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Comment by steve_adams_86 | Hacker News Reader

That’s a huge ask considering the sheer scale of people jailed for protesting.

You’re not wrong, this person’s problems are dwarfed by those who are dead or might soon be dead. I’m just not sure protesting is actually a sane solution given the potential consequences. Like, who knows what happens to jailed protesters. Are they going to be okay? Is it worth it?

I don’t have the answers, just trying to point out that it’s absolutely crazy on both sides of the conflict, for everyone, and solutions aren’t easy.

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Estimated 6 k. Of 144 million in ~60 cities.

That's 100/ city.

I'm not so sure about the claim "sheer scale of protesting". We are a IT forum and I would think that the overlapping demographics with 'us' is more aware than the other 99,9% that isn't reading here.

Please don't misread my comment. There are multiple reasons why people won't dare to protest too, outside of being ill informed ( eg. Rural areas only using TV, according to what I read).

I’m not sure if you misread my comment but I said the “sheer scale of people jailed for protesting”. Maybe I’m wrong too, but I think 100 people per city is absolutely crazy. I’m not sure 100 people have ever been jailed in my city in under a week, ever.

Otherwise I agree, I think we’re more or less on the same page.

I don't think the amount of people arrested in Russia can be compared to your city.

I've seen eg. A report for a woman being arrested for having a blank protest sign. That's insane.

If that's the base for comparison for arrest. I don't think 100 is a lot.

But in general, I think we are in agreement outside of that. Yeah

It's not "100 per city". The vast majority was jailed in Moscow (population about 13 million) and SPb (about 5.5 million). It's really not that much for a heavily authoritarian regime in war time.

https://ovdinfo.org

Of course, you're right. I suppose the question is if "not that much" should be a contextual matter or not. Should people ever be jailed for protesting a war? Is it any better if previous leaders would have responded more harshly, or were they simply worse leaders?

In any case I find it disturbing.

It's a bad wording on my part. I haven't been sleeping much lately. What I tried to say is my Russian friends are shocked about how little the population is willing to do then their Führer is killing their (literally) brothers, pushing the country towards complete isolation and (possibly) WW3.

Oh, that’s an interesting question too though. I’ve wondered if protesting would be a frightening prospect for Russians. Do you think that’s possible? Here in Canada I’d say protesting has been relatively safe for generations. In Russia, dissent has been punished many times over. Should they be protesting more right now, or are there real personal risks attached? I honestly don’t know, but I try not to judge too much.

No, it's definitely not safe. People get picked off the streets (3-4 riot cops against each one), brutally beaten (not all, but many), and thrown in jail for a few hours to a few days. Some lose their jobs after that.

Some even lose their jobs for posting anti-war comments on the internet:

https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2022/03/01/iavnoe-neuvazhen...

Here's another example — an 80 year old lady was picked off the street and thrown in jail with the rest of them. Twice:

https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2022/02/27/v-avtozake-kolle...

What's ironic here is she was born in besieged Stalingrad in 1942. Think about it: they've jailed a siege survivor from the Great Patriotic War which they are so proud of for standing peacefully at an anti-war protest.

You can look up the latest arrest figures on https://ovdinfo.org. It's not official info, but is the best we have.

A new law is currently being fast-tracked through Duma which will allow the state to throw people in prison for up to 20 years for literally any anti-war activity, including peaceful protests.

The country is very close to what it was like in Stalin times, back in 1930s.

Jail space is finite. If enough Russians care, they cannot possibly hope to jail them all.

I've got to ask how many times you've been arrested or jailed fighting for justice in your country. It's very easy to talk about this, it's a lot harder to do it, especially in a place like Russia. I've been arrested while protesting twice and once thrown in max security jail (luckily bailed out within a couple days) and I dealt with the follow-up for many stressful years. It stinks.

In any event I encourage you to use some of that passion of yours fighting for what's right in your own country & putting your own life & livelihood on the line. God speed!

Edit: in USA.

You can rest assured that when X declares in the internet:

"why doesnt Y protest and go to jail for righteusness!"

It will never fail that X has neither righteusness, nor follow their own advice.

Armchair fighters always fight with words, never actions, and will always send someone else to fight THE fight.

If my country, unprovoked, invaded a sovereign nation and threatened any intervening countries with a nuclear response, I would be out in the fucking streets. The people in Russia doing this are heroic, but more need to be doing it.

Historically, when jails have been cramped the solution has been dead bodies in trenches. Putin has demonstrated that he can be ruthless and he admires ruthless people who preceded him. If I was in Russia and I had a family (as I do here in Canada) I would be very afraid of them losing me because I expressed dissent during an extremely contentious and high-pressure war. Maybe that makes me weak or part of the problem; it’s just where I’m at and I can sympathize with people there who might be responding to the situation the way I would.

Priority 1: Stay alive and take care of my family

Priority 2: Do something about the social and political issues if I can, but not at the expense of priority 1

There is some overlap and conflict there. Maybe the government can put my family directly at risk, for example. In this case that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening unless your family has been sent to fight. For those people, god, I don’t have words. It’s unthinkable.

Siberia is vast, the horizon endless and the seasons extreme -- the bones there from Stalin's time attest that in practice it's a "boundless" jail.

Please, go read Gulag Archipelago, come back when you are done and share your thoughts on the limits of the soviet penal system.

"A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch" is (IMHO) an equally valid recommendation, w/ the benefit of being a much shorter and more accessible book.

That's really inconsiderate/rude.

I'm a avoid opponent of Putin, but I have the free speech to do it. And I can look things up online to find pretty decent info and different perspectives.

People that have families and live in other regimes don't have the luxury to do what I do here, in Belgium or probably you too.

You should most definitely be aware of that.

People don't pick the situation where they are born into.

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