In this frame, Jerome is alluding to the approach of a new Titanic to shake humanity out of the new gospel.
I'm hardly alone in this, of course.
And Phil Dick predicted it long before any of us. Bob Heinlein too, actually.
I once wrote here, quite early on, that the first real challenge of the 21st century will be for the world to cope with the collapse of the US of A.
Despite the above, I'm actually quite optimistic, given the people and resources of America; but it'll take a decade or so to transform/adapt.
