Back in the day, elephants were tamed in a rather cruel methods so they could be used for a multitude of reasons. War, labor, entertainment, or just some fluff n puff king showing off his wealth and power. Part of this training was to drive a long metal stake or wooden log, deep into the ground. Fasten a metal shackle around a hind ankle and connect the stake to the shackle with a heavy chain. Everytime the Elephant would try to take a step forward the chain would go taunt, the shackle would bite into its flesh and in time it would form a pretty bad wound. The keepers would cleans it and apply herbs to help keep out infection and encourage healing but at no point did they remove the shackle. Not until the behemoth stopped harming himself and was tame to being touched and ridden. Afterwards a regular 1 inch thick twine rope was used as the shackle to a stake not even two feet in the ground. At any point it could pull that stake up or snap the rope with no more effort than taking the actual step. Why didn't it do so? It was broken. The slightest pressure around that ankle would trigger the memory of the iron shackle... It'd remember the pain and just stop moving.
However humans have a special brand of over inflated expectations coupled in double standards... If something happens to spook the elephant and it takes off in fear, it doesn't immediately realize that it is free, nor how simple it was to be free. Instead it tramples on, head long with fear, smashing and trampling anything in its way... Including any unfortunate human in the path of the fear induced flight.
In some cultures, if the elephant only destroyed property (including other animals), the owner of the elephant would be given a fine to pay and the beast of burden would be sent for retraining... Including the metal shackle. Elephants are smart creatures and it would figure out that the rope was nothing so they had to re-break the creature in order to keep the ideal of freedom from taking hold. If they couldn't re-break it, they'd kill the behemoth because once an elephant learns it can be free again, it won't forget.
Same situation but a human was killed... A fine was placed on the elephants owner and the elephant was killed. No discussion, no remorse. If an elephant knows it can overwhelm its captures, all humans become targets and THAT is unacceptable.
You may be curious as to when the training started because if it was already free and knew about freedom, wouldn't it fight to get out of captivity? Damn Skippy it would. Hunters would find a herd with several infants in it... Slaughter the heard, take the tusk and the infants and thus began its training... At the age of infancy.
As you reflect on the story, does something ring about in your mind that is relative to you? Do you see any similarities in today's world relative to how we function and operate in society?
Feel free to use the comment section for a novel if ya like but remember this is about how it relates to you personally. If you find you wish to blog the answer instead, feel free to use the title with "Challenge accepted."
Friday Feb 16th, I'll post my purpose for this blog and it's about learning along with personal growth possibilities. If for some reason you find something offensive that another person places in the comments... Keep it to yourself, everybody has the right to tell their tale in a way of which they connect. I do ask, however that you try not to use "fuck", ever other fucking word. 😂
