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.
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.
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.
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.
not every tradition need have a nice origin for it to be ingrained into the community.
this particular tradition is not still nobles trying to hurt poor people for their amusement, it’s the townspeople throwing their pocketchange at each other in a vague remembrance, so long as they’re having fun with it and wish to continue i don’t think it’s very problematic.
Why keep things with negative backstories? We should firmly reject anything that came from negative ideas or negative times
i don’t think it’d take very long at all for us to single out something you like & engage in with problematic origins. everyone’s all for complete cultural revolution until someone correctly associates something useful, harmless, or personally fond of with the bourgeois/feudal culture.
a lot can and should be critically examined, reinterpreted, and rejected, but this is a democratic process. the greatest argument for hot pennies is the voluntary perpetuation and participation in the event.
Sure, I might. But that doesn’t mean I should intellectually defend it. If people consume media with wealth differences or racism, it normalizes those things. Even if someone currently enjoys that, they should still understand the issue with it.
Least pyschopathic day in Britbong Land
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.
