675 AD, Japan. Emperor Tenmu bans meat consumption. Not for health. Not for religion initially. For control.
The ban lasts 1,200 years. Twelve centuries of restricted animal protein in a nation that had been eating wild boar, deer, and waterfowl for millennia.
The official justification evolved: Buddhism prohibits killing. Meat is impure. Consumption of four-legged animals offends the gods.
The real reason was simpler: protein access creates independence. Hunting requires no landlord. A peasant with access to wild game answers to no one. A peasant dependent on rice answers to whoever controls the paddies.
The Tokugawa shogunate perfected this system. Rice became the currency of control. Samurai received rice stipends. Peasants paid rice taxes. The entire economy ran on a grain that required infrastructure, irrigation, and land ownership to produce.
You cannot grow rice alone. You need the collective. You need the system. You need permission.
You can hunt deer alone. That was the problem.
Historical records show the Japanese population got shorter during the meat ban period. The average peasant in 1800 was 5'1". Significantly smaller than their meat-eating ancestors from the 7th century.
When American Commodore Perry arrived in 1853, the Japanese were stunned by the physical size of American sailors. The Americans averaged 5'8".
The Americans ate meat. The Japanese had been banned from it for 1,200 years.
The Meiji Restoration in 1868 lifted the ban. The government explicitly encouraged meat consumption to "strengthen the race" and compete with Western powers.
Within two generations, average height increased 2 inches. Within four generations, Japanese men averaged 5'7". Not genetics. Nutrition.
The meat ban worked exactly as designed: It kept the population small, weak, and dependent on a food supply that required permission to access.
The moment that permission was rescinded, the population grew taller. Almost like humans need animal protein and 1,200 years of institutional knowledge couldn't change biology.
Iran is one of the oldest friends of India, since the time of it being Persia, the days of Zoroastrians, the scythians and shakas, the Medes to the modern day Iranians.
We wish that they all be happy, free and prosperous.
I stand with the people of Iran ๐โค๏ธ
I have a lot of Iranian friends, including my childhood best friend. Amazing people.
It's one of the great cultures and peoples in the history of the world.
Stay strong โค๏ธ
Drink where the horse drinks. A horse will never drink bad water. Make your bed where the cat lies down. Eat fruit that has been touched by a worm. Feel free to pick mushrooms that gnats land on. Plant a tree where a mole digs the ground. Build a house where a snake basks. Dig a well where birds nest in the heat. Lie down and mate with chickens - you will have the golden grain of the day. Eat more greens - you will have strong legs and an enduring heart, like a beast. Swim more often, and you will feel at home on land as a fish does in water. Look at the sky more often than at your feet, and your thoughts will be clear and light. Be silent more than you speak, and silence will settle in your soul, and your spirit will be peaceful and calm.
@elonmusk@xai In India we have a clear distinction between d 2.
A researcher is mostly from the Science fields & k.a. Scientist. He uses science & its laws for newer & better discoveries.
Engineer is 1 who uses d research & discoveries of scientists 2 apply it 2 normal life practical uses.