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The Mercenary Mindset -- How Most of Us Became Merceneries

Updated: Jan 26


An illustration resembling the army emblem.



(Disclaimer: As a public figure, I, Mr. Tomasio Rubinshtein, choose to remain neutral regarding the Russo-Ukrainian War)


A mercenary, according to this source, is "one that serves merely for wages". Does it.. erm.. does it sound familiar to any of you who worked before and/or are working? It should, because a mercenary isn't necessarily one that is only a hired gun, a bounty hunter and so on. Merceneries exist more than you might think. Both within and outside the military industries of old and new.



You know, I've been planning to write this article a long time ago. But thanks to a recent event, regarding the Russian Wager Group, I was compelled to write it now! For those not in the know, the warlord behind Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has recently declared war on Russia, following a rocket that's assumed to have killed a significant number of his troops.


Let me philosophize by asking you a question: If your employer, for instance, set your house on fire by accident, would you be willing to resume working for them? Feel free to answer me, because that is exactly the basis of what I would like to call the "Mercenary Mindset."


What's that? It's when you are loyal to something or someone purely because of monetary gain. Should a company or an employer fail to pay you, most of you won't necessarily be loyal to them, correct? And having your house set on fire because of them is a hypothetical example of how you may only care about them because of the cash.


In that regard, a mercenary company is like any other company in our world. It's a business. It is an operation that hires employees in exchange for their services. It's just capitalism. An organization whose basis is built on business transactions. Killing people for a living is, well, morally questionable. However, it is still how many people make their living. Just like many of you do. It's just business, as dark as it may sound.


So when your employer kills a bunch of your own employees, you might feel compelled to take revenge, correct? Not by taking arms, necessarily. Maybe by calling the cops, and exposing them on various media outlets. Surely this can't go under the rug, and you have your own reputation to redeem over such disgrace. So, I'd say that vengeance is, sometimes, justified.


Many of us are technically merceneries because many of us do not necessarily like our jobs. In fact, many of us may hate our jobs, despite dedicating much of our lives to them. Do you think Wagner Group employees like risking their lives everyday? What about having a rocket of their main employer, killing a bunch of them? Surely they don't, just like you might as well despise your current job.


You can claim that these hired guns are deranged lunatics who kill for fun! But what if I told you that they recieve far better pay than regular soldiers? Maybe some of them are psychotic, I don't know. I only know, based on what I gathered, that being a hired gun pays more. And as people with the Mercenary Mindset, we do want higher pay, correct? Do you see the connection, now?


Because when you go to work at a fast food service, you don't necessarily do it because you want to feed people. It's not like their survival depends on you, usually. Often, they have many other choices, when it comes to food. It isn't that you fail to contribute, by frying french fries in deep oil. You do feed people, thanks to your service. But you don't do it out of some mission, some higher calling.


Hence why I am glad to not require the mercenary mindset for my own living, when I'm doing something that actually brings me not only money, but pride. A sense of significance that goes beyond payment. People may have this mindset because, you know, they don't usually have much choice in terms of employment. Which is, I must confess, very unfortunate. And as such, I refuse calling anyone, any deragetory terms, such as wage slaves. Such name-calling is beneath me!


For many people, working like mercenaries—that is, only for the pay—is just how real life is. Their desire in the matter never matters, because if it did, their performance might be compromised to the point of being fired. This is sad, but it is reality.


In a more ideal world, people would have more choice regarding their work. In a better reality, they would have their own income that is not as dependent on the whims of an employer. Many employers are ruthless in the sense that they don't really care about you, as long as you're getting work done. They only need you for the job, just like someone who hires a mercenary.




I work as a philosopher. It's not something many people can do, especially not outside of an academic institution. It is my sincere hope that more people, like me, will be able to chase their dreams and conquer them, as they should.


We should not live for the coin exclusively. We should live for ourselves, as well, and for our hopes and dreams.


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Tomasio A. Rubinshtein, Philosocom's Founder & Writer

I am a philosopher. I'm also a semi-hermit who has decided to dedicate my life to writing and sharing my articles across the globe to help others with their problems and combat shallowness. More information about me can be found here.

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© 2019 And Onward, Mr. Tomasio Rubinshtein  

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