4 ms·
Ireland of all places should have an ancestral memory of the dangers of monocultures, having lost millions of people to starvation and emigration [EDIT: in part
by dctoedt 7y ago
Ireland of all places should have an ancestral memory of the dangers of monocultures, having lost millions of people to starvation and emigration [EDIT: in part] as a result of a blight that clobbered the monoculture potato crops [0].
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
- rusk 7y agoYou’re probably experiencing some downvotes because you’ve made a common mistake. The failure of the potatoes was the proximal cause but there was plenty of food in Ireland that was being expropriated by the English and exported. Its a common mistake, if you read down through the wikipedia article you linked youll find out more about what went on.
- dctoedt 7y agoOne of my grandmothers was first-generation Irish-American; IIRC, her grandparents survived the Famine, and her parents emigrated to America. I heard all about the Famine growing up. It's an interesting reason to be downvoted. I was writing a quick comment about one of the causes of the Famine that's relevant to this discussion, i.e., monocultures. It wasn't intended to be a treatise exploring all the various other causes of the catastrophe. But I know the rule about not complaining about downvotes.
- rusk 7y ago150 years later it’s still a very sensitive topic, particularly when the victims are seemingly blamed.
- slartibardfast0 7y ago"Policy Failure"