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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 27, 2026

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See parts of the world that believe in beating, for example Eastern Europe. Under tsars, communists and democracy, brutality was and is the rule at home, in schools, army and prisons, and the result is hundreds of millions of well adjusted and highly accomplished people who make their countries the shining light of the world.

Just FYI, Elon Musk is going to be sending you a bill in the next few days for the damage caused to his Starlink satellites by the unauthorized launching of my sides into orbit.

but retvrn to great wars ending in glorious victories, accomplishments so shining that every young man with motivation and drive would want to wear uniform and be part of winning team.

Here are some videos I have seen from the current war in Ukraine:

  • A Ukranian squad marches for several hours to a contested location. They get pinned for an hour inside a barn by what turns out to be friendly fire, spending most of the time on their stomachs behind hay bales. They fire their weapons towards other buildings occasionally, accomplishing nothing or worse. Most of the footage is just dust floating around, accompanied by the sound of bullets impacting wood.
  • During a trench raid, the pointman mis-communicates with his squad about the location of a machine gun ("To the left?" "Right!") and gets killed instantly as a result. Nobody attempts to retrieve his body because it's stuck in the gun's line of sight.
  • A BMP notices movement in a nearby treeline, and rakes the entire area with its autocannon. For good measure, it also blows up a nearby shed with a high explosive shell. Then it drives away.
  • A conscript moving down his trench with his weapon drawn is shot point blank in the head by a soldier hiding in a small depression in the wall.
  • A small group of Russians attempt to carry a soldier in a stretcher to a safer location. They keep close together, which allows a drone to drop a grenade on the entire group. A few of them survive, with horrific injuries. They feebly attempt to move but can't do anything except lie on the ground and spasmodically kick their legs or paw at their body armor. The video ends.
  • A soldier stuck in a shell hole during an artillery bombardment frantically crosses himself. (I don't remember if he survived, but I do remember that people jeered at him on Twitter because he was probably a Russian and therefore they were allowed to do so).

The assistant general of the army resides on the left. The supreme general of the army resides on the right. This was known thousands of years ago, and it is more known than ever today. In the period of time between The Iliad and GoPro drone footage, those who would wage war have constantly attempted to deceive their slaves, soldiers, and citizens about what fighting actually entails, or to pressure them into accepting it, or in rarer and typically more successful cases, to compensate them for it. (During the high points of the Roman Empire, for example, a soldier really did eat well, and could expect a good deal of material wealth and career advancement upon retirement). Anyone who tells you that it is sweet and noble to die for your country is lying to you or very stupid.