Translated material
Where does freedom die?
In society
Where does freedom die?
November 27, 2014 Alexander Podrabinek
Freedom does not die in barricades or in prisons, not in suffocating ministerial receptionists or offices of investigators, not in fake elections or in the halls of unrighteous vessels. No, my friends, freedom is dying where we ourselves voluntarily give it to pay for well -being, career, professional growth or salvation of our beloved project. Only so and nothing else. No one can take away freedom from us, only we ourselves can cudder from it. And then, of course, to blame the infinite power, indifferent society and an unfavorable combination of circumstances in their weakness.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov ordered a drop to squeeze out a slave. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin orders a drop to squeeze out freedom. It seems to me that Putin has more followers today than Chekhov.
Last Sunday in Moscow, a small rally in defense of freedom of speech was held in Moscow on the Triumphal Square. The speakers spoke hotly and excitedly. They were against censorship, for the dignity of the journalist and respect for the reader. Everything is right. But in order to get to the fenced site of the rally, they had to not only go through the scope of the metal detector and show the police the contents of their bags, but also undergo a personal search.
This was not embarrassed by anyone! Free people who came to defend freedom, literally, gave themselves into the hands of the lobotryas in police uniforms, depicting order of their order. Lobotryas permanently inspected the participants in the rally, observing gender decency: cops pawed children, cops - girls. "What if you have a shahid belt or glass dishes there?" - the police lieutenant colonel explained to me the reasons for the search.
I remained facing the unusual frames, watching the defenders of freedom of speech. Pothingly passing through a personal search, the majority were indifferent, some smiled bewildered, others crooked displeasedly, but no one was indignant and did not refuse the humiliating procedure. And after all, not in prison, not under the escort, where they will search in any case - rest, do not rest. And it happens that they rest there too - to rubber batons and a prominent shirt. There is nothing to sacrifice here, unless not to stand on the rostrum or listen to the speakers from afar, and not close.
So what is the point of protecting freedom to people who sacrifice their personal dignity? So they squeezed out of each a drop of freedom with the hands of Putin’s police officers. That is why we have Putin and there is no Maidan.
But the hands of the policemen are still half a bastard. Real trouble - when with your own hands. When journalists, led by Lesia Ryabtseva from Echo of Moscow, sit in a circle and first compose a sloppy law about bloggers, and then the rules of conduct for journalists in social networks. They compose inspirationally, initiatively, fervently, with a grand scale and some professional exhibitionism - Down with the rule of decency and dignity of the profession, we will strangle our freedom with our own hands! They even do not need a policeman for this, and Roskomnadzor is their best friend.
The Solder scope of them is great and goes far beyond the radio station and work colleagues. They want to cover up all journalists in general with their collective fear. It does not matter to them that in non -working hours the rules of the internal labor schedule are not applied to the employee. If, for example, Alexei Venediktov agrees with his journalists on round -the -clock payment of their work and rest, then he can demand subordination to the house and at work. Do not agree - the efforts of Ryabtseva wasted. It will be followed only by those who agree to give their freedom to maintain work, salaries and the location of the authorities.
They may not be so few, but only why does the journalist work if he has no freedom? Such work is suitable for propagandists, which, however, in the Russian media now the absolute majority.
The crafty sellers of their personal freedom and their personal dignity irritably brand their opponents in purebred, vanity, outfit and good, which is not in extremism. They testify to the relativity of morality and extol the art of compromise. God is the judge. They pretend that they do not notice the boundaries between honor and dishonor. Meanwhile, this line, although fragile, is distinct. It is impossible to not notice it to a reasonable and conscientious person. You can neglect it once, and another time, and the third time, and neglect the rest of your life. But then do not complain about the lack of freedom. We give a drop, so we live in slavery.