Compliance is always a choice
Yesterday we made a trip to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration in order to extend my visa. While our local office is never particularly busy, naturally one does tend to run into other expats. Yesterday this fellow walks in behind me and he looked American or European. He was late twenties, early thirties.
So I asked him: "Hey brother, where are you from?"
"Russia." I did not expect that.
"Oh" I said, thinking that he was definitely conscription material, "well, I'm glad you're here." He smiled and gave me a knowing look. I think he must have instinctively known I was referring to Putin's war in Ukraine.
After a bit of chit-chat in perfect English, I learned that he was waiting on his Russian (not Filipino) wife to join him here. How interesting is that? Then he asked me: "So why are you here?"
I thought about giving him my customary answer to this question: "My wife is from here." It's true, but essentially evasive. Instead I said: "Well, the US has gone crazy."
He did not miss a beat: "Yes...Russia too."
We both nodded knowingly.
By this time I was done, and he was being called to the counter. So I left wondering how many of his contemporaries are here? And in other countries?
I wish them good luck and long life.
It is one thing to be patriotic, and fight for your country. It is quite another to risk your life for the whims of a corrupt political class. Clearly this applies to Russian conscripts in Ukraine; just as it once applied to US conscripts in Vietnam. Some people, especially in the US, especially during the Vietnam War, viewed conscription as a no choice situation. Or worse, a patriotic duty.
But looking back at the Vietnam War, can anyone explain the US interest? Of course not. It was not about patriotism, much less fighting for your country. No, it was about a corrupt political class and their self-serving misconceptions. Remember, these are the same people who let Cuba go, but decided a poor country on the other side of the world, was worth dead Americans. No, no, Cuba may have been worth war, but certainly not Vietnam.
I think it is worth noting that even George Kennan, father of our containment strategy, thought involvement in Vietnam was a preoccupation and a mistake. But Johnson and McNamara, and Nixon and Kissinger, did not care about poor dead midwestern farm boys anymore than Putin cares about young dead Russians.
Here's a rule for you: If you give corrupt politicians the tool of conscription, they will use it to further their corruption. Every time. And they only get away with this with our sanction. Just don't give it; always question everything. And just like with the Covid vaccine, there is always a choice. Unpleasant though it may be.
Compliance is always a choice.