The day before yesterday, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned — he was forced to do so by people protesting in the streets. They demonstrated for ten days (and are still doing so now, demanding the appointment of a new head of government they can accept), because Sargsyan refused to give up power and, after two lawful presidential terms, decided to stay on for a third.
And what about us? Putin is now leading the country for a fifth term, and the first month of his new presidency will be remembered above all for an absurd, stupid war on the internet that has done nothing but cause harm. They decided to block the Telegram messenger because the security services cannot gain access to it, and in the process they shut down entire parts of the internet: websites, apps, services — causing enormous damage to businesses.
Yes, of course Putin has some real support, and with the help of propaganda and electoral fraud he inflated that bubble to 76% — but the rest of us still exist. Even so, he has chosen to govern as if the rest of us — the people who did not vote for him and do not agree with these policies — do not exist at all. As if we are nothing, stripped of all civil rights and expected to stay silent, never expressing our views.
But there are 53 million of us — those who did not vote for him. Our voice has to be heard somewhere, saying that everything happening is madness.
Right now, we can remind them that we exist by taking to the streets. Only this way — and no other — can we force those in power to think, even a little, about the fact that there are other citizens in Russia too. Citizens for whom freedom of information matters. For whom the development of the internet matters. Who believe that high technology can earn us more than oil and gas.
As long as we stay home, we are giving Putin a gift. We are encouraging Roskomnadzor (Russia’s federal media and internet regulator), censorship, the oligarchs, the corrupt officials. All of them. Every time they do something vile or steal another billion, they look at us and think: well then, will they put up with it? Will they finally take to the streets to express their anger, or will they stay silent again and find excuses to remain at home?
On May 5, we are holding protests across the country for those who are not prepared to silently endure Putin’s obscurantism, corruption, the destruction of the internet and freedom of speech, and the everyday idiocy of officials. All of this makes our lives worse and leaves us poorer.
If you stay home, you are voting for Russia to become an ever more backward country with no future.
If you come out, you are a real citizen, a patriot, and your children will be proud of you. Here is a link to the protest groups in every city. Find yours, join it. Bring your friends.
On May 5, those who refuse to see themselves as voiceless and rightless beings will come out.