4 ms·

How can someone protest an authoritarian regime without putting themselves at risk?

• dmitrygr 5y ago
  Perhaps they decided that their children's lives are more important than your views of their regime? Until THEIR children/families/lives are threatened, their call is reasonable. Would you sacrifice your life to save 10 people you've never heard of in a faraway place? If you claim yes (a lie), sign your donor card and eat a bottle of aspirin. If you are truthful and you answer no, you know how Russians currently feel. They do not support this war, but the only thing they can do has no payoff and a high cost to each of them
  • jacquesm 5y ago
    > Until THEIR children/families/lives are threatened, their call is reasonable. It may well come to that if this isn't dealt with inside Russia, that's the real trade-off. > They do not support this war, but the only thing they can do has no payoff and a high cost to each of them Not as high as the cost to Ukrainians. And that is what matters right now. To do nothing is to effectively support the war, it may sound crude but that's how it is right now and only Russia can change that without further bloodshed, any other way forward will be far worse in the longer term. To put it bluntly: Russia never really properly got rid of their past, and now more than ever is the moment to consider that, do you want to continue to be on the wrong side of history or do you clean house? Both of these have extremely high price tags attached, the time for easy choices has run out, and some of our possible futures are no future at all. Some words for contemplation: "The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing" The meaning is clear I think (even if the attribution is not), sometimes inaction is also an action.