Here’s the way I see it: something that is ironic would be the old saying “the luck of the Irish.” Today, many people know nothing about the Irish except perhaps that heavy drinking on St. Patrick’s Day is somehow involved. But “the luck of the Irish” is an ironic statement simply because the Irish have been so very, very unlucky. Think back to the potato famine. The Irish peasant was already on the edge of death and surviving exclusively on potatoes—and then a fungal blight ruined the potatoes. There were plenty of other foodstuffs grown that the blight didn’t affect, but they belonged to the landlords—Protestants.
The peasants who survived often got evicted. These homeless people did not have the strength to work, so they lay around the roadways and the landlords did not like them cluttering up the landscape. To get rid of them, they made deals to have them shipped overseas to America. A load of timber could be hauled from America to Ireland, and for the return trip the ship’s owner would take a load of useless humans.
I believe that some of those who survived had something special: a genetic mutation that caused their bodies to store abnormally high levels of iron. So while the anemic died, those with the extra iron stores survived.
It probably worked out well, until they got to America, started eating meat, and then reached the Age of Vitameatavegemin.
The peasants who survived often got evicted. These homeless people did not have the strength to work, so they lay around the roadways and the landlords did not like them cluttering up the landscape. To get rid of them, they made deals to have them shipped overseas to America. A load of timber could be hauled from America to Ireland, and for the return trip the ship’s owner would take a load of useless humans.
I believe that some of those who survived had something special: a genetic mutation that caused their bodies to store abnormally high levels of iron. So while the anemic died, those with the extra iron stores survived.
It probably worked out well, until they got to America, started eating meat, and then reached the Age of Vitameatavegemin.