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English town says deeply shameful tradition is worth saving actually (youtu.be)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/genzedong@lemmygrad.ml
14 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

You don't need to watch the video. Tom Scott/None of the interview subjects ever point out how fucked this is, but basically the story is rich sadists would put coins in boiling water and then throw them at poor children to watch them endure injury for small amounts of money as a form of entertainment.

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[–] 20 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

lol people bringing up the extremely obvious eye safety hazards in the comments are being screamed down by whimsical brits

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago* (2 children)

    We have a long tradition of doing silly and dangerous things. Particularly in small towns. Some have formed out of old oagan (pre-Christian traditions), some for more questionable or objectionable reasons like this one. They keep going because a lot of people have good memories of them and it becomes part of a local identity.

    I watched this video, and lots of people make mention of how the tradition started, and how the pennies used to be actually hot. And why. Its referred to multiple times. Your post implies this was glossed over, but you clearly got the info from the video, so it's not exactly hidden. Maybe that's why OP says, "no need to watch it", bevause they know they're telling fibs for outrage bait?

    Look up The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake. People get really hurt doing that.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago

    A cold penny to the eye could still mean a trip to the hospital, so I don't see why that matters. Some safety squints don't seem unreasonable, but anyone who mentioned it was shouted down for ruining everyone's fun.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I summarised the video and didn't do outside research. The point is that they're celebrating something that should be shameful. They explain the mechanics of how it's horrible but not that it is or that it shouldn't be celebrated. The closest they get to a condemnation is saying they've adjusted the tradition to be safer.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    They didn't say "and that is wrong". But I think that's because it's obvious. There were a few raised eyebrows or a change to the tone of voice, so it was certainly implied.

    Like if there was a documentary on the slave they might not actually say, "and this was a bad thing", bevause obviously it was a horribly bad thing.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 years ago

    And so obviously they stopped celebrating it, right? The last line in the video is

    We're about making certain that these wonderful old quaint customs continue.

    Backed by the sound and visual of Tom clapping.

    If you think I've misunderstood this documentary designed to bring awareness of a social ill, then fair enough. In that case my criticism is that Tom didn't make a video that communicated that well enough, and my criticism of the town remains unchanged.

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    • [–] [B] 5 points 3 years ago

    A YouTube link was detected in your post. Here are links to the same video on Invidious, which is a YouTube frontend that protects your privacy:

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    [–] 5 points 3 years ago

    There is a pattern I have seen in Tom Scott videos, he only makes videos about the "international community" countries.

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    [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    I was thinking about this video for some time now. Wonderful, old, quaint custom my ass. I'm sure all those collected pennies add up to a decent sum of money, couldn't that be used for idk at least feeding the homeless or smth? Also what's that mayor even wearing? The brits really went ahead and saved every deeply shameful tradition they ever had.

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    [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    I don’t really see a problem with this to be honest.

    Just a quirky local tradition.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Yes. Of all the british 'cultural traditions' for people to be mad about...

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Yeah it's really weird. The British were inventors of a vicious form of financial capital that is holding the whole world hostage. A cultural tradition of short-term predatory lending and "indirect rule" that controls colonized populations through false rulers.

    And we focus on... a local town somewhere just acknowledging their history and holding a community event that has been done for the last 700years.

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    • [–] 0 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    but basically the story is rich sadists would put coins in boiling water and then throw them at poor children to watch them endure injury for small amounts of money as a form of entertainment.

    I could easily see a version of this done by "MrBeast" with soypoint-1 framing in the thumbnail and it being called the "hot penny challenge" or something horrid like that, with "KIDS COMPETE FOR (.01%; of the rich asshole's accumulated riches to date)" hype text.

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