Loss in terms of money or efforts. Could be recent or ancient.
Brexit. As historical blunders go, this has a beautiful unambiguous purity.
I agree, but unlike usual blunders this was very much planned!
Once the campaigns were underway, yes. But the opportunity came from a huge blunder by David Cameron. He called the referendum expecting an easy win for the remain side that would silence the anti-EU faction in his party and shore up his position as PM. Instead, the anti-EU faction won, prompting his own resignation and causing damage to the UK’s economy, a loss of global influence, the loss of British people’s right to live and work in the EU, and reopening difficult issues in Northern Ireland that had been laid to rest for years. It also arguably sped up the Conservative Party’s lurch to the right and its embrace of UKIP-like policies, disempowering Conservative moderates and leading to the spiral of ever less competent governments we have seen since then. In particular, Boris Johnson’s rise was a direct result of post-referendum power games among Conservative politicians.
So what’s David Cameron up to these days? I’m sure such a massive and unnecessary screw-up has landed him in dire personal straights. /s
Long-Term Capital Management was a hedge fund founded in 1994 that had notable academics and Nobel Prize winners on its board. It was very successful in the early years (while critics warned of the risks) and eventually collapsed in 1998, losing $4.6 billion in a matter of months due to its leverage and impacts of currency crises. The US government stepped in to shore up the financial system. It’s taught as a case study in how a strategy can post impressive returns but quickly turn into a wipeout.
I’m willing to nominate Charles II, King of Spain as a formerly alive blunder. The result of decades of Hapsburg inbreeding, he had a number of health and intellectual issues from birth and he was notably infertile. If you live in a monarchy where succession is passed down through children, it’s REALLY BAD to be infertile and be King. His death directly caused the War of the Spanish Succession, a 13-and-a-half year war that eventually involved pretty much all of western Europe and likely led to the deaths of over 1 million people.
Literally could have avoided this if the Habsburgs decided to have sex with other people.
You should be blaming his parents, he didn’t ask for all those problems to be born with.
Literally what I’m doing
China’s Four Pests campaign is a great example. As the campaign says, China had a bit of a pest problem. One of these particular pests was the sparrow. The government decided it would be a great idea to launch an “exterminate sparrows” campaign. The only problem was sparrows ate other pests such as bedbugs and locusts.
In short, they sucessfully curbed the “sparrow problem” and replaced it with a “locusts and bedbugs problem”. This ultimately upset the ecological balance and further lowered the rice yields. It was a complete disaster
Sounds exactly like a China thing.
Target’s failed expansion into Canada. It’s taught as a case study on what not to do in business schools now.
Wendy’s tried to get into the Netherlands, but couldn’t, because there was already a snackbar (think small fastfood place but greasier) that was registered under the name “Wendy’s” at the chamber of commerce. This spawned a lawsuit. You had Wendy’s, a local snackbar who claimed rights to the name because they were already established, and Wendy’s, a franchise coming from America. They claimed right to the name because they were a franchise, and not just a single fastfood joint.
To solve this issue, the local snackbar opened up a second location, making local Wendy’s a franchise, and winning them the lawsuit
It was so weird when Target opened in my city. Everyone was pumped for the great deals Americans are always on about. The grand opening comes, and it was basically just a super expensive Walmart with half the products out of stock. Then they closed without notice like a month later. Employees came in the morning to open up and there were chains on the doors.
Russia invasion of Ukraine. They used to be number 2 army with sophisticated weapons. Now they are number 1 world laughing stock with weapons that works exceptionally well for invading Mars but not on earth.
You still believing that? Wow
It is not a belief, it is fact.
Removed by mod
Tankie is sufficient. Filthy scum is a bit too far, imo. Like how I called a Musk apologist a bootlicker. But I didn’t say anything further. Let’s try to remain civil.
Removed by mod
As they say, from number 2 army in the world to number 2 army in Ukraine.
Now with a risk of becoming number 2 army in Russia…
I don’t think they used to be the number two military. I think people THOUGHT they were a world class military. Apparently hadn’t been for decades.
Similar to the misperception of the USSR from outside before the collapse.
Oil spills, wars, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, not counting for 2 decimal places in employee cheques by a large firm in Metropolis
deleted by creator
Oh, a fellow German
deleted by creator
Was supposed to be a little joke. I bet a lot of people feel this way about their country, unfortunately.
deleted by creator
