Ring and throw

Belarusians mock Lukashenko's regime with jokes and jokes: they brought the last weapon against repression to perfection

Panties hang on the balcony. Three pairs. They hang carefully, each other: white, red and white again. And above them - a poster indicating: "This is not a flag!"

Then the police or the Ministry of Emergencies come and steals his underpants from the balcony. But the same picture is already hanging somewhere in the completely opposite area of ​​Minsk. You won’t attack every panties, so they rush around the city. And the Belarusians laugh, hanging the linen.

Belarusians never laughed as in the last months of their history.

Laughing Belarusian is not a subspecies at all. Rather, it is a suddenly opened feature of a national character. For many years she was hidden for some reason-until August 9. And then the gateways opened. It happens: if you restrain laughter for a long time, try to look serious, pinch your nose and mouth so that not a single mixer breaks out, in the end you will fall to the floor and you will laugh so that all the muscles are ill, and you can’t stop for a long time for a long time. It seems that this is what happened with Belarusians in August.

However, it all started not in this August, but rather on April 26, 2012. The 25-year-old Ivan Omelchenko then went out to the Charnobylsky Shlyakh with a home-made poster, on which the “garbage” and the arrow was written. While the demonstrators were gathered near the Academy of Sciences, Ivan approached and stood next to the “Tikhar”, who shot on the video of the audience. He stood exactly with an arrow to the Tikhare. And he did not notice, because the young man did not take any action - he stood quietly and pleased the eye of the participants in the action.

Then he was searched for a long time those that was written on the poster. They came to Omelchenko’s parents and demanded to give out the whereabouts of his son, since he must certainly be interrogated in the case of riots on December 19, 2010. And then Ivan came to the police himself. And in court he arranged another performance: he seriously convinced the judge that the poster was in English and it was written there My Cop Ok-something like "My police are good." And the arrow, Ivan said, pointed towards employees in uniform, he wanted to say that they were good. The guy was then given 15 days, and then twice ten times.

This story has long been pleasing to the Belarusians who have been depressed from that very on December. As if this guy with a poster told everyone: fun, guys, set aside hopelessness, we will win anyway. And after 8 years - there are very few for history and a lot for human life - hundreds of thousands of those like Ivan Omelchenko went to Belarusian streets, but with posters, which the author of the “garbage” would envy.

If I were Lukashenko and once again falsified the elections, I would shoot myself a couple of days after the start of protests - not from fear of their scale, but from the awareness of my own caricature in the eyes of the people. Previously, on posters he was Lukashenko or Luke: "Belarus to Europe, Lukashenko in the ass!" - One of the most popular slogans over the past 20 years. Or simply "Luke for flour!" - Without such a poster, not a single protest was complete. But on those posters, despite all the power of human contempt, he was a dictator. And in August he became just Sasha.

"Sasha, wake up, you are crap!" - These words on a sheet of whatman or plywood can be seen every Sunday in Minsk. Many also reinforce the slogan with an almost English option: Sasha, Wake Up! You Obosralsya. Girls love to go out with the posters "Sasha, it's all over by us!" Or “Sasha, do you want the sixth time? Our head hurts! ” In different columns, you can meet the words “love is when Sasha is your ex” or “I wanted to call Sasha’s son, you will have to light”. And it happens that the girl holds a large photograph of a thick red cat with a signature: “Sorry, Sasha, but I already have a mustachioed dictator.” And of course, “Sasha, we bought you a ticket to the Hague!” Written against the background of the printed landing coupon of Criminalavia airline.

In addition to Sasha himself, Belarusians love to laugh at propaganda, claiming that they are paid for the exit to the demonstration. They talked about this on TV for many years (before they even called the dachshund - $ 10 for the exit), but only in the rabid Belarusian August there were slogans of the “paid opposition” on the streets.

Here is a girl with a poster on which a 12-digit bank card number and the word: “Pay me for a rally someone!” Here is a young man with a posting poster: “Give the contacts of Polish sponsors, Navalny does not answer!” Here is a man who has a poster with the question: “I am one sucker, went out for free?” Here in red letters on a white background: "Belarusians hate Lukashenko for free!" But without any exclamation signs, just a statement: "We are here for free." And-it’s not about money-a girl who threw both flags on her shoulders (the state red-green and national white-red-white) holds a sheet with the most understandable inscription in the world: “I don’t care under what flag to hate you.”

And of course, riot police. The second in the number of mentioning the character after Sasha. “The first reason is you, and the second is all your cops.” “We melt rubber batons on condoms!” "Better daughter-prostitute than an amonian son." “Come to Belarus, we have: Vintilovo, schizing grandfather, cool letters, auto -zats (a lot).” “Your Uber has arrived” - on a poster with a painted car carrier. “Only a cupid can shoot at Belarusians!”

I have two beloved posters this season. The first in August was raised above the yellow rubber inflatable boat floating in Svisloch. A guy in shorts and Panama sat on the oars, and the girl in the vest held the poster: "The fleet of the Republic of Belarus with the people!" The second met both in the summer and in the fall of different people a defiantly gloomy look: "Everything is so bad that even introverts came out."

Everything was really so bad. And even if it became still not good - before that we go out and go out - but it’s fun and therefore not scary.

And this is another feature of Belarusians, which remained unnoticed for the time being even by the Belarusians themselves: the ability to overcome fear of laughter. When the number of detainees is calculated by tens of thousands that are sitting on criminal cases - hundreds, and even children know about torture on the surroundings, there are simply no other ways to overcome fear and continue to resist. Only laughter.

And laughter, they say, prolongs life, and therefore we laugh as before before. We must extend our lives for at least 26 years - exactly so much we have lost with Lukashenko. Excuse me, I wanted to say - with Sasha.