Cannibalism, then and now!

Do you remember that movie scene in which Hannibal Lektor, perfectly dressed, roasts a human brain at a set table and a glass of wine?

This scene may not be as much fiction as it seems at first glance!

From time to time, Europeans are shaken by stories of people who like to "bite" other people here and there.

The word "cannibal" appeared in English in the middle of the 16th century. It comes from the Spanish word "canibales" by which Columbus described the natives he found in the Caribbean, who were said to eat human flesh. Although Columbus' diaries clearly state that he has no evidence for this claim, the expression has remained.

The world was shocked a few years ago by the confession of Armin Majves, a lone computer technician from Germany sentenced to life in prison, about how he ate another man. Most bizarre of all - Mayves is an ad in which he makes it clear what he wants to post on the Internet. His victim responded!

Recent anthropological research, however, shows that cannibalism is not at all as foreign to Europeans as it has been portrayed in history.

Stories from prehistory

Cannibalism, anthropologists claim, is one of the holiest taboos of mankind. Europeans were not spared either, although this is rarely and rarely talked about.

Records of cannibalism are scattered throughout many religions and historical documents. There is a report that cooked human meat was sold in the English market in the 11th century during the period of famine - says Jay Rubenstein, a historian at the University of Tennessee, Smithsonian magazine reports.

However, the first recorded case of cannibalism by Europeans, confirmed by several independent sources, occurred in 1098 during the First Crusade.

There is evidence that cannibalism was widespread among non-Adretals who lived in present-day Europe 100,000 years ago. This practice was continued by the homo sapians who inherited them.

And much more recent history is full of evidence of people eating other people…

Christian soldiers, after capturing the Syrian city of Marat, ate the bodies of local Muslims!

There are two stories about why this was done - one cites hunger as the main reason. Second, this was done with the blessing of superiors to "drive fear into the enemy's bones."

Either way, this story is very instructive, though ironic. Namely, for centuries the inhabitants of other continents were considered savages, while Europeans were representatives of the "civilized" world.

Witches, Jews, savages, pagans, inhabitants of the Orient… they were all considered cannibals. The citizens of Christian medieval Europe certainly could not be that - writes Geraldine Heng in the book "Cannibalism, the First Crusade and the Genesis of Medieval Romance".

Stories of European cannibalism go back in history ... If at the beginning of the 11th century Europeans were horrified by cannibalism, in the 16th century it was a part of everyday medicine from Spain to England.

Small crushed pieces of mummies brought from Egypt were prescribed as medicines. The practice soon spread to the meat, skin, bones and blood of corpses illegally exhumed in cemeteries. To make matters more bizarre, this "medical cannibalism" was covered in ancient medicine, which recommended drinking human blood.

This tradition persisted in Europe until the twentieth century. In 1910, the German Pharmaceutical Catalog was still selling mummies while at the same time sending missionaries and colonists to the New World to "cure barbarians."

As things stand, it is very possible that cannibalism throughout history in Europe has been a socially acceptable behavior for much longer than in the countries of the New World!

The most famous such case is that of Uruguayan rugby players whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972. The survivors ate the injured passengers, which kept them alive for more than two months without any other food. Anthropologists claim that cannibalism is bad for the long-term survival of our species. After all, we won’t be able to sustain the population if we eat each other. But cannibalism can be a short-term lifeline in the event of extreme starvation, as has often happened in history.

Cannibalism whose purpose is not survival or ritual is often the result of some form of mental illness. Some of the modern cannibals are diagnosed with schizophrenia (which can cause hallucinations and insanity) Other therapists claim that cannibals are psychopaths, meaning they are aware of what they are doing, but due to a lack of empathy do not realize the wrongness of their actions. Worryingly, cannibalism can be contagious, Addiction begins as a recurring fantasy in a psychopath’s head. When they finally turn their imagination into reality by eating human flesh, their brains are flooded with dopamine, making them feel like they’ve snorted cocaine. The psychopath will try to repeat that crazy feeling - he will continue to eat human flesh and will not be able to stop himself.

Why this article, you are probably wondering?

I have to say with concern that this was a study of the "spirit of the times", which unfortunately says a lot about today's system, but also about people. Because the spirit of our time is essentially cannibalistic.

On our planet, a socio-economic-political system has prevailed, in the essence of which is predatory cannibalism. the downfall of his colleagues?

A small layer of oligarchs in this system has almost eaten the entire middle class of society, and when they eat the middle class, they are likely to each other on the menu, which will bring new global conflicts.