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Comment by hogrider | Hacker News Reader

Even at the heught of the nation state as the sole ordering institution in your life I always wondered what compells people to fight for their country other than self defense ofc. At the end of the day you will still be serving the elites when it's all over. Most times they didn't take good care of the veterans. Really no incentive to fight hard other than you were conscripted and treason carries the death penalty.

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In the end of the day everyone dies anyway and dying defending your home is virtuous on the subconscious level. This is not a rational conclusion you can think through lying on your couch in peaceful times, but when your family is already in the bomb shelter, you cornered on all sides and rockets are flying over, some kind of a deeper instinct kicks in. That's why many Ukrainians are fighting so fiercely right now, there is not enough mental capacity about caring about "serving the elites" or other such thoughts of better times anymore, you fight, you die, you live.

> At the end of the day you will still be serving the elites when it's all over

What's the alternative? Not fight and become occupied and likely oppressed - is that a better choice? Or flee and become a war refugee? The average citizen doesn't have highly sought-after skills in other countries, they are likely to go to a refugee camp for months and years. So, some people choose to fight for their families, friends, and preserving their way of life. I think defending the in-group from an aggressive out-group is a perfectly reasonable, ingrained human response.

I’d fight to protect my family and friends from a foreign invasion.

Sounds better than running.

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