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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   35014 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023

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You’re forgetting here that Wagner Group are mercenaries. Mercenary armies marching against the cities which hired them happens all the time throughout history. They don’t do it because they want to overthrow the regime. They do it because they want to get paid.

I do not know the financial situation of Wagner. Perhaps this is not about payment in money. Maybe Russian troops really did fire upon Wagner mercenaries. What’s clear is that Prigozhin felt ripped off, and as a mercenary leader, marching his army to the doorstep of the palace is a tried and true method of litigating counterparty risk. It’s much easier for Putin to give these guys what they want than it is to risk urban warfare in Moscow.

“Merceneries”. These aren’t men without a country. They are still Russians. I don’t know the exact amount they have better pay, but they aren’t guys fighting for a random flag paying them more money.

I... don't have a good model of how mercenary these mercenaries are or how committed to Russia they are. I can definitely imagine having citizenship in a state and still having far more stake in my mercenary group than in that state. Especially in a state like Russia. And I think the believability of that is what makes marching on the capital a viable tactic for getting paid. (believability because, you don't even need to intend to ever follow through as long as you can win the game of chicken.)

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