In a recent comment I used the metaphor that we Americans were headed for a Rip unless we woke up, and it got me wondering if this was accurate. My exact line was “…the election is a vast nasty leading to a larger and far more dangerous rip tide.” Rips are naturally occurring, and while often deadly, they are avoidable, and deal-able, if panic doesn’t prevail. Most fatalities happen because people freak out and try to swim against the current, directly into shore, and drown from exhaustion or fright. Even strong swimmers can’t contend with the force of outgoing surge.
It’s worth keeping in mind, Rips don’t have vertical pull, they won’t suck you under. Mostly they channel water back out, built up from incoming waves. Some Rips, according to recent science, a great many, are large surface level conveyer whirlpools, streams that will eventually return you to shore if you go with the flow. You can’t always be sure that will happen though, so riding it out may not be practical, even if viable. In any case the current will only carry someone out a few hundred yards beyond where the waves break as a result of shallower seabed, or sand bars.
