[Politics & stuff] A question
Dec. 12th, 2011 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davywavyI've always thought the best scene in the film Titanic - in fact the only decent scene - is one which also appears in the earlier film of the same story A night to remember. In it, the ship has struck the iceberg and Captain Smith is speaking with Thomas Andrews, the chief engineer. The dialogue goes something like this:
Thomas Andrews: The pumps buy you time, but minutes only. From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder.
Smith: But this ship can't sink!
Thomas Andrews: She's made of iron, sir! I assure you, she can... and she will. It is a mathematical certainty. *
I'm remended of this scene every time I look at the way the Eurozone is going in Europe; the reason I'm reminded is because the EZ cannot survive in its current form. It must face either huge inflation or some members will leave - at very best in an orderly fashion. It is a mathematical certainty.
What's more, the EU conference last week - the one where David Cameron used his veto - did nothing to remedy the problem. The treaty changes agreed are the equivalent of turning on the pumps full power and asking the orchestra to strike up a jaunty tune to drown out the loud glugging noise.
However, from some quarters of my circle of friends, Cameron has come in for a lot of criticism for standing aside from the new treaty arrangements, and so today I'm asking the question: why? Why should Cameron have tied the UK into a system which is failing, and cannot be saved without inflicting remedies which are likely to be as bad as the cure?
I've heard the argument that Britain is isolated, but in this instance I can't see why this is a bad thing. So I'm inviting you to tell me.
*Possibly the reason this is the best scene is because the dialogue is based on reports of what Smith & Andrews actually said.
Thomas Andrews: The pumps buy you time, but minutes only. From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder.
Smith: But this ship can't sink!
Thomas Andrews: She's made of iron, sir! I assure you, she can... and she will. It is a mathematical certainty. *
I'm remended of this scene every time I look at the way the Eurozone is going in Europe; the reason I'm reminded is because the EZ cannot survive in its current form. It must face either huge inflation or some members will leave - at very best in an orderly fashion. It is a mathematical certainty.
What's more, the EU conference last week - the one where David Cameron used his veto - did nothing to remedy the problem. The treaty changes agreed are the equivalent of turning on the pumps full power and asking the orchestra to strike up a jaunty tune to drown out the loud glugging noise.
However, from some quarters of my circle of friends, Cameron has come in for a lot of criticism for standing aside from the new treaty arrangements, and so today I'm asking the question: why? Why should Cameron have tied the UK into a system which is failing, and cannot be saved without inflicting remedies which are likely to be as bad as the cure?
I've heard the argument that Britain is isolated, but in this instance I can't see why this is a bad thing. So I'm inviting you to tell me.
*Possibly the reason this is the best scene is because the dialogue is based on reports of what Smith & Andrews actually said.
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no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 10:16 am (UTC)The options for survival are:
1) Go for the lifeboats. As in the film, there are not enough lifeboats to go around.
2) You could strap the bodies of the passengers to the sides of the ship to add bouyancy and keep it afloat.
Neither of these are ideal outcomes, I admit, but option 1 is overall better so long as you're first to the boats. Grabbing the wheel of a sinking ship won't stop it sinking.