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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022

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So what about the German right-wing conspiracy that got busted? On one hand, they seem pretty crazy with conspiracy theories and actually believing that the German people would support a coup. On the other hand, they don't seem like random nobodies but the kind of people you would want on your coup if you were to do a coup.

Link to news story: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63885028

Some random thoughts:

  1. Was this conspiracy realistic? Or was it just a big larp? (Are all coups big larps?)

  2. How strong were the Russian connections? Are the arrests a blow to Putin?

  3. Why do the conspiracy thing when you can just do normal politics in AfD and actually get power the true and tried way [insert reference to well-known, democratically successful German right wing leader]. Or if you insist on conspiracy, you can at least march trough the institutions, it seems like the better option? And if you really need power nownow, why not just take the exit option (e.g. move to Russia and make your own auth-right comune there?)?

I'd be happy for someone who has an actual take or an interesting perspective on this to create their own top level thread.

Your auth-right commune might get sent wholesale to siege Popasna or reinforce the line near Bakhmut or whatever. Alternatively, denazified via prison rapes or set on fire by Chechens. Also the climate is terrible. Other than that, a decent idea.

This isn't the first time Europeans bust a conspiracy with a surprisingly competent military prepping and an inane, politically doomed premise. I guess it's a package deal – if you really reject democracy, you cannot recognize how it recruits people to defend itself.

Would anyone who accepts Russian citizenship be delusional enough to think they'd not get mobilized in case of war ?

Also, would authorities care to suppress a bunch of foreign weirdoes who move to some rural area, bother nobody, engage in no political activity and pay their taxes ? It's not really something threatening. Or would it be that e.g. police would try to shake them down for bribes, and if they don't play ball try to set them up as subversives ?

I think that everyone knows about the Russian draft and the tradition of dedovshchina is the reason(well, one of the bigger ones) that you haven’t seen anyone try to negotiate with the Russians to set up a semiautonomous zone in rural Siberia somewhere.

a) Does Russia even have universal conscription anymore ? Outside of war ?

b) things can happen without you being aware of them. Indeed, the most interesting things happen usually without much fanfare.

I think everyone kind of knows that the russian draft falls hardest on rural areas and people who are not ethnic russians.

But is it because the people are the least motivated to run away, or because the authorities are the most brutal due to the relative powerlessness of rural ethnic minorities ?