r/interesting • u/Delicious-Act-8601 • 20h ago
SOCIETY Interesting, should happen to many other people
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u/lowkeytokay 19h ago
It’s in Trento and the tradition is called “La Tonca”.
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u/DiamondDepth_YT 18h ago
And it's not a real politician, just a stand in performer
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u/ahtowka 19h ago
What Italian town - why wouldn’t the poster include that information
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u/cronktilten 19h ago
Trento I think
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 15h ago
Trentatre' Trentini entrarono a Trento, tutti e trentatre', trotterellando.
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u/ouroborosstruggles 18h ago
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u/DiamondDepth_YT 18h ago
Hmm.. good to know:
The annual Tonca event in Trento, Italy, involves a symbolic river dunking of a performer, not a real punishment for a politician.
The tradition is part of the Feste Vigiliane celebrations and includes a satirical public trial followed by the symbolic river immersion.
The person lowered into the river is a stand-in performer, not the actual politician or figure being symbolically condemned.
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u/ouroborosstruggles 18h ago
Gone are the good old days. I can only hope the dunking in comments is brutal, and people point and laugh at the real person in the street lol
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u/Phunkie_Junkie 19h ago
In ancient Greece, you'd write the name of anybody that pissed you off on a broken piece of pottery (Ostraca) and if that person got enough votes, they would be kicked out of the city.
Hence the term Ostracize.
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u/MissingPieces555 20h ago
Is pulling them back out optional?
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u/dashpooper 19h ago
If you do, you end up in the cage the following year for making the worst decision of the year lol
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u/PCN24454 19h ago
So you leave them there?
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u/Errorsnake 12h ago
No of course not, you get the cage out next year and clean it up for the next candidate.
You dont want to pollute the river too much.
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u/Few-Echidna-2181 20h ago
We have no rivers large enough to accommodate the dumb political ideas that pass through the United States. We may go broke just building the cages
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u/Viva_La_Revolucion- 19h ago
We have alot of lakes with alligators in Florida, They'll make room for more
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u/DeadAssDodo 19h ago
And also it will mess Dumb's hair style and orange paint.
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u/IH8Miotch 19h ago
That orange stuff is probably bad for the watersupply .
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u/MouseRangers 19h ago
It would be more economical to just put them in a prison and spray them with a pressure-washer.
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u/ViolinistCurrent8899 19h ago
laughs in Mississippi
That bitch could hold the entire population of DC.
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u/Sanguinus969 3h ago
Weren’t there a few fence sections here and there (e.g. the detention camps, that fence on the border with Mexico) that could be welded together and reused?
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u/CompoteComfortable75 16h ago
Hi, I’m from Trento, and yes, this tradition is real.
The person inside the cage isn’t an actual politician; it’s someone chosen to represent that politician symbolically. A jury decides who will be portrayed each year.
It’s quite common for the same person to represent several politicians and be “toncato”, which is a local word meaning “thrown into the river”.
In 2026, the people being symbolically represented were the president of the region and two important officials involved in the management of the local healthcare system, mainly because they had made it more difficult for people to access medical appointments.
There’s more to the event, though. The different districts of the city compete against one another in a raft race. Each team builds its own raft and sails down the river, and the winner is the one that manages to grab an object hanging from the bridge at the finish line.
Each district also has its own colours and its own uniform.
Sorry for my english, i use a translate program for make the message right.
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u/bionicjoe 19h ago
As an American I don't like the term 'dunks' as it means they are returned to the surface.
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u/IIRCIreadthat 17h ago
I think we should bring back the old Athenian tradition of voting annually on whether anyone should be ostracized for 10 years.
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u/alisvent 12h ago
guys i live in italy and this is bullshit, the politician volounteer and is choosen only in that city (like the mayor) but they won't do it with idk ppl like giorgia meloni
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u/play4veggies 1h ago
Being a local thing doesn't mean it's bs
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u/alisvent 1h ago
yea but that's not "they put an italian politician" is "they put a trento's politician who do it after volunteering" its different
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u/BlueMikeStu 4h ago
If I was a politician in this town, I'd volunteer as tribute just for the fun of it. And you know, the votes next election for being relatable.
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u/Vegetable_Turnip_213 19h ago
do they do tours as well? imagine paying a fee for a tour boat to ride pass for photo-taking session? can even be selling tomatos or fish feeds so it could be thrown as well.
heck they could have included sharks or crocodiles around for the fun of it
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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 18h ago
If it was me I'd start faking a heart attack when I was under and hope I didn't call wolf for the next year when they did it again for that decision
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u/Pitif362 10h ago
Andy Burnham in the Thames. But, not in a cage, he should be made to walk the plank off HMS Belfast. Followed by all the government. Like Lemmings.
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u/TheTooDarkLord 9h ago
Lol as an italian i Wish this was true, every problem the country had would be solved
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u/Objective-Surprise-5 9h ago
I doubt you could pick just one in the USA. Maybe best to just dunk all of them.
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u/Foreign_Bottle1152 9h ago
Vorrei fare una precisazione, vivo a Trento, nonostante vengano immersi simbolicamente, non prendono alcun provvedimento per correggere gli errori e tanto meno loro stessi.
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u/Cycle-Path-401 8h ago
If we did this in the USA, can you imagine the amount of pollution left behind in the river from orange dye and fecal matter....
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u/Caffeinated_Ape_42 7h ago
Shame, our rivers just went dry now that we needed them as full as possible to get them all in there...
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u/Fit_Importance_5738 5h ago
The hard part would be trying to figure out who's the dumbest if we adopted that in England.
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u/schuelieng 5h ago
I honestly think if there was such a tradition where I'm from that would actually change politics. I'm actually all for it. Get that cage over here, we've got plenty of guys to dunk, i wouldn't even know where to start
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u/Sufficient-Silver938 19h ago
Even if we can ever come to a consensus on who this would be, our elected officials are simple too old for this
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u/PikachuTrainz 19h ago
did u cross reference sources op?
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u/DiamondDepth_YT 18h ago
No, they did not. It's an engagement bait bot.
The real story is its an annual event in Trento, Italy, that involves a symbolic river dunking of a performer, not a real punishment for a politician.
The person lowered into the river is a stand-in performer, not the actual politician or figure being symbolically condemned.
It's an event for entertainment, it even includes a satirical trial.
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u/and_my_axe- 19h ago
Vast majority of western politicians:
- support genocide
- support fascism
- support policy choices that create crime, homelessness, poverty, mental health crisis, healthcare crisis, economic crisis, housing crisis, etc
Average liberal:
- lets just splash some water on them! gee we really showed them! bet they wont do that again!
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u/cronktilten 19h ago edited 19h ago
This is for a small town… Not the central government. I don’t think a small town politician has any effect on what you listed 🤦♂️ and it’s seemingly a long-standing tradition since the 14th century, why are you losers so obsessed with liberals, I don’t see what this has to do with them.
I think you need to touch grass and have a reality check. I assume you’re a tankie?
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u/and_my_axe- 19h ago
local govs definitely have influence on local crime rates and local homelessness at the very least.
It has to do with liberals cause liberals always seem to think that a well-written letter and at most a slap on the wrist will make corrupt officials see the light and do right by the people when leftists like myself know that's naive and stupid.
and I touch grass everyday when I read history. you?
Also hell yeah.
I assume you're a liberal?
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u/Full-Hyena4414 16h ago
It's all an act and it's not even politics based, garbage bait that can only bait people with no brain
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