Lighten The Troika

LightenTheTroika is an alias for ScapeGoat.

This alias refers to the image of a sled, drawn by three horses (hence, a "troika"), being pursued by wolves. The passengers of the troika elect that one of their number be thrown to the wolves, in hopes that the rest might escape.

This alias is useful for two reasons:

It connotes the relative arbitrariness of the election: the guilt or innocence of the victim does not come into play.
It points up the fact that the "solution" is really only a temporizing measure: unless some other factor intervenes, the wolves will be back.

TresSeaver 11/11/97

Why don't the stupid bastards sacrifice one of the horses?

You really want to stop the sled to unhitch one of the horses? (And -- horses can run faster than you.) Any way you look at it, attempting to sacrifice a horse is a sure-fire way to get yourself eaten by the wolves. -- JeffGrigg

You kill the horse, of course. Dead horses can't run very fast at all. I presume you haven't sacrificed your sword. Anyway, it wouldn't be such a cool painting if they did it right. Never mind.

Two live horses can't run very fast when they're still harnessed to a dead one. If they weren't already spooked by the wolves, they're almost certainly going to lose it when you kill one of their number. Would you be silly enough to attempt to throw the exhaust manifold from your snowmobile to the wolves?

But seriously - once upon a time, Teamster was a skilled occupation. Horses, unlike cars, are expert-friendly. That's why we all drive cars now.

The first cars, like horses and early computers, were temperamental enough that one hired people to take care of them and make them do what was asked.
The next generation of cars was meant to be owned by people who would deal with them themselves, but one still had to know things such as the proper way to crankstart the engine, lest one's wrist be broken.
The current generation of cars feature "turnkey" operation. However, YouStillNeedToAddGas?. My PalmPilot is much like my car in this respect; but the laptop is stuck in the previous generation...

I'm not a Teamster, but my guess would be that you're supposed to cut the dead horse loose and drive on. That's what the Teamsters probably did with Hoffa -

Counter-point:: "... One of the reasons for the use of the three-horse troika was that if one horse was taken down by the wolves - it could be cut loose and the other two horses ..." -- http://www.securitydoors.com/walter/poem.htm

One reference:

In Flashman at the Charge

ISBN 0006512984 (great book! he's the man in front of the light brigade) there's a scene where he, in a troika with the lovely Valla, is chased by wolves. If I remember right, he has to throw out all of her clothes to lighten the sled. Later he throws...read it yourself."'' -- Charles Munoz (Charlezzzz@AOL.COM) Tue, 11 Jul 2000 (on another news group)

The series of books:

http://www.myk.mcmail.com/books/flashman/

(Apparently, Flashman is a kind of anti-hero -- much like "the Black Adder" of Monte Pyton fame. ;-)

BlackAdder? has nothing to do with Monty Python. Except of course that they're both excellent British comedy.

A Troika with Wolves:

http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/images/golikov_red_troika.html

(From "Russian Fairy Tales", "Folk Themes by Subject" -- http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/images.html)

"RUSSIA - Wolves attacking a Troika (Postally used PC). $29.50"

http://www.postcardman.net/animals_foxes.html

Poem: "The Snow Queen returns home to the Ice Palace"

 includes...
 "Three wolves, who draw her troika 
  At frightening speed,"

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewPoetry.asp?AuthorID=4909

An economic comparison:

http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TCEH/Slouch_Inflation23.html

Stein likened "the administration...[to] a Russian family fleeing over the snow in a horse-drawn troika pursued by wolves. Every once in a while they threw a baby out to slow down the wolves, hoping thereby to gain enough time for most of the family to reach safety...."