Thread by @mrfewcr

- Bodega Bro
- René Girard’s scapegoat mechanism
- and Aztec human sacrifice.

A thread.

To French philosopher René Girard, normal order in societies is “the fruit of an anterior crisis.”

His thought is contained in mimetic desire, which states that when people desire the same thing[s], the object of desire is often forgotten and mimetic conflict ensues.

The only way to appease this crisis is through a victim, a scapegoat, which brings peace to society (at least for a time).

For Girard, this explains the violent nature of human beings and the use of sacrifice through generations, providing an anthropological explanation.

Last week, we witnessed Bodega Bro's professional setback: He was fired from his job after one of his TikTok videos went viral.

https://twitter.com/outreach_io/status/1542181628683833344?s=20&t=KUBXGm5UibXDdJ7SNVSEIg

In said video, he roams the streets of New York looking for ancient wholesome foods, but all he finds are Delis with nutrient deficient edibles.

https://twitter.com/scuffedbob/status/1542285785906286594?s=20&t=psXdTr6Uu2zlvKRsHe1VLw

Bodega Bro’s energy broke the space-time fabric in New York City, it just couldn't hold him.

His virality (and vitality) made him an object of desire, but also the scapegoat to restore order in this metaphysical wrinkle.

The Good News: he's among us 👇

twitter.com/GBow28

For companies, the scapegoat mechanism is a way to appease controversy of its employees, by firing them, especially in this highly connected world.

This situation has ancient roots. The Aztecs, to name one group, used human sacrifices to maintain the order of the world.

The Aztecs, also called Mexicas, were a Mesoamerican people/kingdom/culture that flourished in Central Mexico during the centuries just prior to Spanish conquest.

Human sacrifice among pre-Columbian people is known and well documented, but intertwined with perspectives that could be contradicting.

The following threads come from a short paper by Alfredo Lopez and Leonardo Lopez, titled AZTEC HUMAN SACRIFICE.

In many Mesoamerican religions, there were two space-time realms: one for the gods (the beyond), and another created by the gods for these creatures (our world). The world is the tangible experience we live in, and it can also be inhabited by the gods.

The Aztecs, also known as Mexicas, believed that “in primitive times many gods had been expelled from their heavenly dwelling for having violated the established order. One of the exiled, called Nanahuatzin, then decided to immolate himself in a bonfire.”

Because of this heroic act, Nanahuatzin went down to the netherworld to later reemerge from the east as the first creature, the Sun. He refused to go over the sky until his other rebellious brothers did the same, self-sacrificing.

These gods could not avoid death and by accepting it, became worldly creatures: the deer, the scorpion, etc.

Sacrifice was the experience needed to become creature creators.

Communication among creatures was possible through many portals due to gods being present in the physical realm. One of them being cycles, e.g. life and death, rain/dry seasons, etc.

Cycles allowed gods and ethereal beings to come in/out of the world.

pic from @Paracelsus1092

This whole cycle thing made gods tired, and they needed to be fed in order to recover. So gods created the humans, so humans could feed them through offerings and sacrifice.

There was this symbiotic relationship through which humans benefit from the gifts from the gods, and in retribution offer some of its products and ultimately their life.

Through sacrifice (material and human), worshippers avoided disrupting these cycles (the sun, the rain, life/death, etc.), and thus maintaining order.

To the Aztecs, there were two main meanings to human sacrifices: restitutions and “images of the gods”.

The former were simply payments. The latter had a Deeper meaning, as those were believed to be possessions from gods who needed to reenact their sacrificial death. After being sacrificed, the gods went down to the netherworld to recover strength and be born again.

I refuse to believe Bodega Bro's experience was a restitution.

Bodega Bro is really a GigaChad that needed to recover strength as preparation for greater things, to ascend.

His quest for wholesome, ancient foods is not finished.

@ElectionLegal

https://twitter.com/ElectionLegal/status/1542472340231036929