top-rated posts* from www.reddit.com/r/DarwinAwards:
*Links very intentionally not provided
- Woman tries to squeeze past a bus and a pole. She doesn't make it.
- Horrific attempt to dive into a swimming pool from a roof ends in a spectacular faceplant
- Dad gives loaded gun to his young child
- Indian guy leans very far out of very fast train and gets hit by a pole
- Youth Jumps Into Canal For TikToK Video, Hits Rock, Dies Instantly
- SWAT raid gone wrong
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:28 PM on May 28 [6 favorites]
I’m gonna want James Cameron to weigh in, but it does sound absent weird engineering hubris, for better or worse.
posted by Artw at 1:31 PM on May 28
posted by Artw at 1:31 PM on May 28
The thing about having some obscene amount of money is that you soon run out of good things to spend it on, so you wind up blowing it on stupid shit like this.Only if you lack vision or imagination or both.
posted by moonbiter at 1:32 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
"Well, it's going to take an active person with muscles of steel to climb up and put the money in the mouth of that idol."
-Thurston Howell the third.
posted by clavdivs at 1:33 PM on May 28 [6 favorites]
-Thurston Howell the third.
posted by clavdivs at 1:33 PM on May 28 [6 favorites]
Ah—I see MeFi is back to doing Darwin Awards humor again. How fun!
I know another popular website that enjoys having a few yuks with this sort of thing...
Oh please.
There's a huge difference between making morbid jokes about billionaires spending tens of millions of dollars to engineer their own demise in pursuit of some entirely optional endevour and ghoulishly enjoying the random misfortunes of others.
If you can't tell the difference, might I suggest you look up the differences between punching up and punching down?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:35 PM on May 28 [34 favorites]
I know another popular website that enjoys having a few yuks with this sort of thing...
Oh please.
There's a huge difference between making morbid jokes about billionaires spending tens of millions of dollars to engineer their own demise in pursuit of some entirely optional endevour and ghoulishly enjoying the random misfortunes of others.
If you can't tell the difference, might I suggest you look up the differences between punching up and punching down?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:35 PM on May 28 [34 favorites]
Only if you lack vision or imagination or both
And *none* of them have vision or imagination, beyond "profit obscenely off the labor of others". That's where their imagination starts and ends. None of them ever seem to do anything creative or interesting with all those ill-gotten gains. Build a rocket. Go to space. Buy a really big house. Go look at the Underwater Hubris Monument. Yawn.
Give me Willy fucking Wonka. Build a giant whimsical chocolate factory that specializes in OSHA violations. Give me Andrew fucking Ryan. Build a giant city entirely at the bottom of the ocean. You want an undersea monument to hubris, fuck the Titanic wreckage, build your own. Give me Tony fucking Stark. Not that Melon jackass, a *real* Tony Stark, who builds a flying superhero suit and actually does a little good in the world for a change.
They have literally world-changing amounts of money and just the stupidest most boring and derivative ideas of how to spend it. Truly, wealth is wasted on the wealthy.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:45 PM on May 28 [19 favorites]
And *none* of them have vision or imagination, beyond "profit obscenely off the labor of others". That's where their imagination starts and ends. None of them ever seem to do anything creative or interesting with all those ill-gotten gains. Build a rocket. Go to space. Buy a really big house. Go look at the Underwater Hubris Monument. Yawn.
Give me Willy fucking Wonka. Build a giant whimsical chocolate factory that specializes in OSHA violations. Give me Andrew fucking Ryan. Build a giant city entirely at the bottom of the ocean. You want an undersea monument to hubris, fuck the Titanic wreckage, build your own. Give me Tony fucking Stark. Not that Melon jackass, a *real* Tony Stark, who builds a flying superhero suit and actually does a little good in the world for a change.
They have literally world-changing amounts of money and just the stupidest most boring and derivative ideas of how to spend it. Truly, wealth is wasted on the wealthy.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:45 PM on May 28 [19 favorites]
Heroic Orca Intervention is the name of my Phish cover band!
posted by nickmark at 1:50 PM on May 28 [14 favorites]
posted by nickmark at 1:50 PM on May 28 [14 favorites]
Oh no, not a scolding! And a comparison to reddit! Fetch the fainting couch! Oh, the eternal shame! Reddit! Reddit! Of all cesspits! I must fall on my sword for I cannot live with the humiliation.
For fuck's sake, we already wanked about this. When billionaires die stupid deaths doing stupid billionaire shit, you're allowed to laugh.
Also seriously Reddit has been one of the five websites comprising the internet for almost a decade now. It's not 4chan. I mean, it never was, but now it's really not. Get over it.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 1:50 PM on May 28 [32 favorites]
For fuck's sake, we already wanked about this. When billionaires die stupid deaths doing stupid billionaire shit, you're allowed to laugh.
Also seriously Reddit has been one of the five websites comprising the internet for almost a decade now. It's not 4chan. I mean, it never was, but now it's really not. Get over it.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 1:50 PM on May 28 [32 favorites]
Our whole culture deserves, and may well get, a Darwin award for allowing billionaires to exist.
You know whose suffering concerns me? Everybody who has to live in a world where billionaires buy Twitter to make sure nobody's rude to Nazis, and buy Clarence Thomas an RV to make sure Trump stays on the ballot, and on and on and on.
Save the performative tears for people who deserve them.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 2:41 PM on May 28 [20 favorites]
You know whose suffering concerns me? Everybody who has to live in a world where billionaires buy Twitter to make sure nobody's rude to Nazis, and buy Clarence Thomas an RV to make sure Trump stays on the ballot, and on and on and on.
Save the performative tears for people who deserve them.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 2:41 PM on May 28 [20 favorites]
We never got that Gore Verbinski Bioshock movie, so I guess this is the closest thing
posted by Apocryphon at 2:47 PM on May 28
posted by Apocryphon at 2:47 PM on May 28
and all around the world, children starve and people suffer. many go without medical care, food, shelter. they lack education, safety, opportunities. but a few idiots get to send their dicks to space, or dare the Titanic to raise its body count...
I don't really care if they die or not, I would just like them to be taxed out of existence.
posted by supermedusa at 2:51 PM on May 28 [16 favorites]
I don't really care if they die or not, I would just like them to be taxed out of existence.
posted by supermedusa at 2:51 PM on May 28 [16 favorites]
I'd rather check out some cool stuff, or discover a new species than going to see the Titanic. What is the huge draw?
I mean, there are legit pirate ships out there that you can visit with, like, a scuba suit and making nice with some archeologists.
posted by thivaia at 2:54 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
I mean, there are legit pirate ships out there that you can visit with, like, a scuba suit and making nice with some archeologists.
posted by thivaia at 2:54 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
If you built a free magic publicly funded subway to Mars, Elon Musk would almost certainly start talking about how lame and stupid Mars is and how the true purpose of Humanity is going to Alpha Centauri.
Lead the way Elon if so.
posted by y2karl at 4:18 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
Lead the way Elon if so.
posted by y2karl at 4:18 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
Ah—I see MeFi is back to doing Darwin Awards humor again. How fun!
I know another popular website that enjoys having a few yuks with this sort of thing...
metafilter has a real problem with voicing class genocidal attitudes. this community, a community i dearly love, has expressed a bloodlust for rich people to perish doing activities only they can afford. this is not acceptable and make our community look shitty from the outside. i don't know if this is a reduced moderation hours problem?
anyway, ~10 is less than 1/10 of 1% of 8billion. i don't mean to downplay the human loss of life and the echoes and ripples and ramifications of what all that means to millions of people around the world. but simply mathematically, that loss is not really significant by percent of population.
posted by i used to be someone else at 4:38 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
I know another popular website that enjoys having a few yuks with this sort of thing...
metafilter has a real problem with voicing class genocidal attitudes. this community, a community i dearly love, has expressed a bloodlust for rich people to perish doing activities only they can afford. this is not acceptable and make our community look shitty from the outside. i don't know if this is a reduced moderation hours problem?
anyway, ~10 is less than 1/10 of 1% of 8billion. i don't mean to downplay the human loss of life and the echoes and ripples and ramifications of what all that means to millions of people around the world. but simply mathematically, that loss is not really significant by percent of population.
posted by i used to be someone else at 4:38 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
Eh, they eat us; we eat them. It's the cycle of Life.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 5:01 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 5:01 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
metafilter has a real problem with voicing class genocidal attitudes. this community, a community i dearly love, has expressed a bloodlust for rich people to perish doing activities only they can afford. this is not acceptable and make our community look shitty from the outside.
I'm so glad someone is around to speak up for the poor, persecuted billionaires. They're such an oppressed demographic and their voices are so stifled. It's heartening to know someone appreciates their culture.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 5:08 PM on May 28 [15 favorites]
I'm so glad someone is around to speak up for the poor, persecuted billionaires. They're such an oppressed demographic and their voices are so stifled. It's heartening to know someone appreciates their culture.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 5:08 PM on May 28 [15 favorites]
this community…has expressed a bloodlust for rich people to perish doing activities only they can afford.
To be fair, we’ve tried pretty much everything else. We would have been fine with just bumping up the marginal tax rate, closing some loopholes on investment income and major changes to estate tax. The whole bloodlust thing is really just a last resort, and we’re really only encouraging them to carpe diem with their dangerous hobbies.
posted by snofoam at 5:36 PM on May 28 [26 favorites]
To be fair, we’ve tried pretty much everything else. We would have been fine with just bumping up the marginal tax rate, closing some loopholes on investment income and major changes to estate tax. The whole bloodlust thing is really just a last resort, and we’re really only encouraging them to carpe diem with their dangerous hobbies.
posted by snofoam at 5:36 PM on May 28 [26 favorites]
I mean when we talk about billionaires we're talking about a group of, right now, about 2100 people. Just to put that in perspective, to make it easier to visualize, we're talking about a group of people who could fit onto two (2) tightly packed runaway subway trains, or five (5) full 747s experiencing total engine failure, or a single sinking mid-sized cruise ship. Hope this helps.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 5:41 PM on May 28 [21 favorites]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 5:41 PM on May 28 [21 favorites]
"Genocidal class attitudes" makes no sense as a description of people wishing death, seeiously or not, on billionaires. Billionaires are not a people or culture.
There are "class attitudes" that are genocidal. Those of the billionaire class, happy to cause catastrophe or support mass murder to add more zeroes to the end of the net worth.
I don't think it is great to sincerely wish death on people, but tutting because people aren't being compassionate enough to the people killing them seems nonsensical.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:46 PM on May 28 [15 favorites]
There are "class attitudes" that are genocidal. Those of the billionaire class, happy to cause catastrophe or support mass murder to add more zeroes to the end of the net worth.
I don't think it is great to sincerely wish death on people, but tutting because people aren't being compassionate enough to the people killing them seems nonsensical.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:46 PM on May 28 [15 favorites]
brb changing my standard bon voyages from diaf to dias.
posted by symbioid at 5:46 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
posted by symbioid at 5:46 PM on May 28 [2 favorites]
My favorite part of that comment was the sincerity.
posted by phunniemee at 5:48 PM on May 28 [7 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 5:48 PM on May 28 [7 favorites]
Sorry, I wasn't aware of the lore.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:51 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
posted by The Manwich Horror at 5:51 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
Metafilter Has A Real Problem With Literacy In Self Referential Lore
posted by phunniemee at 5:52 PM on May 28 [10 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 5:52 PM on May 28 [10 favorites]
When all you have is a pitchfork and a torch, all the ultra-rich look like billionaires.
posted by snofoam at 5:58 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 5:58 PM on May 28 [4 favorites]
If folks want to conflate contempt for millionaires with calling for genocide, okay.
I'm of the opinion that it's better not to All Lives Matter ourselves into believing that what happened to Marie Antoinette was basically the same as what happened to Anne Frank but you do you, boo.
If it makes you feel any better, literally the entire world is set up to prevent billionaires from ever facing any comeuppance for their hugely destructive behavior and guffawing if/when they inadvertently bring it upon themselves is about the only revenge plebs will ever have.
With the rarest of exceptions, they can only lose this game if they score on themselves.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:01 PM on May 28 [15 favorites]
I'm of the opinion that it's better not to All Lives Matter ourselves into believing that what happened to Marie Antoinette was basically the same as what happened to Anne Frank but you do you, boo.
If it makes you feel any better, literally the entire world is set up to prevent billionaires from ever facing any comeuppance for their hugely destructive behavior and guffawing if/when they inadvertently bring it upon themselves is about the only revenge plebs will ever have.
With the rarest of exceptions, they can only lose this game if they score on themselves.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:01 PM on May 28 [15 favorites]
Honestly, going back to the Titanic (or barely reaching the edge of space, for that matter) is really played out. We need more billionaires with the visionary instincts to skate to where the puck of deadly hubris will be.
posted by snofoam at 6:04 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 6:04 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
We need billionaires who aren’t afraid to move fast and break themselves.
posted by snofoam at 6:08 PM on May 28 [10 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 6:08 PM on May 28 [10 favorites]
When it comes to punching up, wishing for billionaires to have bad things happen to them is taking a swing at Alpha Centauri. They have so little to fear from us that wishing we would not wish them ill isn't empathy, it's telling us to mind our place.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:10 PM on May 28 [6 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:10 PM on May 28 [6 favorites]
One way to stop being one of the richest people alive is to give away all your money. The other way sometimes involves a submarine.
posted by snofoam at 6:15 PM on May 28 [12 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 6:15 PM on May 28 [12 favorites]
Is a collapsed submersible filled with billionaires a sandwich?
Yes, it is, and what kind of sandwich is it, chavenet?
What kind of sandwich?
TELL US THE NAME OF THE KIND OF SANDWICH, chavenet
posted by BrashTech at 6:17 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
Yes, it is, and what kind of sandwich is it, chavenet?
What kind of sandwich?
TELL US THE NAME OF THE KIND OF SANDWICH, chavenet
posted by BrashTech at 6:17 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
A billionaires club sandwich, I presume.
posted by snofoam at 6:19 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 6:19 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
It'd be more of a ravioli or a pop tart in my mind but that opens a whole other argument
posted by phunniemee at 6:24 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
posted by phunniemee at 6:24 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
A sandwich of compressed wealth would be a flatbread, obviously.
posted by Artw at 6:29 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
posted by Artw at 6:29 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
Picture a panini press that could deliver 5500 pounds per square inch. Something something wafer thin.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 6:31 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 6:31 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
With apologies to Tom Lehrer, "Once a Titan goes down, who cares if it comes up? That's not my department, say krill who hiccup."
posted by goofyfoot at 6:45 PM on May 28
posted by goofyfoot at 6:45 PM on May 28
Buenos DIAS
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 6:56 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 6:56 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
Black humor brings out the very best in Metafilter...... ORCAS ALL THE WAY DOWN!!!!!!
posted by bluesky43 at 7:32 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
posted by bluesky43 at 7:32 PM on May 28 [3 favorites]
> OceanGate: Risk Management Division commemorative baseball caps
I wish. The irony would be enough to get me to wear a ball cap.
It would have to be a visor.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:23 PM on May 28
I wish. The irony would be enough to get me to wear a ball cap.
It would have to be a visor.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:23 PM on May 28
Ah—I see MeFi is back to doing Darwin Awards humor again. How fun!Yep, this has become my least favourite thing about this place. It makes me seriously depressed when the thin veneer of reason, empathy and intellectual rigour peels away and reveals a mob gleefully calling for the mutilation and dismemberment of a person that they know a single, general fact about (and not a single deed). Of all the pursuits that a billionaire could be focused on, why does this one bring out this kind of bloodlust?
posted by WaylandSmith at 8:40 PM on May 28 [1 favorite]
Billionaire who wants to visit the Titanic in a custom sub is two things we know about this person. Are you sure you're tracking which one is drawing our contempt?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:49 PM on May 28 [9 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:49 PM on May 28 [9 favorites]
When I hear about things like this I always think of this meme. You could be immortalising yourself through fighting climate change or at least some kind of respectable philanthropy, but no. The kind of personality that acquires these resources and is shaped by these resources just wants to turn people into dinosaurs.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:56 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:56 PM on May 28 [8 favorites]
for what it's worth, they're not gleefully calling for the mutilation or dismemberment of the billionaires.
this kind of pressure implosion would turn the hapless, poor billionaires who could have literally done anything else and been more beneficial to society into a meat paste, like a fine pâté, if you will, before the heat from the nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere flash toasted them like a bruschetta on graphite.
so like, it's a lot more than just severe mangling damage of mutilation or the very chunky dismemberment thing. but for what it's worth, the implosion would happen in under 50ms, which is faster than the brain can register anything, so it's quite painless. like euthanasia, maybe.
posted by i used to be someone else at 9:57 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
this kind of pressure implosion would turn the hapless, poor billionaires who could have literally done anything else and been more beneficial to society into a meat paste, like a fine pâté, if you will, before the heat from the nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere flash toasted them like a bruschetta on graphite.
so like, it's a lot more than just severe mangling damage of mutilation or the very chunky dismemberment thing. but for what it's worth, the implosion would happen in under 50ms, which is faster than the brain can register anything, so it's quite painless. like euthanasia, maybe.
posted by i used to be someone else at 9:57 PM on May 28 [5 favorites]
TELL US THE NAME OF THE KIND OF SANDWICH, chavenet
Spam on wry?
posted by y2karl at 12:39 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
Spam on wry?
posted by y2karl at 12:39 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
James Cameron is part-owner of Triton Submarines, the company making the sub for this trip.
—https://www.reuters.com/world/james-cameron-says-he-wishes-hed-sounded-alarm-over-lost-submersible-2023-06-23/
posted by polymodus at 2:55 AM on May 29 [1 favorite]
—https://www.reuters.com/world/james-cameron-says-he-wishes-hed-sounded-alarm-over-lost-submersible-2023-06-23/
posted by polymodus at 2:55 AM on May 29 [1 favorite]
With the rarest of exceptions, they can only lose this game if they score on themselves.
The whole reason the sinking of the Titanic is so notable is that it was one of those rarest of exceptions. And even then there if you were wealthy you had a much better shot at survival than all of the people in steerage. Nobody would care about the Titanic if it hadn't been a luxury liner with some of the richest passengers in the world.
Part of my contempt for billionaires who play with submersibles is because I thought so much about the OceanGate Titan while it was still officially "missing". I worried so much about them being trapped somewhere with dwindling air supplies desperately trying to conserve oxygen while waiting for rescue. I was so busy thinking about them that--like the rest of the world--I hardly noticed news of the refugee ship that had sunk with a terrible loss of life. And then it turned out that the Titan passengers were flatter than pancakes the whole time.
I get the desire not to dehumanize or devalue human life with no exceptions, but it's not like any of the commenters in this thread are writing "finish them" on artillery shells that are literally being used to commit genocide.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:37 AM on May 29 [6 favorites]
The whole reason the sinking of the Titanic is so notable is that it was one of those rarest of exceptions. And even then there if you were wealthy you had a much better shot at survival than all of the people in steerage. Nobody would care about the Titanic if it hadn't been a luxury liner with some of the richest passengers in the world.
Part of my contempt for billionaires who play with submersibles is because I thought so much about the OceanGate Titan while it was still officially "missing". I worried so much about them being trapped somewhere with dwindling air supplies desperately trying to conserve oxygen while waiting for rescue. I was so busy thinking about them that--like the rest of the world--I hardly noticed news of the refugee ship that had sunk with a terrible loss of life. And then it turned out that the Titan passengers were flatter than pancakes the whole time.
I get the desire not to dehumanize or devalue human life with no exceptions, but it's not like any of the commenters in this thread are writing "finish them" on artillery shells that are literally being used to commit genocide.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:37 AM on May 29 [6 favorites]
If this billionaire's money is indirectly funding more Avatar movies, he really IS a monster.
posted by delfin at 5:37 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
posted by delfin at 5:37 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
The fact that his quest is linked to Cameron's company takes some of the delighting-in-impending-comeuppance out of it anyway.
Cameron and his subs are less about billionaire hubris and more about building actual scientifically rigorous designs that cannot normally be paid for. He doesn't assume he can pull a submarine design out of his ass with a checkbook and an XBox controller. He builds from decades of the very best science.
Cameron is highly respected in the submarine community and is very serious, fastidious, and focused on good science and safety.
It's still fair to feel it's a money-wasting ego trip, but it will almost certainly be one built with the highest standards, and not just an object lesson waiting to happen.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:57 AM on May 29 [6 favorites]
Cameron and his subs are less about billionaire hubris and more about building actual scientifically rigorous designs that cannot normally be paid for. He doesn't assume he can pull a submarine design out of his ass with a checkbook and an XBox controller. He builds from decades of the very best science.
Cameron is highly respected in the submarine community and is very serious, fastidious, and focused on good science and safety.
It's still fair to feel it's a money-wasting ego trip, but it will almost certainly be one built with the highest standards, and not just an object lesson waiting to happen.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:57 AM on May 29 [6 favorites]
plus it's not like the megalodons swimming in the deepest depths are going to discover themselves
I for one appreciate our billionaire overlords for their enduring curiosity. Hey, wanna see a black hole?
posted by elkevelvet at 8:37 AM on May 29 [2 favorites]
I for one appreciate our billionaire overlords for their enduring curiosity. Hey, wanna see a black hole?
posted by elkevelvet at 8:37 AM on May 29 [2 favorites]
plus it's not like the megalodons swimming in the deepest depths are going to discover themselves
Let alone fail to gorge themselves in those plankton rich deep dark trenches jam packed with hordes of little fish being gobbled up by hordes of big fish and so on oh wait...
posted by y2karl at 5:26 AM on May 30
Let alone fail to gorge themselves in those plankton rich deep dark trenches jam packed with hordes of little fish being gobbled up by hordes of big fish and so on oh wait...
posted by y2karl at 5:26 AM on May 30
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posted by phunniemee at 10:58 AM on May 28 [45 favorites]