That Time the British Tried to Save Its Empire with Peanuts (And the Hilarity that Ensued)

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  • Опубліковано 4 лют 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 320

  • @TodayIFoundOut
    @TodayIFoundOut  3 роки тому +12

    Sign up for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/w5Mx30rNLd4

  • @DaChickenKing1
    @DaChickenKing1 3 роки тому +81

    You would think after the billions of pounds lost in half baked endeavours someone in the British empire would think "Hey let's try asking the locals"

    • @Magmafrost13
      @Magmafrost13 3 роки тому +15

      Colonialism's a hell of a drug

    • @machematix
      @machematix 3 роки тому +22

      Savages? What would they know about the land they've lived on for thousands of years

    • @jeremythornton433
      @jeremythornton433 2 роки тому

      The first time a politician asks any of the people for an idea, the world will explode! just ask a politician.

    • @nguyenduyphuc3924
      @nguyenduyphuc3924 2 роки тому

      Common sense would dictate asking the local to be the first steps when you're in unfamiliar lands.
      Sadly, lack of common sense is a unwritten requirement to become a politician.

    • @martina5296
      @martina5296 2 роки тому

      That's because politicians think they know everything. Even after having committees after committees to find the best and least expensive way and efficient way to do things.
      So much could be done to make countries better if politicians asked the people they are (fake) concerned about making their lives and the economy better and thrive.
      The nonsense needs to stop.

  • @Xioungshou
    @Xioungshou 3 роки тому +139

    Can we get an epic blaze on the craziest shit the British have done throughout history?

    • @carlramirez6339
      @carlramirez6339 3 роки тому +6

      Well, they probably had the most disastrous retreat from Afghanistan ever: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1842_retreat_from_Kabul

    • @MrLoftyDreams
      @MrLoftyDreams 3 роки тому +8

      That would be a channel all by itself.

    • @davekennedy6315
      @davekennedy6315 3 роки тому +6

      @@carlramirez6339 I think the US at least equals that now.

    • @StefanMedici
      @StefanMedici 3 роки тому +9

      @@carlramirez6339 Not sure anyone has had a nice retreat from Afghanistan. Just ask the Russian's and US. In fact I think the lesson learnt is, never ever no matter what, invade Afghanistan. 😂

    • @itsvan5791
      @itsvan5791 3 роки тому +3

      There is a time when British build Fort Marlborough in bengkulu, Indonesia (the biggest British fort in Asia) trying to introduce democracy by their terms and monopoly the spice trade, the locals unhappy with that then burn down the fort, eventually they trade the territory with the Dutch (nowadays Singapore). What crazy is the British army with all the weapon they have the biggest fort they build lost with the locals armed with machete spear and torch.

  • @lvdvbc
    @lvdvbc 3 роки тому +19

    You know what would've been a helpful addition to this video? A map or two to give a sense of scale and the distances involved.

  • @RAS_Squints
    @RAS_Squints 3 роки тому +48

    Whole plan sounded nutty

  • @BooBaddyBig
    @BooBaddyBig 3 роки тому +29

    Thank goodness these top-down grand schemes that will make the UK so much more productive and competitive in the world are so far in the past behind us now.

  • @Adiscretefirm
    @Adiscretefirm 3 роки тому +51

    Endless acres of thorn bushes? Sounds like you need 10000 goats.

  • @barrydysert2974
    @barrydysert2974 3 роки тому +43

    "Britain's Oleaginous Iliad"
    Devine. Simply Devine.

  • @alex786
    @alex786 3 роки тому +71

    Those rare moments when the working class and lower management aren't the ones being blamed for failure....

    • @odete2135
      @odete2135 3 роки тому

      AISURU.TOKYO/angelina 💞
      ( ˘ ³˘)👙 18 years and over
      UA-cam: This is fine
      Someone: Says "heck"
      UA-cam: Be gone
      #однако #я #люблю #таких #рыбаков #Интересно #забавно #девушка #смешная #垃圾

    • @frankrigelwoodsr.1184
      @frankrigelwoodsr.1184 3 роки тому +1

      Very true.

    • @ravebiscuits8721
      @ravebiscuits8721 3 роки тому +2

      I mean as one of the people you describe I want to agree with you, but I literally can't think of a single example of what you're talking about :P
      Do people blame the bankruptcy of Woolworths on the cashiers? What about the phrase 'lions lead by donkeys'? I can't think of any situation where the leaders aren't blamed.

    • @quisqueyanguy120
      @quisqueyanguy120 3 роки тому

      @@odete2135 You don't fool anyone.

  • @spooniesarah
    @spooniesarah 3 роки тому +98

    "Oh let's use this area that is largely unused by the locals--that way we don't have to displace anybody!" Umm maybe there's a reason why that land was mostly uninhabited and undeveloped by the local populace?

    • @gailcbull
      @gailcbull 3 роки тому +32

      This happened in Alberta, Canada more recently. In the 1990s, a bunch of developers noticed that was a large swath of undeveloped land in the south-western corner of the province and decided that that would be a great place to put an 18-hole golf course. Unfortunately, they didn't realize that the reason it was sparsely populated was because it was bear country. Add pissed off bears to the list of hazards the golfers didn't expect.

    • @ryandowney8743
      @ryandowney8743 3 роки тому +18

      @@gailcbull Now I really want to see that Caddyshack/The Revenant crossover movie!

    • @glm3781
      @glm3781 3 роки тому +15

      @@vardekpetrovic9716 Since the bear story above was from Alberta, the bears were quite possibly Grizzlies - 700lb murder machines. Hitting them in the nose would be a very, very, bad idea.
      (Black bears would be a lot more skittish, I agree).

    • @jessiesratrods1210
      @jessiesratrods1210 3 роки тому +4

      @@gailcbull I just picture a bear drinking whiskey and line dancing to "I'm alright" by Kenny Loggins on a golf course.

    • @killman369547
      @killman369547 3 роки тому +4

      @@gailcbull Oh man, imagine how pissed a momma bear would be if one of her cubs got wacked in the head by somebody's golf ball.

  • @johnstevenson9956
    @johnstevenson9956 3 роки тому +23

    "The weariness, the fever and the fret..." Somebody's been reading their Keats.

  • @bryannoyce
    @bryannoyce 3 роки тому +22

    The Revolution Standard Ground Nut Scheme: Improve the port. Improve the whole country's rail system. Start buying oil seeds, of any kind, from local farmers at relatively high prices. The farmers will take care of the rest of it.

    • @WynnofThule
      @WynnofThule 9 місяців тому

      Yeah, but you see there's one issue with that idea.
      It would mean using money well to support local tradespeople instead or exploiting brown people abroad on the cheap.

  • @paulmurray8922
    @paulmurray8922 3 роки тому +137

    Would have loved to hear what the Africans were saying among themselves as the scheme unfolded.😂

    • @angryatheist
      @angryatheist 3 роки тому +8

      Join my pyramid scheme

    • @j-bob_oreo
      @j-bob_oreo 3 роки тому +7

      @@angryatheist i love pyramids ! and schemes .... tell me more

    • @sampilcher7196
      @sampilcher7196 3 роки тому +3

      @@angryatheist I’m in

    • @kyleegloff5646
      @kyleegloff5646 3 роки тому +12

      What about a pyramid of peanuts?

    • @angryatheist
      @angryatheist 3 роки тому +4

      @@kyleegloff5646 how innovative, i like it

  • @DiegoGomezG
    @DiegoGomezG 3 роки тому +1

    I have been watching some of your videos, the old ones get boring somewhat fast, but recent ones are really good, good work :D

  • @bradhobbs6196
    @bradhobbs6196 3 роки тому +4

    Good thing "groundnuts" survived to flavor Simon's favorite Magic Spoon variety. . .

  • @mulrich
    @mulrich 3 роки тому +8

    The UAC would later switch gears and go on to experiment with teleportation technology on their bases on Mars and its moons.
    This didn't end well for them either.

  • @scottturcotte1860
    @scottturcotte1860 3 роки тому +3

    I wasn't surprised, no one ever asks a farmer about what will work and what won't... until they find out they just should have asked before they ever started... I half expected to hear something about a peanut wearing a monocle, but I guess that was from a different story! LMAO

  • @hannahmore9118
    @hannahmore9118 3 роки тому +18

    Huh, I thought Unilever was an American company.
    Did no one think to examine the ground for suitability before committing? Geez, any botanist would have done.

    • @killman369547
      @killman369547 3 роки тому +4

      Yes any botanist would've done that. But these were government bureaucrats not botanists. This fiasco is the PERFECT example of why central planning is shit and it will always be shit.

    • @MsJeanneMarie
      @MsJeanneMarie 3 роки тому

      @@killman369547 Hahha would you believe there are government bureaucrat botanists? For every civilian occupation, there is a government counterpart.

  • @lastnameever3990
    @lastnameever3990 3 роки тому +7

    "You smell like peanuts. I love peanuts."
    -Lord Nelson

  • @Greentrees60
    @Greentrees60 3 роки тому +21

    Speaking as a climate and agriculture researcher, Simeon absolutely nailed it on this one. The scheme was stupid and demonstrates to a T the issues with the very racist style of Development which proceeded for much of the 20th century (and is arguably still happening in many places)

    • @killman369547
      @killman369547 3 роки тому +5

      Not only racist but supremely arrogant too. It's incredibly arrogant to think that some bureaucrat in an office somewhere knows more about what an individual needs than that individual.

  • @sydneyfairbairn3773
    @sydneyfairbairn3773 3 роки тому +3

    Reminds me of visiting the Midwest and Eastern United States and learning what their version of a forest or mountain was. I was raised in Northern California, the land of Sequoias, Sasquatch and Tsunamis.

  • @CAP198462
    @CAP198462 3 роки тому +4

    Getting buttered up about peanuts, to make bread ends in a jam.

    • @Skraeling1000
      @Skraeling1000 3 роки тому +1

      Were you a headline writer for the Sun newspaper in a past life?

  • @amandajones661
    @amandajones661 3 роки тому +5

    Random fact ( Hey , Danny. I have stories too. 😅 I was raised on a peanut farm and I just knew this wouldn't work when you described the beginning. 😅

  • @tophers3756
    @tophers3756 3 роки тому +22

    A boondoggle that a little reason and forethought should've pre-empted. Even barring that , they should've stopped once they realized how crap the land actually was.

    • @cripplious
      @cripplious 3 роки тому +11

      Problems with company and government people aren't willing to admit failure until it's too late

    • @tiercel5561
      @tiercel5561 3 роки тому +2

      @@cripplious - British Army and Russian Army in Crimean War: Excuse me.

    • @cripplious
      @cripplious 3 роки тому +5

      @@tiercel5561 the charge of the light brigade is a perfect example. At the time you bought your commission rather than earned it. 500 men died for no reason

    • @tiercel5561
      @tiercel5561 3 роки тому +2

      @Phil Jermakian - (having watched people who burned forests for farmland before) Nope, erosion would still be there and even be worse.

  • @brianrunyon266
    @brianrunyon266 3 роки тому +4

    Nice. First heard about this in an audio documentary: Eyewitness 1900-1949, Voices From The BBC Archive.

  • @flounderinoflounder5425
    @flounderinoflounder5425 3 роки тому +1

    Have you ever gone over the time Henery Ford tried to create a rubber tree forest and community to harvest? The outcome and the timing of vulcanized rubber appearing is an interesting story.

  • @detroithypeg
    @detroithypeg 3 роки тому +1

    I read the "Fordlandia" book in jail, I was surprised and amazed by it. I recommend it to people that like history.

  • @dgoddard
    @dgoddard 3 роки тому +2

    2/3 of the soap used in the British empire?
    That's like... 30 bars of soap!!! Damn!

  • @joeyr7294
    @joeyr7294 3 роки тому +8

    I really wish you would do a video on that guy that made a bulldozer into a tank and terrorized his town on one of you many channels lol

    • @jaggator1061
      @jaggator1061 3 роки тому +5

      His name was Marvin Heemeyer. And he was a hero.

    • @joeyr7294
      @joeyr7294 3 роки тому +4

      @@jaggator1061 thank you, I could not remember his name unfortunately. And I agree!

    • @ZiliMidori
      @ZiliMidori 3 роки тому

      @@jaggator1061 I had never heard of this guy so I looked him up. I am appalled that anyone could consider his actions heroic. Going on a rampage that could have killed a lot of people and destroying a bunch of buildings is despicable. No matter how angry he might have been about zoning disputes it did NOT give him the right to do that. It is awful, heartless, and WRONG. Would you like it if someone flattened your house and almost killed you because they were mad at you for some reason? There wouldn't be any buildings left in the world if that was how we resolved disputes. Not to mention there would be a lot of dead people. Apparently some people claimed he tried not to hurt anyone. That is ludicrous. Never mind the fact that he had installed guns and shot at people, he hurt everyone in town with his actions because guess whose taxes have to pay for rebuilding everything? Not to mention that the townspeople can't use any of services they might need from the town hall or other places he destroyed. "I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable", he wrote. His actions were in NO way reasonable. It sounds to me like "Well, if I ask nicely and I don't get what I want then I will kick and scream and use violence until I get what I want." which is not how reasonable people, or heroes, behave. Every adult, and in fact most children too know that that is called having a temper tantrum.

    • @ZiliMidori
      @ZiliMidori 3 роки тому

      @@joeyr7294 I had never heard of this guy so I looked him up. I am appalled that anyone could consider his actions heroic. Going on a rampage that could have killed a lot of people and destroying a bunch of buildings is despicable. No matter how angry he might have been about zoning disputes it did NOT give him the right to do that. It is awful, heartless, and WRONG. Would you like it if someone flattened your house and almost killed you because they were mad at you for some reason? There wouldn't be any buildings left in the world if that was how we resolved disputes. Not to mention there would be a lot of dead people. Apparently some people claimed he tried not to hurt anyone. That is ludicrous. Never mind the fact that he had installed guns and shot at people, he hurt everyone in town with his actions because guess whose taxes have to pay for rebuilding everything? Not to mention that the townspeople can't use any of services they might need from the town hall or other places he destroyed. "I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable", he wrote. His actions were in NO way reasonable. It sounds to me like "Well, if I ask nicely and I don't get what I want then I will kick and scream and use violence until I get what I want." which is not how reasonable people, or heroes, behave. Every adult, and in fact most children too know that that is called having a temper tantrum.

    • @jaggator1061
      @jaggator1061 3 роки тому +4

      @@ZiliMidori 1. You clearly don't know the whole story.
      2. Cry more.

  • @ShanesGettingHandy
    @ShanesGettingHandy 3 роки тому +3

    Either the lighting or the color grading is making you look a bit green. Also, when are you gonna fix the Neon sign? Love the content.

  • @haeuptlingaberja4927
    @haeuptlingaberja4927 3 роки тому +3

    And the key weakness of the Peanut Plan was that it was, despite the promises of the Atlantic Charter (which you lot still haven't covered), and despite the involvement of Attlee's Labour government, it was still an arrogant, ignorant colonial enterprise. Again, look up that Atlantic Charter and see just how we in the West had betrayed all of our principles. And the Peanut Affair was just the beginning. Reclaiming the prewar European colonial territories just "liberated" from the cruel yoke of the fanatical Japanese, the creation of the highly immoral & hypocritical merger between the bumbling American OSS and the criminal Nazi Abwehr to make the blatantly anti-democratic CIA, starting the Cold War by lying to the US Congress about Stalin's immediate postwar intentions...it was all of a piece. We betrayed all of the wartime principles we espoused in our desperate struggle with the Axis Powers--we became that which we strove so hard to defeat. And this is why you guys have to do a lengthy special episode on the Atlantic Charter. This betrayal is the reason the world is in the mess it is right now...and hardly anyone even knows about it. C'mon, Simon: do something that is interesting, vitally important and highly relevant. Just this one time...please?

  • @gimzod76
    @gimzod76 3 роки тому +3

    Ah the groundnut scandal. Amazing how quickly it shuts labour up when you bring it up.
    Same with poor R101

  • @Mrgunsngear
    @Mrgunsngear 3 роки тому

    Thanks

  • @daveroche6522
    @daveroche6522 3 роки тому +16

    2:10 Interesting: De Valera introduced his isolationist policies here in Ireland in the 1930s - they realised pretty sharpish just how skinpeelingly idiotic that approach was/is. So - anyone in authority actually prepared (to at least try) to learn from history? Just wonderin'.

  • @EdgyShooter
    @EdgyShooter 3 роки тому +1

    "Hives of gambling, alcohol and prostitution"
    Should've just taxed that instead 😂

  • @10lauset
    @10lauset 3 роки тому +1

    This is always an example to undergraduates in programs potentially leading to foreign service, whether appreciated and comprehended or not.

  • @olanmills64
    @olanmills64 3 роки тому +5

    Nature/Africa: large swaths of beautiful savanna and forests teeming with unique life
    British elite: "Look at this vast wasteland!"

  • @martina5296
    @martina5296 2 роки тому

    Peanuts and sunflower seeds are such in demand money makers. ***giggling***
    Has any British politician learned for those hilarious schemes? I don't thinks so either.

  • @nujabeslistener
    @nujabeslistener 3 роки тому +38

    If only they had the help of George Washington Carver!

    • @Wiqoh_
      @Wiqoh_ 3 роки тому +1

      Nice

    • @philvanderlaan5942
      @philvanderlaan5942 3 роки тому +3

      That was the guy who did all those marble busts of The first president

    • @jerryfick613
      @jerryfick613 3 роки тому +2

      He likely would have told them it was a bad idea, lol.

    • @philvanderlaan5942
      @philvanderlaan5942 3 роки тому +2

      @@jerryfick613 maybe they should have just sent more opium into China or since the PRC was taking over , priests , ‘religion is the opiate of the masses ‘ according to Marx

  • @floydblandston108
    @floydblandston108 3 роки тому

    A useful comparison would be to railroad building across the northwest United States and Canada in the 19th century, where government land grants to the railroads were sold to settlers as a means to finance their construction. Many of the settlers were then sourced from places with similar circumstances, leading to better outcomes.

  • @TheEvilCommenter
    @TheEvilCommenter 3 роки тому +3

    Good video 👍

  • @MrMichaeljay1965
    @MrMichaeljay1965 3 роки тому

    Superlative. I learned quite a lot. Thank you.

  • @usel1500
    @usel1500 3 роки тому +1

    So glad you talked about the projects inherent racism/colonialism at end, and how that contributed to its downfall.

  • @EterPuralis
    @EterPuralis 3 роки тому +1

    I love how you think everyone is here to *learn* something

  • @twocvbloke
    @twocvbloke 3 роки тому +2

    You could say the idea was just plain nuts... :P

  • @carolyncasner4806
    @carolyncasner4806 3 роки тому +2

    They uprooted Baobab trees for peanuts?
    That's stupid right there.

  • @ArcherSuh4721
    @ArcherSuh4721 3 роки тому

    The makeshift tractor they used was called a Shervex? Jeez, I wonder how many dirty jokes that inspired...

  • @ryandowney8743
    @ryandowney8743 3 роки тому +1

    This plan is nuttier than squirrel poop.

  • @daniellassander
    @daniellassander 3 роки тому +2

    Its also a perfect example as to why centralized planning can never work.

  • @tpl608
    @tpl608 3 роки тому

    More discussion of ads and ads than USA network TV. That is saying something.

  • @puppetguy8726
    @puppetguy8726 3 роки тому +2

    Yes, the locals probably thought famine was a very hilarious result of the project! 🙄

  • @LeosResearch
    @LeosResearch 3 роки тому

    Well, at least my backyard squirrels are the only creatures that like to enjoy peanuts.

  • @danielgonzalez5787
    @danielgonzalez5787 3 роки тому

    Who amongst us hasn't rushed to plan some elaborate gathering or trip just to watch the whole thing slowly fall apart.

  • @Us3rnameTak3n
    @Us3rnameTak3n 3 роки тому

    @TodayIFoundOut Brizinnssman has to be the best aural typo I have ever been privileged by circumstances to have heard.

  • @blueoceanvalley45465
    @blueoceanvalley45465 3 роки тому

    Oh my god the great courses plus! I’ve never heard of it 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

  • @Levynite
    @Levynite 3 роки тому +2

    So telling of the mind set, with the way forests were called waste land

  • @leorblumenthal5239
    @leorblumenthal5239 3 роки тому +3

    Wow. The utter incompetence of the Groundnuts Scheme makes the concurrent loss of British imperial holdings in India and Palestine look like peanuts.

  • @jonhughes4079
    @jonhughes4079 3 роки тому +1

    Had they succeeded, this video would be on megaprojects!

  • @TrishaSmith
    @TrishaSmith 3 роки тому +3

    Long time no watch.

  • @joeennis2571
    @joeennis2571 3 роки тому

    what about the breadfruit , and the HMS BOUNTY it also did not finish well

  • @robbaskerville253
    @robbaskerville253 3 роки тому +4

    "Wondrium"?????? Expect to see that soon on a Brain Blaze about terrible rebranding decisions.

  • @mr-mr-101
    @mr-mr-101 3 роки тому +1

    I really want to hear more about this Fordlandia if not just for the name.

  • @Atma_Weapon
    @Atma_Weapon 3 роки тому

    smart person: lets ask the locals whats good.
    the british: lets fake it till we break it. oops, we broke the bank. sorry, guys.

  • @adamkampen
    @adamkampen 3 роки тому +2

    Hmmm, perhaps there was a reason the area was uninhabited and unused

    • @ingridfong-daley5899
      @ingridfong-daley5899 3 роки тому +1

      Oh, certainly not! These heathen people just needed the invaluable insight and 'expertise' of our Inherent Western Wisdom, obviously... :)

    • @adamkampen
      @adamkampen 3 роки тому +1

      @@ingridfong-daley5899 Truly truly! That’s the only possible option

    • @ingridfong-daley5899
      @ingridfong-daley5899 3 роки тому +1

      @@adamkampen We're such geniuses!! :)

  • @nathansmith891
    @nathansmith891 3 роки тому +1

    Every time Simon says margarine, I hear Gavin Rosdale singing it a la Glycerin.

  • @jerryfick613
    @jerryfick613 3 роки тому +11

    "the British tried to save it's empire"
    Am I wrong?
    Either
    Britain tried to save it's empire
    Or
    The British tried to save their empire
    Would have been better?
    Sorry, it was bugging me

    • @jerryfick613
      @jerryfick613 3 роки тому

      @@spideraba769 I get that, but at least to my ear, "it's" is a singular contractive, while "the British" is a plural noun.
      You will notice I used "It's" myself, but with the collective singular Britain.
      While I matched the plural "The British" with the plural their.

    • @jerryfick613
      @jerryfick613 3 роки тому +1

      @@spideraba769 misunderstandings happen, no worries. The hard part these days seems to be resolving them.
      I think we did alright :-)

    • @PrezVeto
      @PrezVeto 3 роки тому

      @@jerryfick613 I'm not sure why they're apologizing. Your usage of "it's" was incorrect; it should've been "its".

    • @jerryfick613
      @jerryfick613 3 роки тому

      @@PrezVeto the reason spider apologized, is that they missed my initial point. That a plural noun was joined with a singular pronoun. That said, you are correct, I made a grammatical error as well and used the contractive of it instead of the possessive. If I were to go back and correct that mistake. Is my critique otherwise valid?

    • @PrezVeto
      @PrezVeto 3 роки тому

      @@jerryfick613 Yes, that's my only objection. Your initial reply to Spider made sense. I normally wouldn't call out something so small, but calling out something small was kinda the theme of the entire thread, so 🤷‍♂️. 😁

  • @Wreckz_Tea
    @Wreckz_Tea 3 роки тому

    Mother nature said no peanuts on my patch

  • @anonymousrex5207
    @anonymousrex5207 3 роки тому +1

    The whole plan sounds nuts: get a group of employees to work for peanuts by farming peanuts and hoping someone would be nutty enough to buy them all at a profitable price.

  • @littlenothing1068
    @littlenothing1068 3 роки тому +1

    Simon: well even if you don’t think so, you’ll want to know more about English history by the time you finish this series
    The viewers: *looks back on the horror inflicted upon the entire globe by England by their use of colonialism, imperialism, racism, slavery, xenophobia, and the list keeps going, for centuries*
    The viewers: we think we know enough ._____.

  • @BeardedFrog
    @BeardedFrog 3 роки тому +1

    No offense to the British, as I am quite a fan overall... However... The way the British Empire went from the largest empire the world has ever known to shrinking back to almost just their own island is pretty amusing and ridiculous. It's definitely a unique way an empire has fallen in history. It's probably due to a lot of its retreats/losses taking place in the modern era.
    It seems like most of it occurred because they became so confident in their superiority, and incredibly unaware and unprepared of what was actually happening in their territories. They would try and run everything from home, without any proper knowledge, prior planning, or oversight of the actual situations, environments, and climate of what was really going on overseas.
    Some battles were fought, but it seems most were lost by simply running out of funding, interest, and generally just letting the locals have their stuff back, and buggering off. This whole project feels like a great example/analogy of how/why the British Empire failed.

    • @simonbeaird7436
      @simonbeaird7436 3 роки тому +1

      Most of the British colonies were not run directly from London but by governors appointed by the Crown and supported by a bureaucracy based in the colony itself. British India, for example, was run from Delhi not micromanaged from London. One reason the ground nut scheme was so ill-advised is that it was run from London by people who had no idea what they were doing.
      The British Empire disintegrated (IMO) during the 50s and 60s partly for economic reasons e.g repaying loans from WW1 and WW2 plus the loss of India and its huge income for the Empire, and partly for political reasons. Britain was a founder member of the United Nations. It's impossible to remain a colonial empire when you have joined an international organisation which has self-determination as one of its main principles. Bear in mind that the Labour government that came to power in 1945 was anti-colonial as a matter of policy.

  • @albear972
    @albear972 3 роки тому +5

    Once mighty Great Britain fell great. It should be called just Britain.

    • @leighpowell1062
      @leighpowell1062 3 роки тому +2

      Great Britain was called such because it was greater in size than little Britain which is now Britany in France where a large number of the population are decended of old British people who fled there when Saxons started to encroach on british lands

  • @kcollier2192
    @kcollier2192 3 роки тому +2

    A perfect example of when colonial arrogance met bigoted ignorance.

  • @chizusyosilwamba8036
    @chizusyosilwamba8036 3 роки тому

    😂😂😂That Tanganyika pronunciation though🤦🏾‍♂️.
    P.S. I am Zambian watching from Zambia

  • @torque350hp
    @torque350hp 3 роки тому

    Reminds me of a joke.
    Colonisation - when Europeans turn up somewhere and turn things to s#%t for the locals. Seriously who thought of that word? 😁

  • @Yupppi
    @Yupppi 3 роки тому +3

    It is always the great idea guys, the ones who dream big and don't know what they're doing that end up costing the most in silly failed attempts, that a local village idiot could've easily predicted in a second. They might listen to experts, but never the ones who know what is going on on a practical level. Nobody who has seen it happen in real life, nobody who has been there. They have a theory, but they don't know any premises required to make it viable and don't bother to check.

  • @peypey_it_is
    @peypey_it_is 3 роки тому

    This is Nuts

  • @matthewsermons7247
    @matthewsermons7247 3 роки тому +1

    Now I'm hungry for peanuts...

  • @vustvaleo8068
    @vustvaleo8068 3 роки тому

    then in the distant future somebody is trying to plant tomatoes on the moon's surface.

  • @tremorsfan
    @tremorsfan 3 роки тому

    I think Fordlandia deserves its own video.

  • @Anenome5
    @Anenome5 3 роки тому

    Why didn't they burn the brush?

  • @aryaaswale7316
    @aryaaswale7316 3 роки тому +1

    I am always surprised that churchill lost even after britain won

  • @SirAntoniousBlock
    @SirAntoniousBlock 3 роки тому

    They're still trying to save their empire with peanuts who vote. 😂

  • @Dog_gone_it
    @Dog_gone_it 3 роки тому

    Can you do a video on al herpin. The man who never slept

  • @SamSmithsamek15
    @SamSmithsamek15 3 роки тому

    Ah yes, the U.A.C. before they started cuddling demons with their teleportation goals.

  • @curiousgemini
    @curiousgemini 3 роки тому +1

    I have the feeling the illuminutty was behind this...

  • @philvanderlaan5942
    @philvanderlaan5942 3 роки тому

    ‘ If you’re a long time subscriber’
    I was going to subscribe to Simon, but then I figured, I’ll just steal it off my neighbors porch and let Danny and Sam deal with the complaints

  • @matthewmultiplayer5947
    @matthewmultiplayer5947 3 роки тому +1

    That thumbnail starting to look like BB

  • @peterhimin8051
    @peterhimin8051 3 роки тому +3

    Nice

  • @deadgoon2170
    @deadgoon2170 3 роки тому

    Groundnut....Peanut...Pine nut....Pistachio nut....Brazil nut..
    - Harlan Pepper..

  • @gaeshows1938
    @gaeshows1938 3 роки тому

    peanut stonks only go up!

  • @densealloy
    @densealloy 3 роки тому

    Milton Friedman's 4 ways of spending money comes to mind. Spending someone else's money on someone else...don't economize and don't seek highest value.

  • @MattBellzminion
    @MattBellzminion 3 роки тому +1

    Should Britons desire more peanuts next year (as well may be the case, with Brexit figuratively sending the UK's economy and supply chains over the Cliffs of Dover), they need only let American farmers' associations know, and the sooner, the better. Responding to signs of increased demand is what they live for.

  • @drscopeify
    @drscopeify 3 роки тому

    Peanut growing is still very very manual which is why India, China and Nigeria are the top producers, manpower. On the other hand California switched to Almonds which is very mechanized. I am not sure what they are doing will all of the Almonds in California but man it is everywhere, you can't go to a small town without feeling like you are in an Almond jungle.

  • @sciencenate
    @sciencenate 3 роки тому +1

    Wait wait wait - it only cost £24K but somehow that created 32K jobs?!? They could really stretch a pound!

  • @donkeyboy585
    @donkeyboy585 3 роки тому

    Holy shit you guys were rationing food till 1954??? Today I really did find out 😳

  • @Psyn0sis
    @Psyn0sis 3 роки тому

    18:44 A Consortium of Brazilian Brusinessmen

  • @brandonf.8360
    @brandonf.8360 3 роки тому +12

    "No Peanuts, No Glory"

  • @nickdanger3802
    @nickdanger3802 2 роки тому

    1948-52 Britain received 2.7 Billion USD in Marshall Plan aid (ERP).
    BBC Wasting Marshall Aid

  • @jaredmcvey3739
    @jaredmcvey3739 3 роки тому +1

    How would England like it if some other country shows up decides this is a wasteland and just tear it all down to make a farm. Like does anyone see all of this as problematic?

  • @insilencea4599
    @insilencea4599 3 роки тому

    And that's why they have national parks there instead of peanut farms.