You just had elections, congratulations! Though they might have been slightly unfair, you still managed to send a message to the ruling party, that they just can´t do anything they feel like.
But there´s something about democracy and citizenship you need to keep in mind. It´s about you. Yes, you. You might think that (free) elections are good, as well as rule of law and free media. They are of course, but they are worth nothing without the active citizen. And that´s you. You see, you have to keep a constant eye on the ones with power, and do it in many different ways at the same time. And don´t get me wrong, it´s the same anywhere in the world. You have to imagine, that you are talking to the prime minister while holding a remote control which will open a hatch beneath his chair. Sure, he can rule if he´s elected, but at any time (when you are unsatisfied enough) you can push the button and the prime minister will soon find himself on the street. Because there is actually a potential Putin and a Medvedev at every street corner. They´re just men, people. They are just waiting for the right conditions to take power and misuse it if possible. A Stalin, a Mao and a Hitler are there too. The only thing stopping them from getting (and holding on) to power is you. It´s you who decides what a prime minister can and cannot do. Hell, you decide a big part of what he should do. That´s what political discussion is about. He is accountable to you, the source of his power. Again, it´s the same in other countries, including my home country.
I wouldn´t want to blame or criticize you, but you have it rather good in many respects. Russia has all the oil and gas it needs, even enough for importing. Most of the known metals are found inside its borders. It has the most land in the world, including plenty of farmable land. It has a long history of training scientists, it even brought the first man to space. So why does it often times still resemble a third world country? Apart from the decay of the infrastructure and the undeveloped economy, the media is in the hands of the ruling party and corruption is everywhere. Government officials are often times above the law. Poverty is widely spread, and the riches of the land are in the hands of a small minority who live abroad mostly. So who´s to blame? I hate to brake it to you, or maybe you can already guess…
It´s you. You and your fellow russians. Because there´s never any way for a people to hide from the eyes of the world, or history for that matter. There´s no way of getting away from the responsibility. You see, as an example Hitler and Stalin didn´t kill all those millions of people personally. The germans and the russians (and people of some other nationalities..) did. Dictatorship is also no excuse, one can always ask, why did the Russians allow themselves to be dictated. Though the russians were also the victims of Stalin, he also acted in their name, as their leader. So have Jeltsin and Putin done. The latter is currently acting in your name, he represents you in the world. Bear in mind the old truth: a country gets the leaders it deserves. So when you are all pissed off of the way things are, ask yourself: what have I done? Did I find out and talk about this problem, or write about it in the paper/internet? Did I try to talk to an official about it? Did I try to get elected to a political office to make things better, or help someone else do it? The people with power are counting on you to do nothing, so they could exploit you some more. And they will continue misusing their power, make no mistake. Who´s to stop them, if not you.
So you´re thinking it´s easy for me to talk, someone from a prosperous democracy without political oppression etc. Perhaps it is, but I still feel ashamed every time my government does something which I consider stupid. Even if I didn´t vote for the rulers of the day. I can only ask myself the question: Why didn´t I do anything to stop this – what can I do to make things right. And sometimes I might end up doing little or nothing. But I cannot rely on the illusion, that things will just correct themselves. Even less can I think that there could ever be a ruler anywhere, who would listen to the people without the fear of losing power in the next election. That much I claim to know about the human nature.
And I can imagine it´s hard to try to make a difference in modern day Russia. You people were first treated like cattle by the tsar, and just when a government of the little people was supposed to be in power, it started treating you even worse. I guess it´s hard to feel responsible for those in power, if one has been told to sit down and shut up for 70 years while being held at gunpoint. But now´s your chance, your time. You probably won´t get a better break than this, at least without trying. Good luck!
