One of the more disappointing things I’ve seen in the news recently has been the hatred towards the folks that perished in the Titanic exploration submersible. Five people died, and whether or not I agreed with them, the backlash has been ridiculous.
Most of the people who laugh at this fall into one of two camps: they hate the rich or they hate the risk takers.
The ones who hate the rich are scary. “The rich” is an undefined group, typically meaning someone who has more than them. That’s the only justification for hating them. There’s some that hate specific rich people (who they have likely never encountered, and have likely never been wronged by), but then there’s a special group of people who hate the rich just for being rich. They talk of guillotines, beating up landlords and the like. They are the seven year old bully that takes whatever they want. The only saving grace is that they are so concerned about what other people have in comparison to them that none of them will rise to power. At best, they will be an unruly mob.
The ones who hate the risk takers are also scary. In previous human history, they were the ones that shrieked away from the first person who discovered fire. They were the ones that ridiculed the Wright Brothers. They were the ones that joined the fight against the electric light bulb. Joined by their brethren who resist change (such as those who protested against the electric light bulb because it would put candle makers out of business), this second group does sometimes rise to power.
However, none of these people are actually important. They are nothing more than an undefined face in a faceless mob. History will not remember them as anything more than rabble-rousers. Can you name any rioters? Can you name any of the folks picketing in any union strike? They rely entirely on having larger numbers.
Furthermore, they only have any power as long as we give it to them. They are ready to storm the castle under the premise that “you can’t stop us all!” That might be true, but we can stop YOU. Just as the first cavemen wanted to kill the first person to control fire, all he had to do was wave the fire in their faces, and nobody was willing to step up to be burned.
Bottom-line: as you do things that are different, creative, new, risky, or whatever, don’t give into the temptation to tell the mobs that you are at their mercy. They are at yours.
Thank you for reading my post.
The Philosophy of Patriots 