The Jungle Book, Socialism, and Shere Khan

G.S. Muse
5 min readApr 6, 2023

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Deep in the jungles of India, a tiger attacks a young couple, but their baby boy escapes, taken in by a family of wolves. In their cave, the mother and father wolf notice that the man-cub is not afraid of them, that he wrestles with the wolf cubs and nurses from the mother. Shere Khan sticks his striped head into the narrow cave and demands that the wolf family give him the baby. They respond that the wolves are a free people, not his dogs and that they will not hand the man-cub over to him. Mother Wolf promises Shere Khan that not only will she not hand the baby over, but one day he will grow up to kill the tiger.

Shere Khan, image credit here

Shere Khan, unable to enter the cave swears to kill the boy, but because he is too large to enter, that day will not be today.

Mother Wolf looks at the naked baby, and names him Mowgli, “The frog.”

The boy grows, and the wolves age, as wolves do. But a new generation of wolf pups also grows, and Shere Khan asks them why a man should be a part of their pack. The tiger throws these pups scraps from his kill so that they do not have to hunt, and they praise Shere Khan, taking in his words against the man-cub.

Throughout this story, the term “dog” is used as an insult to degrade a wolf, one of the “free people” and yet we see this irony in Shere Khan giving scraps to this younger generation. Notice how man-like the Tiger here is acting, while condemning men. This reminds me, in a way, of the pigs in Animal Farm.

The Messed Up Origins of The Jungle Book | Disney Explained — Jon Solo

Later in this story, after the man-cub kills Shere Khan, the wolves are a mangy and broken people. They beg the previous leader and Mowgli to lead them, and both Mowgli and the previous pack leader refuse.

This shows the danger of a would-be leader who offers a free lunch without work. When a Barack Obama or an Adolf Hitler promise free Healthcare and push for the disarmament of the citizens, then the wise ought to be worried, while the fools blindly follow empty promises for scraps.

CHRISTIANS MUST STOP TREATING POLITICS AS IF IT’S AMORAL — For The New Christian Intellectual

Socialists/Communists around the world have promised shining utopias and a chicken in every pot. Democrats such as Alexandria Occasio Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders today promise the same and more. If you vote for them, they promise to take care of everyone by stealing from the rich. Since some people are rich and others are poor, Marxists argue that the rich must be oppressing the poor. After all, why is anyone poor unless they are being oppressed? It is on this premise that they (and their Evangelical allies) claim that taking from the rich to give to the poor is “Justice.”

Of course, as Dr. Thomas Sowell points out: The question in economics is not why some people are poor. Most people around the world throughout history have been poor. Poverty is the natural state of the world. The real question is: Why is anyone rich?

Thomas Sowell — A Basic Misconception about Poverty

It’s also important to point out that even Karl Marx and those who followed him expected that people would have to work. This idea that there would be prosperity without work is a phenomenon that seems to be unique to American Democrats.

The price these authoritarians demand in exchange for these empty promises of “free” Healthcare, college, and universal basic income, is freedom itself.

Contrast this with Capitalism, which promises nothing but freedom, and yet delivers so much.

A full discussion of economics and Theology is beyond the scope of this article. It’s important to point out, however, that the principles of Free Market Capitalism are what is taught in the Bible, while the principles of Socialism are directly condemned. In a Capitalist civilization, business and charity are to be done by consent, or not at all. In the Bible, God protects private property and says that there is to be no partiality between rich or poor in court, nor is there to be partiality based on nationality. In fact, in every case we see of charity to the poor in the Bible, it is always a voluntary gift from one’s own private property, not from the public funds or the (stolen) property of one’s neighbor. And there were many poor people in those days.

As other FTNCI writers have pointed out, just because we were in need, does not mean that God owed us the sacrifice Jesus made on the Cross.

It is also noteworthy that Jesus Christ Himself routinely compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a Capitalist endeavor in His parables.

Based on this fact, we can agree with Jacob Brunton’s summation that the Kingdom of Heaven will be a Capitalist paradise, and those who hate Capitalism will hate Heaven.

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G.S. Muse

G.S. Muse, also known as GreenSlugg on YouTube or simply as “Greg” is a lab technician, youtuber, author, and blogger. His work can be found at GSMuse.com