Trump gave a weird speech to thousands of Boy Scouts in which he relitigated election & crowd sizes (again)

[anon73430903]

@Ryuthrowsstuff

both British scouting, and the BSA, as well as many associated groups in other countries all have their roots in the same retired British military guy and the group he founded.

@zathras

Of course. That would be Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the scout movement. If a youth group calls itself “scouts”, that’s where they’ve got their roots.

I would argue that it was actually William Alexander Smith

William Alexander Smith (Boys' Brigade)

B-P was a vice president of the BB before he founded the scouts. If B-P wanted a militaristic youth organisation then he was already a member of one at that point, but he decided to form his own organisation instead. Note that @Enkita’s earlier comment

@Enkita

The Scouts was an organic, grassroots movement which was then guided by BP. The BB was a top down organisation.

is entirely accurate.

I still say that the early Scouts were hippies in comparison to the BB, and the gap has only widened in the UK. The BB still has militaristic ranks (and, yes, they are important in the organisation).