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The Billionaire and the Boy Whose Head Was Slammed Into a Tree
A morality tale for today’s time
First, a true story about a boy whose head was slammed into a tree. Then, about that billionaire ….
A projection screen set up in my anthropology class shows a band of hunters traveling barefoot through a tropical forest. Each of them carries a spear in his right hand. Two of them also carry a freshly-killed wild boar tied to a pole, the ends of the pole on their shoulders. Another man holds on to something with his left hand. What is it?
As the camera moves closer, I can see it’s a foot. A small, bare foot.
The camera angle shifts, and I can now see a boy connected to that foot. A very little boy, a toddler, really, nude and dangling upside down. His head is dragging on the ground, and dirt is getting into his mouth. His mouth is open because he’s crying.
This is a boy from another tribe, the anthropologist who is wielding the camera tells us. He was found by the hunters after they killed the pig. The man who has him intends to give him to his intended, who recently lost a child.
However, the anthropologist continues, since taking the boy, the hunter has become annoyed with the constant whimpering and wailing. That’s why he’s now carrying him in such a cruel…
