Sunday, November 12, 2006

This is a way to collect taxes

Dancing eunuchs taxing red-faced shopkeepers

Check this out. This is some way to collect back taxes. It sounds like state sponsored sexual harassment. It is a strange world.

Now the thing that I find most interesting...
Eunuchs are still common in India, where they live in closed-knit communities. Some are castrated men but others are transsexuals and hermaphrodites who have been ostracized by their families.

Also known as hijras, they are widely feared and move around towns and cities in groups and demand money on occasions such as marriage or the birth of a child. They are believed to have occult powers.

So, in all actuality, the government hired a bunch of thugs (or at least people that inspire fear) to go out and induce people to pay up.

In the US - black helicopters, windowless vans, SWAT teams kicking down your door.
In India - bands of eunuchs.

No comments: