Turbo-Nationalists and Reality

Screen cap from Russian Army add, via Telegram

Russia has launched a series of ads to get people to join the army. They all emphasize the pay and the fact that Russian troops have rich contracts. The three I have caught are directed at different layers of society.

The first is directed at the working class. It involves threats from what appears to be the mafia, disappearing as soon as the recruit shows the thugs his contract. It implies all debts will be gone. If the soldier dies on the front lines, it’s true.

The second is the middle class. Dad can’t afford a cell phone for his teenage girl. This is not an uncommon situation. The army contract allows dad to buy a cell phone (on payments) before leaving for the war zone. It includes a discussion, overheard by dad, between his teenage girl and a friend about the army and the motherland. But the whole thing comes down to money.

The one that Two Majors refer to involves an old man who owns an older LADA he loves but can’t afford to keep. His son rescues the car by joining the army. The theme across all of them is the same. The army can solve your economic problems.

Here is the post critical of this ad, which, to be fair, is quite effective.

Regarding this disgusting video, which has been circulating on the Internet and Telegram for several days, it is worth pointing out several important points.

Yesterday, many thought (even some of my comrades) that this video was blinded by the officers of the CIPSO. Or even insidious tsrushniki in the Baltics.

But no, the actors who starred in the commercials were established — they are ours, domestic. As well as the locations were determined — this is the Moscow region.

However, I had no doubt that this vomit was removed from us, and most likely also for state money.

According to the handwriting, the video is very similar to those that were viral before the elections. Gay overexposure, remember? Maybe another command was running.

But here, either unequivocally or at the state expense, they filmed rubbish about Russian men, ideological Russophobes, of which we, frankly, have a lot in the field of culture (one Reichelgauz is worth something on state grubs). And such “sleepers” blinded a Russophobic video, and convinced the customer that it was very cool and popular.

Option two. The video was made by people who are completely out of touch with life, who do not know people, do not understand the country, do not understand and are afraid of the Russian people. And such people quite sincerely think that they made a very good video. Are there really people out of touch with life, you ask? Of course. Children of people from the highest social stratum (officials, business). They are, however, different. I also know big businessmen who have sons at the front now. I also know examples when adult boys and girls were surprised that there are salaries of 15 thousand. However, we have enough people who do not understand the country and the people.

But it doesn’t matter who filmed this video. He also has a client. So this customer watched the video and accepted it. He said, yes, guys, everything is fine, I like it. Run!

And it is precisely the one who gave this Russophobic filth a ticket that is the main villain in this whole story. Because everything is good for him in this video. A Russian man goes to fight not for the Motherland, but solely for money.

Such a fat spit in our people can only be assessed as a crime. Because I know exactly how and why the mobilized from my district left to fight. And what does the word Motherland mean to them?

Of course, let’s leave the small option that the video was filmed by enemy tsipsos on our territory with our actors. But then I don’t know which option is worse.

The reality, proven by the mercenaries serving with Wagner, is that troops are going to war due to the rich contracts. I would say that the turbo-nationalists are somewhat out of touch with their country.

It is not just Russians who live in their silos, but this is a perfect example of this and how we all live within confirmation bias communities.

Proof that there is trouble outside the turbo-nationalist circles is the creation of a new youth movement:

RDDM DP cells are opened in Russian schools immediately. The organization will annually receive more than 21 billion rubles from the budget. Based on the total number of students of 16 million people, the coverage, as they say, is impressive. 37-year-old Grigory Gurov has been appointed Chairman of the Board of RDDM DP. He comes from Stavropol, a specialist in working with young people. He grew up to Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education.

It is worth remembering that in the mentioned USSR, youth organizations were a good opportunity to become people, to move to a high career level. So the post is more than responsible, and the budget, as we can see, is solid.

It is clear that by law, membership in the “Movement of the First” is purely voluntary, although something suggests that it will not be easy to refuse.

Russia has done this in the past. This is meant to increase the proper form of nationalism. Indoctrination is not strange in Russia. Like the Komsomol of Soviet times, this will be vital if children want to advance in multiple careers, not just government. It will help them to enter college.

This is not a minor thing. Nor is Wagner trying to formalize the status of his lucre-soldiers as veterans. This includes former convicts. There are benefits attached, including preferential college admission and civilian jobs.

Speaking of Wagner, yesterday, this happened.

Instead of Putin, Prigozhin arrived in Bakhmut — he says that he is “ready to meet” with Zelensky.

According to the head of the Wagner PMC, he went to the positions when he learned that Zelensky decided to visit Bakhmut: “Dear Vladimir Aleksandrovich, if you have not left yet, I am ready to meet.” Several videos allegedly made on the front lines are in the carousel.

He was very formal in the video. It could be disrespect or point to a break between the army and Wagner. I am from the former school. In my slowly growing command of Russian, I picked the formality. He is a mercenary commander. While he is used to achieving Russian goals, one has to wonder if he plans to go the Condotieri way and serve the higher bidder.

This from Machiavelli’s The Prince might be relevant:

I say, therefore, that the arms with which a prince defends his state are either his own, or they are mercenaries, auxiliaries, or mixed. Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy. The fact is, they have no other attraction or reason for keeping the field than a trifle of stipend, which is not sufficient to make them willing to die for you.

To go back to Two Majors, he is confusing money soldiers for state soldiers. He is also not realizing that people don’t just fight for the love of their country. Do some people do that? Yes, especially when their country is attacked. This is the elan we see with the Ukrainian army. It is their country that was attacked.

The Russian military is the aggressor country. This is one reason behind the Russian army's low morale or fighting spirit.

Incidentally, today we cross another critical milepost for Russian forces. They have lost 100,000 troops, per Ukrainian numbers. These are substantial losses. It explains why Russia is expanding the term of service to two years and raising the maximum service age for conscripts to thirty from twenty-seven years. They are also removing the proscription of sending conscripts to the front lines from day one.

Vladimir Putin has also now admitted he is in trouble. However, he is not yet ready to pull out of Ukraine. However, rumors of withdrawals continue to grow. So with these many rumors, and the propaganda that they are fighting NATO, something is up. I suspect they will withdraw to new lines sooner rather than later.