Hacker News Reader

Comment by baby | Hacker News Reader

I used to watch a lot of interviews in Moscow and about in Russia during the start of the war in Ukraine, and I remember that that was a lot of the response people would give. Most of them would say "I'm apolitical". I don't mean to tell people what they should do, but I think this is the modern death of democracy: most people don't want to put their lives on the line to protect it, but the loud crazies are spending 24/7 on destroying it

View on HN

There’s also practically nothing i can do to stop any of this. I dont hold any position of power or influence. So given that, i choose not to worry about it, for the sake of my mental health

Shows of support gives those that can do something the courage to continue working for change. Protests/crowds supporting them are hugely important for those people in places of power that are on your side.

Shows of support show not everyone agrees. Break the illusion of absolute authority.

How can I support them? (Sincere question)

Show you exist. Go to rallies if you can, if you can't then cheer them on if you see them. Sign petitions. If your representatives are doing things you support, contact and let them know. If your friends post something you are scared to, let them know you saw it, that they aren't speaking into a void.

When I was in a bad place, I had a black friend who would always tell me 'I see you <deadfred>' and 'keep your head up'. Do that. Anywhere where you can be a feedback loop to give others a little support, a little strength, a feeling they aren't alone is huge.

Don't post negative if possible, that adds to their maximal pressure on society to look like they are winning, that supports them and their narrative. Post about your grandparents overcoming this stuff. Post america rejected it before. Post a small act of defiance you did, instead of conforming in advance. They will mock you, because all they have is mockery and pressure to conform to give the illusion that everyone has given in, that they have won. Their mockery is weakness. Is admitting they don't have control.

These people only win when we give up. It's why the have maximal pressure everywhere. In the hopes it overwhelms us and makes us think they have already won.

Thanks, that was helpful and I’ll try to do some of these things when I can

I'm not afraid of bad people. I fear the silence of good people.

> modern death of democracy

The primary key to democracy is that it allows voters to vote out unpopular autocratic politicians. Politicians don't want to give up power, but must be forced to (as seen in previous US election).

The usual narritive about democracy is that voters get to vote for policies they want: however I haven't seen that occur in my personal experience in New Zealand. However parties can lose an election for unwanted policy or because their leaders are not desired.

You should keep in mind that people with oppositional views just won't participate in those interviews as they are risking with prosecution [1], so there's a selection bias towards apolitical/pro-Putin people.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-man-gets-5-year...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com