Straw dogs

 We are witnessing a time where speeches are exhausted in content and expressions. The repetition, inconsistency and lack of imagination to produce new terms that manage to make the masses part of political ideas and movements, with whom they identify intellectually and feelings, force the search and recycling of some old voices and terms. Of the latter, "straw dogs" is very useful due to its complexity and variations.

This expression begins its existence in ancient China. There they used dolls imitating dogs that were stuffed with straw for ceremonies and rituals. The idea was to give the gods an offering in the shape of a dog, which was treated with the greatest respect, veneration and adulation, but once the ritual or ceremony was over they were thrown into the trash, trampled and abandoned because they were no longer tools.

Refers to the expression "straw dogs" in the first of its meanings, to those individuals who appear to be strong, show off and display great power with the intention of keeping reality hidden, who are weak, hollow in nature and of course capable to be false. There is another expression with the same meaning, it is “paper tiger”. "Straw dogs" are also used to point out those who are part of crowds, the masses, cannon fodder or gallery public, and they are encouraged with flattery to be useful idiots for a purpose and sometimes protagonists of the news. Without knowledge of the truth, they locate them in a convenient place and time.

It turns out that this expression also has its moment of corruption. It is used by scammers and swindlers to designate the false or arranged and apparently different quotes that are presented together with the true ones, so that the friend's may succeed and those of the honest and naive fail.

Another use it has is to identify the person who is chosen as intermediary or front man in an illegal operation, hide money and property. These dogs must be willing to pay in prison for the privilege of pretending and living a life of opulence that does not belong to them. The last meaning of this expression refers to the person who becomes a scapegoat or scapegoat, who will be blamed for the illegal acts or crimes of another. He doesn't even get to enjoy the sweetness of the crime he didn't commit.

Wisely, the Chinese poet Lao Tzu, in one of his works, points out that destiny, the world and people with power and wisdom treat all things as "straw dogs", after using them according to their objectives and needs, they discard them and they throw away, without feeling remorse or feelings of guilt. Those are words to always keep in mind.