“Obligate carnivores don’t feel bad about the other species they eat. Cannibalism is common throughout the animal kingdom, particularly cannibalism of the young. There are species that deliberately destroy the habitats they live in to discourage competition. There are even plants species that deliberately destroy their own habitats to discourage competition.
“There is no right or wrong to any of this. It is just what they do. That’s a harsh reality. Humans are different from animals because humans have a very strong conception of right and wrong built into our consciousness. The term ‘sapiens’ from ‘homo sapiens’ derives from the term meaning ‘wisdom’. The wisdom we have is separating right from wrong.
“To go along with our rules on right and wrong, we humans have developed a lot of related technologies: apology, forgiveness, and restitution. These are the things that make us different from animals.
“We had a discussion earlier about the male to female reproduction ratio of one to seventeen. If we lived eight thousand years ago, here is how tonight would have gone.
“Emile was your alpha. This was his harem. I say that it was his harem because all of the women in here, save Gita and Churan, submitted to his authority by allowed him to romance them behind her husband’s back.”
Kailey started to object, but Greg raised his hand and said, “Let me finish! I think I earned the right to finish my address. I promise you it will only last another couple of minutes.”
Greg glared at the folks at the table until they nodded or looked away.
“As I was saying, this was Emile’s harem. He was the alpha. I defeated him in physical combat in front of you. What would that have meant, 8,000 years ago?
“Well, the first thing I would have done was castrate Emile. Then, I would pull his teeth. Then I would have removed all of his fingers except for the index fingers and thumbs on his hands, leaving only that for him so he wouldn’t be totally useless as a slave. I then would have sodomized him in front of everyone. I would do this to demonstrate that I was superior to your previous alpha. It would let you know a new order was in place.
“Next, I would have declared the wives were all mine. The first man to object would have his throat slit in front of the others. I would then ask if there were any more objections. The stronger men would be castrated directly. The ones who were weak and sucked up to me right away might be left intact and put in charge of controlling the castrated ones later.
“I then would have then taken one of the wives in front of everyone. Probably the wife who put up the most resistance. I would make the point that resistance is futile.
“The slaves would all be put into a slave labor pool. The men would toil day after day growing crops for me.
“The women would be put in my harem and would start at the bottom of the status hierarchy. The wives I already had would beat you and starve you and treat you like shit. I would put you on a rotation and you’d all get your turn with me. You’d learn pretty quickly that the women with status were the ones who gave me children. If you gave me children, you’d be pampered and privileged and brought to my bed more often. You see, that’s the ultimate status marker in the harem: the ones who please me the most get the most time with me.