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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 22, 2024

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Thanks for the link. And, yes, it did shift my views toward more Ukraine support (never anti-Ukraine, but more concerned with male wellbeing and disposability). As much as I'd love a poll that got into the nitty gritty of what exactly Ukrainian men think of current conscription/mobilization policy, that seems unlikely, and this poll does suggest they're broadly supportive of it, at least in principle, and I can't think of any quibbles that'd reverse the results.

You are welcome. And if you are interested in that, there's no reason you can't just reach out directly to IRI and ask more about this poll / how to contact the pollsters / let them know you have follow on questions and why.

It wouldn't be an imposition to them, and in fact they'd probably be thrilled to let you know if they had anything else. Researcher groups like that often love when their research is noticed, and policy-support research in particular loves to know when research they provided can change an opinion. You questions / testimony and reasoning why (concern of male disposability) and what assauged your concern (awareness of Ukrainian views on the subject) would be the sort of thing that might tailor future questions and such.

Push comes to shove, most men in the suck accept their duty, if only because adrenaline and testosterone are a helluva drug. Instinctively all men who have done team sports or other forms of group bonding know this, and acculturated messaging about duty and honor go a long way to motivate what looks like irrationality.

What men don't like is dying for nothing, or worse dying for someone elses interest directly against our own. Hence the claims that Ukrainians are dying for NATO or USMC was dying for Haliburton - those claims, if believed, can crush morale. We saw Afghanistan fall when everyone felt that Kabul did not care for even the Pashtuns much less the Hazara or Tajiks, and we saw the Iraqi army all abandon Mosul because dying for Sunnis isn't on the cards for the Shia. Even now we see Palestinians, Lebanese and Houthis continuing to die for Islam/Anti-Israel, even though Iran has thoroughly asspuppeted them. So long as the men believe in the cause, it doesn't matter if someone else actually is asspuppeting them.