>
>Before Michael hits us with a slew of links....Let's admit that there are
>problems with this. So far as I know, during the Russian Revolution, the
>Cossacks were one of the most reactionary forces around.
They were also the ones fiercest in the pogroms. They're a warrior culture. They are very brutal (or were, anyway). The national mythology is that "we are defenders of the Russian Empire and the holy Slavs." Cosacks do not consider themselves to be Russians or Ukrainians, by the way, even though of course ethnically that is what they are. Which is why they are so happy about being a separate nationality today seince the last census (plus it means they get money from the federal budget).
>
>As for "warrior cultures" -- it has a fine ring to it -- Tolstoy was
>impressed, but in reality is it not simply another form of parasitism?
Yes. I mean, in the tsarist era they served the function of weakening the other bandit-warrior cultures in the Caucasus (the Chechens and Dagestanis), which as far as I know is why Katherine the Great settled them there in the first place.
And isn't the longing for it simply a nostalgia for
>"those times" when those who rule do so by some "natural" right like
>physical prowess and courage...rather than by the (unmanly) virtue of
>financial speculation (theft) and exploitation (theft).
Yes. The same thing characterizes Chechen mythology : "We are a great warrior people. We are fighters and takers of slaves who work for us. We are too noble to work ourselves." Which is one reason why Chechnya is so fucked up today.
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