A little known fact about me is that, in my mid-20s, the state suddenly “citizenised” me (I wasn't a citizen) and called me up for war. I still have my orders somewhere—but it didn’t happen. It was a Cold War proxy war, in which the South African government became involved 1981-1987. This, and conscription in general, led to a mass exodus of young men from the country. It may be true to say that most of my school friends left the country. OBSERVATION: In the case of Russia today, if the same should happen there, there would be a huge exodus. I did a quick estimate: potentially millions.
POSTSCRIPT: When I posted this, it was not yet clear how many were fleeing Russia. Two days later, it was reported that 250,000 had fled. If one looks at the wider picture, this means that millions of people have been deeply affected by someone leaving.
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