I am horrified and thus this submersible has become my hyper focus. I want to start by saying that I am not an expert, engineer, know how to build this stuff, or anything. This is my take. I am posting this is my blog with links and pictures and such. Also, I do understand there are human beings in danger and it is tragic regardless of anything.

The ocean is 80% unexplored according to NOAA. (National Ocean Service, n.d.) It is dark, cold, lacks oxygen, and has an increasing pressure the further you go down. It is dangerous, there is no doubt. I am no expert but I would think you know there is a real chance of death, especially past 2,000 feet. That is crush depth for most US Navy subs. The Titanic is sitting at 12, 500 feet down.

This is Capitalism. This whole scenario that is playing out. I am not saying it is good or bad. I am saying that this story is a display of capitalism. Capitalism is heralded as one of the most effective innovation producers because it is driven by the want for profitability.

You have to understand that there is a group of people that have money and when I say money, I don’t mean people that can live comfortably or people that can take even three vacations a year or even people that have $2,000,000 in their retirement accounts. While all of these people most likely do live comfortably, there are people that have so much wealth, that they can literally do what they want and the only limitation is what is possible and what is not. And there are subset of those people that seek out adventure and because they can afford to do anything, they are attracted to the impossible.

That is where people like Stockton Rush comes in. Rush worked on several test programs such as the F-15, radar, and Anti-Satellite Missile. (oceangate) Rush has a laundry list of things he has done in life and they all involve technology, transportation, and most importantly, envisioning, building, experimenting, testing and implementing technology. He has been involved with wireless remote-control device technology and sonar systems. He pushes the limits of things and makes the impossible become possible.

And the reason people do all those things, make new tech, is for profit. Making money is one of the goals here and important one because in order to make these really cool things happen, they go around and ask for money to fund it and build it and test it and then ideally, these investors now own a piece of really cool new expensive stuff and everyone profits and you move on to a new idea, rinse and repeat.

So we have a group of people that want real adventures, going to Africa on hunts, traveling to the poles, drive vehicles super, super fucking fast powered by rocket fuel in the desert, fly on a penis shaped rocket to space, go to see the wreckage of the Titanic, the list goes on.

Rush’s course through life led him to underwater exploration and ultimately, the niche of rich people that wanted to go down and see the wreckage. People wanted to be able to go together instead of one at a time. Usually vessels meant to travel that deep only held one or two people. The crafts usually weighed a ton adding plenty of logistical problems to it. And then, there is the wreckage itself, which will only be there for so much longer. And Stockton Rush had a plan to combat all those issues.

Rush raised $18,000,000 from 22 accredited investors to build the vessel which he reported in the beginning of 2020. (BusIn) (SEC)

OceanGate and NASA developed a partnership in order to develop and manufacture the carbon fiber hull of the vehicle. (NASA) “Boeing and Northrop Grumman were also among the companies involved in helping to support Titan’s development.” (Boeing) And this is the big deal here, this is one of the main pieces of innovation along with the hull health monitoring system. This type of hull hadn’t been used before and it made it so much lighter than anything else like it. Also, of note here is the use of companies that generally handle Government contracts which also see3ms to be a lucrative business but thought could be a whole other tangent.

As many people are talking now, OceanGate opted to not have this craft independently safety tested and classed and essentially said that there was no testing available for this because there was nothing like this previously. (classed) While not said, it seemed like it was that there was no testing available that it would “pass.” And I do even understand that may be the case. (Safety)

This is where we get into it. We are watching a successful individual who raised a ton of money and created something and is making what he promised to deliver actually happen. The question though is at what cost. I have no idea what happened and I am not saying that this was something that could have been prevented because none of us know. We are though witnessing how Capitalism works and it brings up many questions.

Should there be more regulations? I am sure this would have cost a ton more money and may have prevented several successful missions which have already taken place. Maybe they wouldn’t have been ever able to dive if the vehicle had to be classed.

There is a need to return on investment here. You don’t take $18,000,000 from people and not ever show progress. Could that have pushed dives when it wasn’t ready?

If the vehicle was pushed forward to soon to drive profits/results, is it worth not having the “red tape” of regulations when you have to spend a massive amount on the search effort?

(I am in no way suggesting we shouldn’t be searching for a human that is trapped) And at the same time, there is a chance this could become a new, cheap, effective way to travel deeper in the ocean. I suppose the question is how far are we willing to go for innovation and profit and if it is really worth the true cost.