The ship is a metaphor for a government. The captain symoblizes the head of the government. They hold the post, yet they are ignorant of certain senses and know next to nothing about piloting a ship. They are the captain merely because of money, which in turn originally gave them power. Now, certain sailors, or officials, of a government/ship realize that it is easy to take control when they flatter or threaten the captain. They each believe that they can guide the ship more effectively than any one else. They use brute force to reach their goals. However, in truth, none of these men trying to cease power are capable of holding their position for long and do not know how to run the ship or pilot it. In this story the "true pilot" is the man who watches the stars and the seasons. He is the only man who knows how to navigate. However, all of his fellow sailors dismiss him merely as a man who is simply a stargazer. Since, none of the other men possess the skills of a navigation they do not realize that this "stargazer" is truly the most qualified of them all to lead. However, he will never become the pilot, due to the fact that his fellow men are selfish and he is always looking at the stars.

Therefore, this story can easily be related to current government systems and politics.

the ship of state

Plato's Republic Reflections