I don't care if people on the left (which I consider myself to be) disagree with me about this: yes, billionaires absolutely suck, but I wouldn't wish this kind of death on anyone, and it's just not something I feel comfortable making or seeing jokes about. (Even for people the world would undeniably be a better place without, death via implosion under the sea that's anticipated for hours and hours and hours beforehand is a particularly horrifying way to do it.)
Were they shitty, tactless, exploitative people? Yes. Should they have just fucking stayed on dry land instead? Yes. Did they deserve to die like this? No. (Especially not the 19 year old, who was scared to go, but went because he didn't want to disappoint his dad.)
The closest one to "deserving it" is the Oceangate CEO, who ignored (and then fired) the whistle-blower who flagged the safety problems, and skirted regulations and inspections for the sake of "innovation." That is despicable. It's gross negligence, and gambling with people's lives to cosplay as the coolest ocean scientist and save a few bucks.
A gamble he lost for himself, and unfortunately others. Others who had to have been convinced that it WAS safe, and had been successfully tested to withstand those depths. Do you think if they knew the complete truth, they would have gotten on? They were lied to. They could not give genuine informed consent.
Yeah, the fact that we live in a world where the top 0.1% seek experiences like going to the Titanic and up into space just because they don't know how else to spend their hoards of stolen cash, or what else can actually thrill them anymore, is fucked up. But everyone deserves to know the truth when it comes to their safety, and make their decisions from that place. Everyone.
I understand that empathy has been reduced because of their systemic lack of empathy for us; like, I do get WHY people are reacting like this. And if Muskrat crashes his Tesla tomorrow, I'm not gonna shed any tears about it. But the method of death was horrific and cruel and terrifying. And I just can't find it funny, no matter who it happens to.
This was a tragedy--an avoidable, morally complex one, but a tragedy involving human beings nonetheless.
I'm not crying, but I'm certainly not laughing.