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Moby-Dick, a la Shmoop: "Thar she Shmoops!" <DS Pirate Voice>

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Look out yonder as we tackle Herman Melville's epic 'Moby-Dick.'

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Captain Ahab leads his crew on a fool's voyage by sea to slay the whale Moby-Dick.

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Are we, as a people, following such leaders into paths of self-destruction?

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Or have we learned from doing so in the past? In World War II, plenty of people followed

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leaders whose heads were not in the right place.

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These leaders made their struggles the struggles of the people.

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Thankfully, that regime ended. Badly. During the 1960s, a counter-revolution formed

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that questioned our leaders in the USA. Peace and Love! Don't eat the brown acid,

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man. <DS Hippy voice> And don't trust the guys in charge.

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But what happened to that generation? They didn't die before they got old, that's

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for sure. Even today, people are still following would-be

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leaders. Even if the world doesn't end like they predicted.

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Sometimes their actions can have dire consequences. Are there modern Ishmaels bearing witness

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to these events? Even though there are still those who go through

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life blissfully ignorant... ...like those who followed Ahab into the abyss...

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...there are still many of us who refuse the call...

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...who don't want to be drowned like Ahab's crew.

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On the flip side? Many have learned. And we have their stories to listen to and

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learn from, just as we have with Ishmael's tale of Ahab chasing 'Moby-Dick.'

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So what do you think?

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Are we learning to be more wary of strong personalities with questionable ideas?

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Shmoop Amongst Yourselves.

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