[1970-01-01]

I have held the exact same question. I don't say this lightly. His decision was stupid. He would've been much more effective as a critic with a Twitter account. You can't criticize the government when you're not free to do so.

[tryauuum]

why would russians care about what some twitter boy happily living in EU has to say?

[fennecbutt]

Reminder that Americans voted trump in pretty much based off social media and TV presence, bluster, and Trump "supporting" each voter's individual brands racism, misogyny, homophobia etc.

[tryauuum]

Are you suggesting Navalny could win through the social media?

Russia really tightened control over its part of the internet. If you are a normal russian citizen you can't visit twitter or instagram or linkedin, you need to know what a VPN is first and also you need to install it.

Still probably better than Iran. (I assume) in Iran some websites are blocked by iranian government and some (dockerhub, github) are blocked by US government.

[neonarray]

It seems stupid, yes. However he would've been hunted the remainder of his life and likely assassinated, regardless. He may have hoped too that by sacrificing himself, he would keep his family safe.

I don't have that strong of a will to give myself over to Putin the way he did. Navalny is immensely brave and principled and while his sacrifice ultimately will likely end in vein, I hope beyond hope that it inspires and motivates those in Russia who prefer Putin be eliminated from power. Time will tell.

[mbs159]

What makes you think that he would not have been killed in a foreign country?

[082349872349872]

Have you heard the metaphor of the chicken and the pig at breakfast time?

I could probably stand in the Krasnaya Ploshchad and yell "Vladimir Zelenskiy Sucks!" without repercussion, but that wouldn't make it effective criticism.

[jjtheblunt]

Why didn't you say Red Square instead of, in an English sentence, dropping in a Russian adjective and Russian noun?

[082349872349872]

  1. it's only a copy, paste, and click to get to Red Square
  2. it fits with the .ru transliteration of Volodymyr Zelenskyy
  3. it retains any original ambiguity between "red" and "beautiful"
  4. it avoids confusing the Union with the Federation
  5. it complies with dang's suggestion not to overly spoon-feed each other

EDIT: in other news: https://www.theonion.com/putin-distraught-over-friends-who-k...

[jjtheblunt]

I should say I got it of course, but not sure others in general would.

[082349872349872]

I had double checked that (1) worked before including it, and for that matter, even untransliterated « красная площадь » gives me "Red Square, Moscow, Russia, 109012" above the fold when using the most popular search engine.

[1970-01-01]

Strategy is what gets results, not metaphors. Examples of effective criticism with government-toppling results can be seen in the Arab Spring movement.

[082349872349872]

How has the Arab Spring been working out?

Toppling governments doesn't do much good if no one manages to provide effective replacements running on new lines afterwards. See also Reconstruction in the US, or the CIS/CSTO/etc. in the former Soviet Union.