People are people, but sometimes they do something that leaves a lump in your throat and makes you want to write an over-the-top, heartfelt post: Every country has turning points in its history. Like forks in the road, such moments determine what kind of country it will be for years to come. We are used to the idea that the right to choose the path at these forks belongs to those in power. For many years, one man and his narrow circle of associates made all the important decisions in the country. In September 2013, for the first time in many years, ordinary people were given that right to choose the path. The question our society is now answering is very simple: should an independent politician be allowed to make it to the second round of the Moscow mayoral election if the authorities have decided to win in the first round? And for the first time, it will not be the authorities giving the answer to that question, but society itself. ... There are only 5 days of campaigning left. Many Muscovites are only now returning to the city from holidays and vacations. That is exactly why this final push in campaign work is so important. Every hour of one volunteer’s time means another 100–200 Muscovites will see our newspaper or leaflet. And that means more people coming to the polls and voting for society’s right to make the most important decisions. In these 5 days, do not stay on the sidelines of the most important changes in the country’s life. Make time in the evenings, take vacation days and time off. Bring your relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Change the country for the better! Become a volunteer with Navalny’s team! https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_VQeHLcziV_cHpBYklIVXRDTjA/edit And this is not a post by some professional political activists who write every other day about a “turning point.” This is the volunteer manifesto of those very internet entrepreneurs who signed the by-now famous “Social Contract.” Yes, the same entrepreneurs people like to describe as “too rational,” “cynical,” “ready to work with any government,” and “they wouldn’t care if people were being hanged in the streets as long as they could make money.” They first pooled money to print leaflets, and now they are out distributing them on the streets of Moscow themselves. Though on the other hand, maybe that is exactly why they represent “smart business”: they understood that the most rational form of economic behavior right now is to invest time and effort in a political campaign for change. Reducing corruption, ensuring equal access to the media, and ending the usurpation of power will increase the capitalization of their companies ten times more than a 20% rise in oil prices ever could. One way or another, they are with us on the streets of Moscow, spending the five most important days of the campaign persuading other people on those same streets. And, as befits internet entrepreneurs, they could not campaign “the way it used to be done,” so they immediately said to themselves:
And they organized the Fire Cup in political all-around competition. And even made it a team event.
The rules of the Cup are very simple: register a team, send in a group photo from your campaign cube (a branded street campaign stand) in the evening, along with data on how many campaign materials you handed out. Also let us know where you plan to go tomorrow, so everyone does not end up in the same place. You can read the detailed participation rules here, including the part about prizes: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cubemayor/ Join them. Put together a campaign team from your colleagues or friends, enter it in the Cup, and win it. And do not forget to check in as a full team at v.navalny.ru
One more important thing about what we are handing out right now: In addition to our traditional newspaper, which includes all the key points of the platform and initiatives, we now have themed leaflets. On migration and traffic jams. The traffic leaflet is a whole separate story. There is a segment of voters who do not ride the metro and hardly ever walk outside — they drive. And if, while in that car, they are listening to Autoradio (a popular Russian radio station), then the only place their brains can still be saved is in a traffic jam. And only by our leaflet explaining what should be done about traffic. This leaflet should be handed out to drivers who: - have parked near the cube - are stuck in traffic near the cube You can tuck this leaflet under the windshield wiper of a parked car. You can stand near a shopping center, McDonald’s, or a gas station and offer the leaflet to everyone slowly driving by. You can take a stack of leaflets with you and place them under the wipers of all the cars in your courtyard. Surely there are plenty of other options too. Practice shows that you are excellent at self-organizing and finding solutions in any situation without special instructions from campaign headquarters. The second special topic is migration. There is really nothing to explain here: this leaflet works perfectly right at the cubes and in the metro. Let us simply try to distribute as many of them as possible. It would also be great to put the migration leaflet into mailboxes, even if you have already put the newspaper there. It is important to hand out leaflets today, because our logistics system is complaining about the large volume of materials and has even requested reinforcements in the form of 4 additional trucks (and of course we did not say no). Today we want to distribute the entire print run of the migration and traffic leaflets so that in the final days of the campaign we can focus on newspapers and a few other things (I’ll tell you later). The weather is great today. Do not miss your chance to work on an election campaign you actually want to work on. Who knows when you will get another chance to do this? As soon as you finish reading this post, come to the cubes. http://cube.navalny.ru And of course, do not forget about the metro. Today the metro cubes are operating at the following stations: Dobryninskaya metro station (2 bldg. 5 Lyusinovskaya St.) 14:00–17:00 and 19:00–22:00 Kurskaya metro station (Kursky Rail Terminal Square) 14:00–17:00 and 19:00–22:00 Novokuznetskaya metro station (by the station entrance) 14:00–17:00 and 19:00–21:00 Teatralnaya metro station (site by the station entrance) 14:00–17:00 and 19:00–22:00 And here, as a bonus, is a wonderful motivational video made by volunteers (I wonder why the best videos are made completely free of charge by people you have never even met?) Watch it and you will understand why it is so important that you go out with us onto the city streets right now and campaign.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCw9OpbUzvw The same video in high quality: http://vimeo.com/73546677