There are plenty of topics to protest worldwide, with Russia not an exception. Moreover, since February 24, 2022, the reasons to protest, in my opinion, have multiplied. I mean, the war in Ukraine.
As Russia quickly turned from authoritarianism to a dictatorship since the war began, we have lost the very ability to protest.
I would have joined the protest against the war and Russia’s president. But legally, I can’t do it anymore. I participated in street protests in 2011/12 when Putin returned to power, and they falsified the parliament elections. I joined Alexey Navalny’s movement in 2018-2021. Now he is jailed for 19 years as an ‘extremist’. Anyone who supports him now publicly can also be put behind bars.
If you go out to an anti-war protest, you could be fined or even jailed, according to the new laws in this field. If you publicly say something against the war, you can be convicted for spreading ‘fakes’ about the military.
If you don’t say ‘special military operation’ but call it by its name, war, you can be, again, prosecuted. Officially, Russia is not fighting any war.
The Russian state has effectively crushed any protest movement in the country now. So, it seems that Russians support the war in Ukraine. The opposition is silenced, and polls are not representative as people are afraid to answer honestly; nobody knows what is happening regarding the war and Putin’s support.
So, I would have joined the anti-war protest, but, realistically, I won’t do it till something REAL BIG happens.
What protest would I next join?
I am pretty passionate about things I care about, which includes injustices to others. So, if I still lived in the U.K., (what a horrible thought), I would be happy to join the junior doctors protesting about their pay and conditions. If I were in the U.S.A., I would definitely join any anti-Trump rally, and of course, should I happen to be in Russia, I would not join any anti-Putin demonstration for fear of ending up accidentally falling through a sixth-floor window.
So here am I in little old Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. I already have history of joining protests in this country.
Construction companies here have long since taken advantage of, let us say, some unethical authorities – I always think “unethical” sounds less severe than “corrupt” – and when a seven-storey hotel was proposed for a beautiful and popular beachfront location, I joined many thousand disgruntled locals for a massive protest. I was chanting and shouting several phrases in Turkish, of which I had absolutely no clue of the meaning, and guess what? Some three years later, and no building work has yet started.
And I do know the next protest in which I will partake. Here in the T.R.N.C., there is no social blanket to help ease the burden of the elderly, or mentally ill, who have no one left to look after them. There is an association, run by one amazing lady, Hatice Jenkins, with just a few helpers, which is trying to persuade the government that having just six totally inadequate homes for the elderly and mentally ill is simply not sustainable.
Already Hatice has, with some political support, submitted a new set of laws concerning the running of these homes; the irony is, if that law goes through, none of the six current homes would be allowed to stay open.
This dire situation could affect us ex-pats as well. How will Mrs B and I survive if one of us dies, and the other cannot look after themselves? What happens if we both get severe dementia or Alzheimer’s?
There has already been one massively supported protest march. There will be more, and I will be there.
What protest would I next join?
First, I suppose a little disclosure is in order: I have never been to a protest. It’s not that I don’t feel passionate about certain topics, I just don’t move in those circles. It’s also true that before Trump, America went through about fifty years of no serious street protests. For the most part, things were getting better.
But no more. Today the US is, much like several other democracies, under direct threat from Fascists wanting to seize power. It’s not Populism, they only call it that because the leaders inside this movement don’t want followers to use words that have a dark history. I know, you think I’m off the rails again, doing battle with an imaginary bogeyman. Here’s a video by Robert Reich for you to consider.
But I’ll not participate in any marches. See, I’m the only American I know. I understand someone with my accent moved here a few months back but I haven’t met him yet. A protest with one person on a street corner is not in my plans. It’s also true that the asses at Fox have successfully welded the words terrorists & Islam together in such a way that many conclude that Americans are racists pigs. Thankfully, the majority here are more enlightened than the people of my country. I have never once felt fear or danger from these kind people.
What protest would I next join? I suppose the answer is none.