> <i>It's not stuck for mysterious reasons related to a long history of humans cruelly exploiting other humans.</i><p>It's not?<p>I thought the boat is stuck because it's too long and the canal is too narrow, and the boat is too long because people want to move more and more things by boat so they can sell more things, but they don't want to pay for more boats. So they kept making longer boats until they made one that's too long to fit sideways. (At least, that's what I heard.) And sometimes, in heavy winds and storms, boats turn sideways.<p>Even if this boat is unstuck, there's a good chance another boat will be stuck, soon.<p>Maybe this isn't directly about humans exploiting humans, but the motivation to build a boat that is too long because it is cheaper and hopefully won't get stuck seems like the same motivation for human exploitation - it's cheaper, and you can do it, and you can usually get away with it.<p>It would cost more to think in advance and say "Hey, we don't want any stuck boats here, the boats all need to be short enough that they won't get stuck. Come back with two boats." It would be safer, but people don't want safer, they want cheaper.<p>But yes, I like that the only thing hurt is the river bank. I am much happier that a boat is stuck than that, say, people who sew shirtwaists are stuck in a building on fire.