A TikTok video about the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM) provoked a strong reaction from people. "If you are forced to love your homeland, then there is nothing to love it for," - this was still the mildest of what was written in the comments.
Illustrative photo / social networks
TikTok users recall how they were tried to be lured into BRSM with promises of various benefits that, in practice, turned out to be empty words:
"Oh, once upon a time in school they also told me about the "perks" of BRSM... In fact, besides levies, there was nothing... But pay regularly..."
222 people confirmed the same with likes.
"In what sense - additional points upon admission? Is this justified by anything?" - asks an uninformed viewer. He is explained:
"No points are given, but if I'm not mistaken, if there's one last spot, and two people with identical scores are vying for it, then the one who is in BRSM has priority."
"Without BRSM, you'll only get "satisfactory" behavior and won't be able to claim a special certificate, even if your annual grades are 9 and 10."
Other viewers argue that all these promises are just lies:
"All this is nonsense. No promised benefits upon admission are given. Teenagers who don't understand what they're getting into are simply bought with false promises for the sake of statistics and to demonstrate loyalty to the occupiers."
Another user agrees with this:
"That's right. When my daughter applied to college, they didn't even ask if she was in this, so to speak, organization. They looked at her score."
Stories about coercion and pressure, which many encountered personally, caused a particular resonance:
"Schools actively campaign to join BRSM" - that's an understatement. We were told in plain text in 9th grade that those in BRSM would have a significant advantage over others. Then the entire parallel was forced to join BRSM."
"I'm 26, this summer they tried to force me to join again, I gave 15 rubles to their organization without being a member, just to keep them from bothering me. That's all you need to know )))".
"Somehow, no one asked us about joining BRSM. They just presented it as a fact, and that was it."
"Mine didn't go either. What "perks"? I was in BRSM - only deductions and free clean-ups on Saturdays."
"In my college, people only join BRSM to go work at an enterprise during holidays to earn money, and nothing else. As for patriotic education - there are curator hours where, as of 19.12.25, we talk about Khatyn and the atrocities of the fascists, and the same on history lessons."
Many commentators point out the profanation and the actual absence of real work in youth organizations:
"We were just initiated into pioneers - ties for 3 rubles and that's it."
"I'm supposedly in BRSM, but I don't do anything there."
Viewers ironize that methods of work have not changed over decades, and the organizations themselves have turned into a mechanism for resource appropriation:
"34 years have passed, and it's still pioneers and Komsomol members", "they have to feed BRSM."
One of the commentators draws direct parallels between the present and the Soviet past:
"All this is complete nonsense... all this has already happened... we marched in formation to the bugle and drum, stood in honor guards at World War II monuments... we learned the anthems of the USSR and BSSR... we learned, so to speak, to love our homeland... I still remember."
Attempts to "instill" patriotism through force evoke only skepticism and disturbing associations with totalitarianism in viewers:
"If you are forced to love your homeland, then there is nothing to love it for," - a viewer expresses their opinion and finds massive support from others.
"North Korea is getting closer and closer," - another sadly notes.
Another user spoke more categorically, summing up the general mood of the discussion:
"I quote Yuri Shevchuk: 'Homeland is not the president's ass.' So, homeland is not the memory of the Second War, it's not stories about bans on gatherings and rallies. Amidst all these dogmatisms, they forgot what school was invented for in the first place."
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