Pussy Riot: A Lesson For Canadian Activists…

One of the things I’m most sick & tired of hearing from privileged Canadian protesters is how they continuously drone on about how Canada is an oppressive and unfair country. Honestly, this sort of complaining is an insult to people who live in oppressive countries. If you have any doubt, talk to the members of Pussy Riot, a Russian punk band who today were sentenced to two years in prison for protesting against Vladimir Putin inside of Moscow’s Christ The Saviour Cathedral. (a building that Stalin originally demolished and Putin re-built a few years ago)

Collectively, the three young women of Pussy Riot have more guts than the entire Canadian Black Bloc. They knew they faced real oppression- when they burst into the cathedral, they had no doubt they would be arrested. They didn’t smash any windows or fight with the police- they simply sang a song they wrote about Putin.

In Canada, radical (union funded) publications like Rabble.ca & The Media Co-Op put a lot of effort into labelling the hooligans in the Black Bloc as political prisoners. The people who do this are entirely ignorant about what an oppressive government is- either that, or they are knowingly try to position vandals as heroes. The problem is that they aren’t.

I know a few people who had to leave Russia due to fear of persecution- not a single one of them did anything violent to get put into that position. On example, Mark Ames of The Exile had to leave the country at the last minute because his newspaper challenged Putin’s politics. Another person, and artist, was being harassed by the FSB (former KGB) for the paintings they made.

Russian protesters don’t need to get aggressive with the police- the police are scary there. I know this from experience, after having one stick a gun in my mouth while helping someone rob me. But, in Canada, protesters work hard to irritate the police with the intention of baiting them to arrest them. Here, for some demented reason, it is a badge of honour for a protester to get arrested- to the point where they try to get arrested.

Perhaps this is related to the fact that Canadian protesters don’t have to fear being put into a Russian prison. They are dark, seriously overcrowded, scary places to be. The members of Pussy Riot saw more despair in their first day of being in prison than Alex Hundret will see in his entire career as a professional agitator. Each time he complains about his life in prison he is making a mockery out of the lives of people who are truly suffering.

It’s time for Canadian activists to grow-up and stop acting like Canada is a repressive country- it isn’t. And, the only way we will get to where Russia is if activists create an environment that enables the government to take us there. Actions like the G20 are the perfect example. If the agitators in this country continue to try and escalate violence like what happened that day we will be guaranteed to have that happen…

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