Oddbean

@a344ae77 i'm not so much saying that people are weak for complying. i'm saying it's the only rational thing to do for a person that wants to stay safe. and that it is fairly easy for a government gone awry to do this.

@a344ae77 it's also fairly intoxicating for Russians, what the government is saying. the time after the USSR collapsed was humiliating for Russia. with less government control, there was also less purpose, because there was no communism to fight for and no capitalist enemy to defeat. imagine the sense of purpose that must've instilled in Russians, and how devastating it must've been to have it all shattered, and how intoxicating and convenient it is to just let Putin tell you how great your country is, and all you have to do to restore its glory is to follow his orders. any country feels excited and emboldened when the call for duty comes, and everyone works together for a greater cause. that's one of the most powerful psychological forces out there. "finally, i can forget about my own depressing life and serve a greater purpose."

@a344ae77 in some respects, many countries that used to have fascist regimes never truly recovered from it. it's tribalism. people respond to it, because they're genetically wired for it. early human tribes who had the instinct survived more often. if you've known the intoxicating feeling of being united behind a grand cause once, you'll always miss it. like many old people in Russia do.

@a344ae77 war veterans? same story. when they return to civilian life, they always miss the camaraderie of the battlefield and the profound sense of purpose they felt, because their individual actions could often mean life or death for the rest of the group. it's hard to find such a great sense of purpose in day-to-day life.

@c721880c sometimes, yes. The conscripts I knew had no sense of that. Either naked racism, or just going with the flow. But the trauma and the pain were real. Seeing friends pass out from excessive PT, the mental break downs, the abuse of power. For every 1 soldier in the front line, there are 9 in support. No sense of purpose, just plodding, waiting to get out, to be able carry on with life. It was very close to a jail sentence.