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submitted 11 months ago by Aria@lemmygrad.ml to c/genzedong@lemmygrad.ml

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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[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 39 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

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

[-] jossbo@lemmy.ml 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

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.

[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 20 points 10 months 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.

[-] jossbo@lemmy.ml 8 points 10 months ago

Yeah it's quite dangerous, there is moderate risk of mild injury and very mild risk of serious injury. But everyone participating knows that.

[-] Aria@lemmygrad.ml 15 points 10 months ago

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.

[-] jossbo@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago

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.

[-] Aria@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 10 months 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.

[-] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 34 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

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.

[-] Gelamzer@hexbear.net 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Lol we got people ITT defending this because "muh tradition" "let people hsve fun"

[-] juchebot88@lemmygrad.ml 26 points 10 months ago

Least pyschopathic day in Britbong Land

[-] Dolores@hexbear.net 24 points 10 months ago

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.

[-] Jusog@lemmygrad.ml 22 points 10 months 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.

[-] polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml 19 points 10 months ago

Jesus fucking Christ, I knew there was something wrong with brits but not this wrong.

[-] Redlogic@lemmygrad.ml 18 points 10 months ago

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

[-] GarfieldYaoi@hexbear.net 15 points 10 months ago

For a whole bunch of "Good salt-of-the-earth Christians" WASPs are some of the most gleefully evil shitbags in human history.

[-] lil_tank@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 10 months ago

The barbaric traditions of western tyrannical monarchies

[-] DesiDebugger@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 10 months ago

I want to know which psychos idea it originally was to heat up a penny to scalding temperatures before tossing it to be fought over by the desperately poor?

[-] fire86743@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 10 months ago

"Traditions deserve to be preserved."

[-] TankieReplyBot@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 11 months 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:

this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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