Welcome back to another deep dive. It is really
great to have you with us today. Yeah, thanks
for having me. I'm excited for this one. So I
want to start today by throwing a concept at
you. Something that feels, well, it feels incredibly
familiar to all of us. Almost to the point where
we just stop thinking about what it actually
means. Oh, okay. What's the concept? It's just
the word service. Ah, yeah. That is, I mean,
that's a heavy word. It carries a whole lot of
baggage. Exactly. It really does. Like if I were
to just stop someone out on the street right
now and ask them, what does it mean to serve
your country? Where do you think their mind goes
first? Almost instinctively. I mean, they're
going straight to the battlefield. Right, exactly.
We think of the soldier in the trench. We think
of physical bravery holding the line, making
the ultimate sacrifice. It's very cinematic.
It's loud. Yeah. And it's undeniable. And rightfully
so. I mean, that is the absolute highest stakes.
version of service. But the thing is, it's not
the only version. No, it's not. And that is really
the pivot point for what we're doing today. Because
what if service is actually much quieter than
that? Like, what if it doesn't look like a war
movie at all? What if it looks like running a
high school math department for 30 years? Yeah.
Or spending decades in a quiet laboratory just
staring at a microscope. Yes. Or, and this is
the one that really caught my eye when I was
looking through the research stack for today,
what if service is just simply doing your day
job? Yeah. Like as a bureaucrat. But doing it
with, quote, dignity and honesty. That is such
a fascinating distinction. And, you know, to
be fair to the public, it is a lot harder to
make a summer blockbuster movie about a bureaucrat
honestly filing their paperwork. It really is.
But, you know, maybe we should. Because that
is exactly what we are unpacking today. We've
got a whole stack of documents here. We really
do. Statutes, official decrees, hierarchy lists.
And they're all focused on a very specific piece
of source material. Today, we are doing a deep
dive into the Forest Service to the Fatherland
Order, or in Azerbaijani, the Vis Tayan Stone
Jurordani. And this is from the Republic of Azerbaijan.
And I think I want to just clarify our mission
here for you listening before we get totally
lost in the weeds of, you know, metal ribbons
and enamel pins and all that. Yeah, set the stage
for us. We aren't just looking at a shiny object
today to judge its design. What we're really
looking at is how a nation codifies value. I
love that phrase, codifies value. Just break
that down a bit for us. Well, if you think about
it, when a state actually sits down and writes
out the rules for a medal, especially a really
high level order, they aren't just making jewelry.
Right. They're making a statement. Exactly. They
are creating a very public list of virtues. They
are essentially telling their citizens, hey,
this is the ideal version of you. By examining
the criteria for this specific order, we can
actually understand how they're trying to move
beyond just, you know, general vague patriotism.
Right, beyond just waving a flag. Yeah, into
very specific actions, things like state construction.
So we are essentially decoding the state's wish
list for its own people. Precisely. We're reading
the blueprint of the ideal citizen. Okay, let's
get into the anatomy of this award then. Yeah.
Where did it actually come from? Because looking
at these documents, this isn't some ancient relic
from the Middle Ages. No, no, it is actually
a relatively modern creation. It was established
on November 7th, 2003. 2003. OK, so we aren't
talking about something from the 19th century
or even the Soviet era. No. And that date is
absolutely not accidental. It was established
by decree number 514 -IIQ. And it's important
to remember that awards like this, they have
a very strict legal basis. Right. It's not just
a tradition that sort of organically evolved
over centuries. It is a codified law established
at a specific pivot point in the country's history.
Which in 2003 for Azerbaijan. That was a time
of real transition, right? Great. Of solidifying
their institutions. Exactly. The country is fully
moving out of the immediate post -Soviet chaos,
and they're really trying to build permanent,
stable structures. So this metal is part of that
solidification. It's a tool they use to say,
here is how we build the future. That makes a
lot of sense. Yeah. Now, visually, just for everyone
listening who obviously can't see the photos
we have in our stack here, this is classified
as an individual award. and it's worn pinned
to the left side of the chest. Which is pretty
standard placement for high honors. Yeah, but
here is a little detail I thought was just super
cool. There is actually a postage stamp dedicated
to this specific order. Oh, yeah, which... really
speaks to its cultural visibility don't you think
absolutely i mean that's a big deal it's not
just some secret thing locked away in a drawer
or only ever seen at elite state dinners behind
closed doors if an award is on a stamp it's meant
to be recognized by the average everyday person
it circulates it enters the public consciousness
it's like branding you want people to see the
symbol and instantly recognize what it stands
for exactly It's state messaging. Okay. So now
here is where we get into the actual structure
of the thing. And I'm going to need you to unpack
this for me. Okay. Because the wording in the
source material is a little bit technical. It
says the order has three classes. First, second,
and third class. Right. Which is a very common
structure, by the way, in European and post -Soviet
orders. But it's actually crucial for understanding
the psychology behind the award. Well, the text
specifically says they are, quote, confessed
sequentially. That's a very specific phrase.
What does confess sequentially actually mean
in practice? It implies a ladder of achievement.
Basically, you generally cannot just jump right
to the top tier, the first class out of nowhere,
unless you are maybe a foreign head of state
or something truly exceptional happens. For a
normal citizen, you have to earn the third class
first. Then you put in more time and work to
move up to the second and then finally the first.
So it's gamified. In a sense, yeah. It really
is. But you should probably think of it more
like a career path that rewards longevity and
consistent performance over time. It tells the
civil servant or the scientist, keep going. There
is a next level to this. It's not just a one
-off thank you for a single brave act. It's a
recognition of a whole projectory. It encourages
you to stay in the game and just keep performing.
That completely makes sense. It turns service
into a journey rather than just a fleeting moment.
It's not about being a hero for five minutes.
It's about being a hero. For 30 years. Exactly.
It's the marathon runner's medal, not the sprinter's.
All right. So let's look at what actually gets
you onto that ladder. We talked broadly about
service, but the statute actually breaks down
exactly what that means. And this is where we
really get to decode those values you mentioned.
Yeah. This is the absolute meat of the document
right here. The criteria. So the first one listed
here is, quote, loyalty to Azerbaijan Republic,
which is standard right. You expect that if you
aren't loyal. you obviously aren't getting a
national medal. That's table stakes. Yeah, that's
the baseline entry fee, essentially. But then
it immediately follows up with this. And this
is the phrase that completely stopped me in my
tracks when I was reading. It says, quote, performance
of administrative duties with dignity and honesty.
Dignity and honesty. It is just so specific.
It doesn't just say doing your job well. It doesn't
say meeting your quarterly KPIs. It explicitly
specifies the moral quality of the work. Why
do you think that's in there? Well, think about
what that implies about the whole system and
the culture they are actively trying to build.
If a state has to explicitly reward honesty in
administrative duties, you are doing two major
things. Okay, what's the first? One, you are
acknowledging that honesty is a deliberate choice.
It's not just an automatic default. It requires
effort. That's a really good point. And two,
you are elevating the role of the bureaucrat
itself. You are saying that pushing paper, managing
local budgets or running a department isn't just
a boring job. It's a matter of honor. Yeah. Because
in many parts of the world, administration is
seen as invisible or tedious or frankly, even
prone to corruption. It's the stuff nobody wants
to deal with. Right. Exactly. Nobody wakes up
in the morning and says, wow, I really can't
wait to go admire some administration today.
Right. But here the state is explicitly saying,
no, look at this. If you do this with dignity,
if you are honest when nobody is looking, that
is service to the fatherland. That's really interesting.
It really frames bureaucratic work as a profound
moral act. It's almost acting as a positive reinforcement
against corruption without having to explicitly
use the word corruption in the statute. Precisely.
Instead of just writing laws punishing the bad
behavior, you are creating a very prestigious
award for the good behavior. You are making honest
administration a metal worthy trait. And that
is a powerful cultural signal to send to your
entire civil workforce. Absolutely. OK, then
we move down to the next criterion in the text,
quote, productive activity. excellence and outstanding
public services. And you really have to notice
the emphasis on the word productive there. Yeah.
It's not just tenure. It's not, hey, you've been
here for 20 years, so here's your customary gold
watch. Exactly. Productive activity means output.
It means tangible results. You have to actually
produce something of value. And then excellence
implies you are doing it better than the baseline
standard. It suggests that just showing up every
day and warming a chair isn't enough to officially
serve the fatherland. You have to be highly effective.
Okay, so we have honesty on one hand, which is
all about character, and then productivity on
the other hand, which is all about output. And
you need both. You can't be a highly productive
crook, and you can't be an incredibly honest
slacker. This medal demands both sides of the
coin. Which brings us to the phrase that... honestly
sounds the most epic out of all of these. It
says, quote, special contributions to construction
of the national state. Construction of the national
state. That is quite a loaded concept. It sounds
so physical, like actual masonry. But I assume
they don't just mean construction workers out
there pouring concrete. No, no, the physical
infrastructure is certainly part of a functioning
state. But we have to go back to the context
we discussed earlier. 2003. This is still a relatively
young, independent nation solidifying its institutions.
Right. By using the word construction, it frames
the recipient of this medal not just as a citizen
who passively lives in the house, but as an active
builder of the house. A co -architect of the
country. Exactly. Whether you are drafting laws,
building actual bridges, designing a new school
curriculum, or creating a cultural policy, you
are laying the bricks of the state itself. It
connects your individual daily effort to the
very existence of the nation. Wow. It's saying
the state isn't just a given thing that's already
here. It is currently being built. And you are
the one building it. And they don't leave it
vague either, which I appreciate. The source
material actually lists specific sectors. It
says, quote, special contributions in science
education and health sector. And this is very
significant. Why those three specifically, though?
Well, often when we look at national service
awards globally, they can be heavily, heavily
weighted toward politics, diplomacy or national
security. So by explicitly naming science, education
and health, the statutes are dramatically broadening
the definition of what actually protects and
builds country. Well, ask yourself what makes
a strong country. Yes, a military, absolutely.
But also you need a population that is healthy.
That's your health sector. You need a population
that is smart and capable. That's education.
And you need a nation that is constantly innovating.
And that is science. So basically, a teacher
working in a small rural village or a doctor
running a local clinic is being told you are
building the state just as much as a high -level
minister in the capital. Exactly. It elevates
those specific everyday professions to the level
of pure national strategy. It signals that having
a healthy, educated populace is fundamentally
part of the fatherland that needs serving. It
validates those professions as patriotic duty.
It brings the teacher completely into the fold
of service. I really want to pivot now to see
where this award fits into. the wider food chain,
so to speak, because the source material gives
us this huge list of precedents. Yeah. Basically,
the official pecking order of the metals. And
it is, well, it's complicated. It really is.
It's an entire ecosystem of honors. You have
to look at what's called the order of the orders.
So according to the text we have, where does
the four service to the fatherland order actually
sit? It states that it follows, quote, any other
orders and metals of Azerbaijan Republic. OK,
so it's the anchor at the bottom. In a way, yes.
But you really have to look at what comes after
it in the list or rather what ranks higher than
it. Because in these official state documents,
they usually list the highest honors first or
in a very specific descending sequence of importance.
Right. Let me just read off this list of what
sits above it because these names sound incredibly
prestigious. Up for it. If you are wearing the
Service to the Fatherland medal, you are still
looking up at the Haydar Aliyev Order. The Istigl
order. And Istigl translates to independence.
Okay. Then the Shah Ismail order. Yeah. The Azerbaijani
flag order. The Shurat order. Shuro means glory.
The Sharif order. Sharif is honor. And finally,
the Daslag order. And Daslag means friendship.
So we have independence, flag, glory, honor,
friendship, and then service to the fatherland.
It kind of feels like service to the fatherland
is the, I don't want to say basic, but maybe
the foundational award. I would actually call
it the workhorse award. And I don't mean that
as an insult at all. Workhorse. Yeah. If you
look at those higher tiers, the hate our leave
order is the absolute pinnacle. That's usually
reserved for heads of state or. truly monumental
historic figures. The Independence Order is likely
for people involved in the founding moments of
the state. Glory and honor are very high -level
prestige awards, often given for the lifetime
achievement of really famous cultural figures.
Right. Those sound like they're strictly for
the superstars, the people you read about in
the history books. Exactly. But service to the
fatherland, that is the engine room of the country.
That is for the people keeping the lights on,
the ones teaching the kids, the ones running
the ministries, honestly. That makes total sense.
It fits as a high honor. Absolutely. It's still
an order which inherently ranks higher than a
standard medal. But it's the one that recognizes
the day to day continuous construction of the
country. The others might recognize singular
historic brilliance or massive diplomatic breakthroughs.
Right. Like friendship or DOS slug probably goes
to foreign dignitaries most of the time. Right.
Often. Yes. It's a key diplomatic tool used to
cement relations between countries. Whereas service
is deeply. Deeply internal. It's for the people
actually living and working right there. Precisely.
It is the award for the domestic builders. It's
for the people on the ground doing the work.
And I want to zoom out just a little bit more.
We have this massive list of other metals in
the source material. Yeah. And it is fascinating
to see what else is on there. It gives us a really
good sense of the overall landscape. Context
is everything with these. You really can't fully
understand one metal without seeing exactly what
it is surrounded by. One thing that immediately
stood out to me is the huge contrast between
this civil order we've been talking about and
the military stuff on the list. The language
changes completely. How so? What are you seeing?
Well, just look at these names. Brave Warrior
Metal. For Distinction and Battle Metal. For
Heroism Metal. And then there are these very
specific... Liberation Medals, Liberation of
Ogdom, Liberation of Fuzuli, Liberation of Xuxa.
Right. Those are extremely specific. They are
directly tied to historical events, to geography,
and to actual combat. They tell a very distinct
story of conflict and territory. And there are
Wound Medals, too. Yes. And those are incredibly
visceral. They reward direct physical sacrifice
and specific brave actions in a highly specific
time frame. It's saying I was at this exact battle
or I helped liberate this specific city. It's
about a moment in history where you quite literally
put your life on the line. Compare that visceral
language to service to the fatherland. Right.
Service to the fatherland is much more abstract.
It's timeless. You don't win it for taking a
hill under fire. You win it for productive activity
and deep honesty over an entire career. It seems
like it perfectly balances the system. Exactly.
You have the warriors on one side and the builders
on the other. And a state absolutely needs both
to survive and thrive. Right. If you only rewarded
the warriors, you would be ignoring all the people
building the actual economy. But if you only
rewarded the builders, you'd be ignoring the
people actively defending the borders. Seeing
the full list. shows both sides of that coin.
Then there's this whole other category in the
source documents of what I would probably call
niche recognition. I was just reading through
the list and some of these are hyper -specific.
Like what did you find? Okay, check these out.
100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani police.
Or the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University
100th Anniversary Medal. Yeah, very specific
indeed. And the Jubilee Medal of 100th Anniversary
of the Diplomatic Service Bodies. Right. These
are what we call in the field commemorative or
jubilee medals. It kind of feels like everyone
gets a birthday party. Like you get a medal and
you get a medal. In a way, they do. But you have
to think about the vital difference in the criteria
here. To get the Pedagogical University 100th
Anniversary Medal. The primary criteria is most
likely just having a connection to that institution
during that specific calendar year. It celebrates
the institution's longevity above all else. It's
the state saying we have successfully existed
for 100 years. Isn't that great? Right. You just
happened to be there when the clock struck 100.
It's an attendance award, essentially. I mean,
a prestigious attendance award, sure, but essentially,
yes. But the for service to the fatherland order,
that is entirely about you. The individual. Yes.
Yes. It is not about the counter. It is not about
just happening to be employed somewhere during
a Jubilee year. It is about your specific character
and output. You cannot just wait around for an
anniversary to get it. Right. You have to actively
demonstrate that loyalty, that dignity, that
massive scientific or educational contribution
we talked about. So basically the Jubilee medals
are about belonging to a group, but the service
order is about standing out from the group. That
is a perfect way to put it. One is inherently
about membership and the other is strictly about
merit. And that distinction is vital when you
are analyzing a national list of awards. Because
you need both types. Right. If everything was
just a I was there medal, the system wouldn't
actually encourage excellence. It would just
encourage passive attendance. Service to the
Fatherland inserts the strict requirement for
individual excellence right back into the mix.
It is really interesting to see how all these
things neatly stack up together. You have the
high -flying glory and flag orders sitting way
at the top. You have the I was there jubilee
medals providing a foundation at the bottom.
And right in the middle doing all the heavy lifting
is this Service to the Fatherland award. It perfectly
bridges the gap. It connects the quiet everyday
work of the civil servant or the local scientist
to the incredibly high ideals of the state itself.
And it links right back to that three class structure
we talked about at the very beginning. If you
are a young scientist just starting out, you
might look at that third class medal and think,
OK, that's my concrete goal for the next 10 years.
Exactly. It provides a tangible roadmap for a
life's career. It tells the citizen we are watching
you and we deeply value what you are doing, even
if it takes a long time to see the results. It
gamifies the civil service in the best possible
way. It turns an ordinary career into a national
quest. It's funny because when we started this.
I really thought we were just going to be talking
about a piece of metal with a pin on the back.
Yeah. But when you actually sit down and read
the text, the strict requirements for honesty,
the sharp focus on state building, the explicit
inclusion of teachers and doctors, it really
is a complete blueprint for a society. That is
what all honor systems are, ultimately. They
are a mirror. They show us exactly what a society
values most at its core. In this case, yes, they
absolutely value the brave soldier and the slick
diplomat, but they also explicitly value the
honest administrator and the productive scientist.
They deeply value the builders. The builders.
I really like that as a summary. It fits the
construction of the national state criteria perfectly.
It really does. And it's a great reminder that
nations aren't just born one day and then they're
entirely done. They are constantly under construction
every single day. So just to recap everything
for everyone listening, today we've looked at
the Forest Service to the Fatherland Order, established
in 2003, right at a major turning point for the
nation. It is a civil honor that sits right below
the big heavy hitters like the Haidar Aliyev
order and the flag order. And it's awarded sequentially.
Right. You have to climb the ladder from third
class up to first class over your career. And
critically, it completely redefines patriotism
to explicitly include productive activity and
administrative dignity. It proves that service
isn't just about loudly loving the country. It's
about working efficiently and most importantly,
honestly for it. It is the award for the people.
People who just show up and do the hard, quiet
work day after day. And who do it with total
integrity. Which brings us to the end of this
deep dive. But before we go, I want to leave
you with a final thought to chew on. Throughout
this discussion, we've talked about how this
specific award balances productive activity,
meaning actual results, with dignity and honesty,
meaning pure character. Two very, very different
things, but both are completely necessary. Right.
So here is the question for you to mull over.
If you were put in charge of designing a brand
new award for service to your own community,
whether that's your workplace, your neighborhood,
or even your own family, what would you prioritize?
It's a tough balance. Would you give the gold
medal to the person who gets the absolute best
results regardless of how they manage to do it?
Or would you give it to the person with the most
unquestionable character, even if their actual
output happens to be a little bit lower? Can
you really have true service without having both?
I think that is the real challenge. Productive
activity versus dignity and honesty. It really
is a tough choice when you get down to it. Let
us know what you think. Thanks for listening
to the Deep Dive. We will catch you on the next
one.