Documentary Journal

[Puer Aeternus]

This is a journal for me to actively reflect on the interesting documentaries I've watched lately.

 

All with the goal of practicing my writing and getting those slippery ideas out of my head and into words! 

[Puer Aeternus]

 

 

Learning about different cultures can be akin to time travel. Svaneti, Georgia and its people the Svans are like a window into the past. Retaining their way of life for millennia only experiencing a slow, gradual trickle of change over time. What forces maintain their cultural cohesion so strongly? In this reflection I want to demystify some answers to this question.

 

The most obvious factors is geography. The rough terrain of the Caucasas Mountains and brutal, punishing winters are an natural force that has pushed them towards isolation. Before invention of the automobile, travel to Svaneti would've been at best treacherous and at worst deadly. Mountains are an incredible cause of remarkable isolated diversity. They are why countries like Papau New Guinea, roughly the size of California, speak over 800 unique and often unrelated languages. 

 

Beyond geography, communal interdependence for survival is another factor that has kept the Svans together. In the documentary, it is clear. Their customs hold thousands of years of wisdom tailored specifically towards surviving in their environment and with each other. The winters force them to be strict and practical, rules are tightly enforced and deviation is punished with a loss of status. Loss of status may even be a life or death problem leading to exclusion from community resources, no assistance in emergency, and maintaining their family home, etc. Following the rules and being a good community member is enforced in their minds from a young age. Tradition and survival this way is what the community members are most skilled at and comfortable in.

 

In contrast to life in Svaneti, the world around them has been changing at a faster pace. More and more modern amenities are knocking at their doorstep, providing a tempting path away from their culture. The barrier of geography is falling. They've already adapted the Georgian language, automobiles, many community members leave to go attend college in cities. With this new access those more open minded may bring about change in or uproot from the community completely.

 

It seems likely the area will modernize more as tourists pour in that demand infrastructure, electricity, modern internet, new jobs, and much more. What will happen? It's clear that the deeply entrenched culture and social contract of the Svans will resist this, for a time. But what will the consequences be when new generations are born, less rooted in the old ways, and begin to change things even more? It will pose a lot of questions to the people and a lot of conflict as new, incompatible ways of life emerge and clash with traditional Svan culture. 

 

[Puer Aeternus]

 

To many, volunteering to risk their life in foreign war would be unimaginable. Yet, the numerous men in this documentary did just that. Why? Who are these people and what are their motivations? Coming into the documentary, I expected to learn about regional geopolitics and how these foreign fighting groups organized. Instead, I was impressed with the vast range of differing motivations for being a volunteer.

 

No, an overwhelming majority of volunteer foreign fighters (abbreviating to VFF) didn't make money. Most were bleeding cash and some emptied their savings to reach the conflict zone. But don't get it twisted, the VFFs had different self-motivated reasons for going.

 

Of the more self-oriented, you could tell some just wanted an adventure. The relatively simple cause of "blowing shit up and killing bad guys." Living out action movie fantasy as main characters. Some showed a deep insecurity and wanted to prove they were hard to the folks back home. Many of these cases had children at home, making their decisions especially questionable. Other VFFs operated through an ideological or religious lens, to represent the true faith, to spread American freedom and justice.

 

While others showed a more humanitarian interest. The draconian policies of ISIS and recorded atrocities, tortures, and executions triggered a moral sense of duty in many. Some showed empathy towards the locals and were clearly emotionally attached to their ideas of justice. A few carried this humanitarianism to inspirational levels, making incredible personal sacrifices.

 

Beyond personal motivation, many interesting group dynamics played out. Volunteers lacked a sole central planning entity, leaving individual groups responsible for vetting their VFFs. The bar was low, criminals, mentally ill, and those with no combat experience could join. Beyond this shakiness, scam groups were rampant. Groups often got into conflict over tactics, territory, or just straight up petty shit. The local militaries often treated the VFFs like luxury toys, to be passed around and represent the status of their unit. But not to see combat, as their deaths would bring bad PR.

 

Truly, you can find layers of human bullshit in everything. But the spectrum of how much is truly impressive. A VFF traveling abroad could be a pedophile escaping the country and humanitarian ready to lay down his life to protect the locals. Even those with good intentions encountered massive roadblocks to their initial plans to help.