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The tax man can’t find my potatoes.
Explanation: In addition to being a remarkably efficient foodstuff, the potato’s introduction to Europe was also a boon on a non-nutritional level - namely, that it avoided many of the traditional problems with grains. Rampaging army going through your lands? They can’t burn your field, and they don’t have time to dig up all your potatoes! Shitty soil? Potatoes are brutally hardy plants, they’ll make it through. Called off for corvee by your government before the harvest? No worries, the potatoes will remain until the frost!
The Prussian (German) king Frederick the Great, despite being associated with military glory in the modern day, was intensely interested in, and involved with, ‘rational’ reform of civilian society, including more productive forms of agriculture. He put great effort into spreading the cultivation of the potato throughout Prussia - an effort which paid great dividends in improving Prussian agriculture.
Amusingly enough, his success there intersected with his success in warfare - a French military doctor, one Monsieur Parmentier, was captured during one of Frederick’s wars with France, and fed a steady diet of potatoes in captivity. As the potato was considered by many to be unfit for human consumption at this time, Dr. Parmentier was astounded to find, once the war and his captivity had ended, that a steady diet of potatoes had actually been quite healthy for him and his fellow PoWs! Armed with this discovery, Dr. Parmentier spread the use of potato back in his native France, and advocated for its use across all of Europe!
Thanks, doc!
Frederick the Great, despite being associated with military glory in the modern day
Throughout Germany, he’s still known for his efforts for introducing the potato, which earned him the affectionate nickname of “Kartoffelkönig” - “potato king”. (To this day, people still lay down potatoes at his grave)
Initially, people in Prussia, just as the French, wanted nothing to do with potatoes, thought of them as potentially poisonous and at best suitable as pig fodder. In order to overcome those misconceptions and superstitions, Frederick famously had soldiers guard potato fields, instructed them to only half arsedly pursue potato thieves so they could get away, and to allow people to bribe them to look the other way.
He also was a bit of a reformer and introduced ideas of enlightenment into his government. He for example introduced compulsory education for everyone (that was not out of pure altruism, though, because he wanted his soldiers to be able to read and write), and instituted religious freedom. (He asked all religions to have their sacred weekday on the same day, though, because he liked the thought of all religions in his realm worshiping their god on the same day)
(He asked all religions to have their sacred weekday on the same day, though, because he liked the thought of all religions in his realm worshiping their god on the same day)
I’ve never heard this before, and I really want to believe this since I’ve never heard anything more stereotypically German in my life ( Alles in ordnung! ) but do you have a source? I can’t find anything, perhaps because I’m not using the right keywords.
I don’t remember where I read this, but I’ll look around. It was just a half sentence in a larger article on his religious reforms. I only remembered it, because I found the idea funny.
Potatoboos hyping on potatoes, as usual
Objective rye admirers know the true superiority of rye, provider of food, beer, whisky and LSD (and death by poisoning)
Removed by mod
In Ireland there was other food available but withheld.
This is a bot ^^
That’s indeed likely, but do you have any hard evidence?
I consider this comment hard evidence:
https://vger.to/sh.itjust.works/comment/22058396
This account is an LLM being fed the post title.
The static two or three paragraph structure was a red flag, but this is actually good. I’ve reported it and recommend others to do the same.
Good thing someone was there to think for you!
Whatever do you do when you’re on your own?
Bait maniacs for fun.
Ah, is that what you call it when you interact with other people? Tell yourself it’s all part of a plan?
Fail to use your own brain, rely on others to do it for you, then claim to yourself you’re intentionally clever?
Roflmao.
It’s actually able to review the content of static images too.
Yeah, I do. Are you the bot’s owner, looking to fix your mistakes?
You are very defensive. I’m just trying to gather evidence so I can report it. Go bark up some other tree.
What the hell would I be defensive about? Look for yourself. And who cares if you report it, it will simply disappear and start over as new accounts.
I was only pointing it out, not signing up to think for you.
You tell me, why are you so on edge? Who hurt you?
Hahaha
Absent any evidence, you just look like a stalker.
Roflmao. Yup. I’m stalking a 15 hour old account.
This species is fucked.
Edit-
Hahahahahhaha, I just checked and your previous comment was:
Since when do they pass the Turing test? They’re infuriatingly bad.
Are you in the same network of bot owners?
OK so the evidence is that they posted a lot in 15 hours? Why not just say that?
Edit: a bunch of unrelated comments is not a Turing test, and you’re agreeing that they fail.
“I’m not a stalker!” - you
you’re agreeing that they fail
I’m laughing so hard the person who said that cannot see one, even when it’s pointed out to them.
That same person also thinks looking at comment history to validate a bot is a bot is… “stalking”.
As I said. Our species is well and truly fucked.
No. There is more. Use your own brain, turing test expert.
History of Potato: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjVJqw1AUag
