• Rakonat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Russian culture is pretty much the embodiment of might makes right. If you inflict harm on someone weaker than you to prove a point, you’re manly. If you had the opportunity to inflict harm on someone and get away with it, but chose not to, you’re a coward. The military recruitment and hazing process only servers to turn this up to 11.

      This has been the basis of Russia for the last 3 centuries if not longer, and its how they think the world should work, but can’t figure out why everyone hates them, especially those both geographically and culturally close to them.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        When in Russia, rule as the Russians do, right? Crazy how much influence someone like Ivan the Terrible can have on culture and broader world events from such a distance.

        • S_H_K@lemmy.fmhy.net
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          1 year ago

          Puts into perspective that right or wrong are a social construct don’t ya? What we should consider is in what is based our right and wrong.

          • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The fact that a culture of extractive economies and strong-man leaders inculcated by a sociopathic nobleman hundreds of years ago can culminate in war crimes, an attempted coup, and the demographic collapse of two countries does not engender in me a profound appreciation for moral relativism. You can pump the brakes and put that one right through the fucking windshield.

    • bbbbbbbbbbb@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Theyve always been there. Every military in the world is an attractive spot for these people. They want to get the chance to reach a foreign zone where their superiors will let them do whatever they please, unless they are the commanding officer, in that case bets are off.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Every army has its share of Ed Gallaghers, sure. But it seems like the Russians have like… a lot of sociopaths. Something to do with recruiting from prisons, or just the disquieting power of hateful state media?

        • loutr@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Hazing in the Russian military (dedovshchina) is horrifying, straight up torture, mutilation and even murder. Families often use their entire savings to bribe officials so their sons aren’t conscripted. So the Russian military is made up of the dregs of society, people so destitute they can’t pay their way out of military service. Mental health issues are prevalent, either from their past life or from the hazing itself.

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Theyve always been there. Every military in the world is an attractive spot for these people.

        I think this is a pretty commonly held misconception about the nature of genocide or crimes against humanity. We all have the potential to partake in such actions, the vast majority of people who partake in these crimes are just every day normal people.

        The Russian military creates misery wherever they go because being in the Russian military has been a miserable state of existence for the last three hundred years.

        No matter what government or time and place in history, being enlisted or conscripted in the Russian military has meant that you will be hazed, raped, stolen from, and then made to rape, steal, and haze new recruits. It’s an actual part of how they maintain institutional discipline.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        GWAR is a thrash metal band known for elaborate and inventive depictions of violence and sexual depravity, often leavened with wickedly humorous commentary on politics, religion, and the human condition.

        That’s my off the cuff guess at what their Wikipedia page looks like, anyway. Go listen for yourself if you like over the top metal that doesn’t take its image too seriously.

      • dangblingus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Fact: Russia never actually implemented Communism. Stalin had the Bolsheviks assassinated. Stalinism is just Fascism calling itself Socialism by invoking Marx and Lenin’s names.

        Also Fact: Tsarist Imperialism was extremely shitty as well. Shitty economy forcing people to pay workers in vodka.

        Also Also Fact: when your normal is brutality, you tend to be brutal to others.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It goes back further. I’m pointing fingers at the first Tsar, because I don’t know much about what was going on before that, but the dots connect as far back as that at least.

        Edit: On review, all of Russia might have been fucked from the jump thanks to the Mongols.

        • angrystego@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Russian history is said to be easily described by a single sentence: And then it got worse.

          • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Respectfully, I think if we’re going to zoom out that far it has to be said that on balance, things have never been better for humans. Barring a massive setback like nuclear war, I view our current set of difficulties as growing pains.

            My favorite historian’s sum-up has long been that history is “a series of unintended consequences”.

            • angrystego@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I agree with you when it comes to human history and science development. The quip is aimed at Russian history specifically, and as with many jokes, you have to be attuned to what it jokes about to enjoy it (the different eras of suffering of common people in Russia and the turbulent changes that often lead to more suffering). It’s just a joke though, it doesn’t survive deep scrutiny.