A foreigner about the evolution of Homo Sovieticus: the Internet makes him a citizen

The Russians, who had not decided to challenge the arbitrariness of the authorities, have recently become more active in fighting the abuses of those in power with the help of the Internet, the Western media noticed. As a result, the Homo Sovieticus (“Soviet” man) is gradually evolving towards a representative of civil society, ready to fight for his rights. “Russia, of course, is not on the threshold of the revolution, but every day with absolute power, minor contractions are being taken,” the observer of the Italian newspaper La Stampa Mark Franketti pays attention.

“In Russia, power is absolute in nature. For Russian, which has state power, there is the only law that should be observed: not to argue with your immediate superiors. You must only report to them, and not to society, whose opinion does not have a big weight,” the journalist explains to his Western readers.

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“The Russians have long been getting used to this Darvinsky survival system ... People rarely become furious, most often people limit themselves to shrug. Few people believe that a loner can change something, and even less challenge to the rulers. This was always the case,” Inopressa quotes the article.

But some time ago, "the first buds of civil society" appear in Russia. The provincial police officer Alexei Dymovsky shot and posted a video on the Internet in which he accuses his authorities of corruption and abuse of power. Because of this video, he quickly ended up in prison, and his misfortunes will not end soon, but the film was a huge success, the newspaper emphasizes.

A new wave of protest rose on the Internet after two women in the center of Moscow died as a result of an accident with the participation of Mercedes, at which Anatoly Barkov, a powerful top manager of the LUKOIL oil company, went to work. “Road police officers - probably the most despised caste, known for their deep corruption - did not immediately accuse the two women, claiming, contrary to the obvious that they suddenly left for the oncoming movement,” Franketti's affairs states.

“Despite 15 television cameras, officials said that there was no records of this road accident,” the newspaper writes. “But later this story became one of the most discussed in the blogosphere. The Association of motorists began its investigation. Dozens of eyewitnesses said that they were ready to declare in court that the accident provoked Barkov’s car ... This was followed by a letter to Dmitry Medvedev. The public protest was so unusual that the Kremlin could not ignore it,” the publication emphasizes.

"A few weeks later, the road police found himself at the center of another scandal after he ordered dozens of drivers to put their cars in the middle of the road to block the highway. For what purpose? To use them as a human shield in an attempt to detain the criminal. About this story, it became known after one of the attracted drivers, experiencing great indignation, laid out the video on YouTube, as a result, as a result, the police officers responsible for this story They were fired, ”the Italian journalist continues.

Finally, Russian motorists, dissatisfied with the lawlessness of officials on the roads, agreed on the Internet and began to ride in Moscow and St. Petersburg with children's plastic articles with blue buckets on the roof of cars that can be taken from afar for the Migules. The Russian Internet is full of videos of ordinary drivers who, having studied the Constitution and the Criminal Code, confront the police, a foreign observer is affected.

Be that as it may, the Internet valleys are unlikely to succeed strongly, writes La Stampa. "The policeman, who entrusted his fate of YouTube, will almost certainly appear before the trial. The driver Barkov, believe me, may not worry, regardless of the outcome of the investigation of the traffic accident," the author of the article points out.

“But thanks to the Internet, ordinary Russians who can no longer endure, are increasingly finding the opportunity to express their protest, which more recently was born and died at home in the kitchen. And these small protests affect society,” the observer believes. “Undoubtedly, these are just the first timid signs of the birth of civil society, but they become more and more tough and numerous than those that could be watched by which could be watched previous 10 years. "