Full Speed Ahead!

Full Speed Ahead!

Just for fun, let's play a little metaphor game.

For this example, lets pretend America is a big boat. Not just any boat. America is a gigantic, unsinkable ship, like no other boat that has ever seen before. It represents the American dream. Not just the dreams of the democrats or republicans, liberals or conservatives, but the collective dream and all it's citizens.

The crew is made up of elected passengers.. some of them have been on the ship longer than a lot of the passengers have been alive. They swear an oath to represent the entire passenger manifest.

Of course the first class tickets are expensive. Most worked hard to get their tickets, some of them inherited theirs, and some got theirs because they knew members of the crew and, using special favors, got free upgrades.

Among the first class passengers there are a couple of groups that are unhappy with the current course and how long it will take to get to the destination. The bankers and the military industrialists.

The bankers think that the ship is traveling too slow. Time is money!

The military industrialists argued the ship may be attacked along the way.

Luckily, they find some lawyers on board and pay them to go lobby the crew.

The lawyers complain for the bankers that the ship is going too slow. When the crew explain that by going faster, the ship will run out of fuel, the bankers argue that if they need fuel, they will just grind up the 3rd class food stores and convert it to bio-fuel. They also point out that 3rd class citizens are eating too much anyway, as most of them are over-weight.

The crew turns up the throttle.

The lawyers argue for the military industrialists that the ship is not safe and needs to be protected. They recommend that the crew should disassemble some of the lifeboats to build cannons and swords. The suggest they use the 3rd class lifeboats, as they are bigger and they have more of them. They recommend the captain recruit a large number of the young 3rd class passengers and sends each off in a additional lifeboats to act as sentries around the world. Again, they suggest the 3rd class lifeboats, as they are bigger, will hold more weapons, and withstand higher seas. The crew complies.

Some 3rd class passengers voice concerns that there are not enough 3rd class lifeboats as a result. The bankers comfort their concerns by reminding them that the Titanic is unsinkable. The military industrialists say our safety now out-weigh the risks. They argue that using the life boats as sentries at sea, preempts any possible attack, making them more worthwhile than if they were back on the ship.

The 3rd class passengers start noticing that the amount of food they get to eat gets smaller and smaller, even though the fare they paid was supposed to give them more.

The crew tells 3rd class that complaining is obstructionist and shows no willingness to compromise. They argue that ship is the largest ship in the world and that we’re safe, and we’re progressing faster and faster every day, but suggest if they just increase the speed a little more they will reach the destination before we run out of food.

Am I forgetting anything? Seems like there was something important I’m forgetting. Never mind. Full speed ahead.