In 1972 Solzhenitzyn, the author of "The Gulag Archipelago" and the oldest living Nobel Prize laureate in literature as of today, wrote a small article titled "Live Not by a Lie". The essence of it was simple: if you cannot resist the regime actively, you might do it by refusing to cooperate. His suggestions were like "Do not vote for somebody you do not like, even of the local Party committee recommends this person", "Do not recite a propaganda sentence if you do not agree with it", etc. In the Soviet Union of 1972 even that was quite brave...
We are in 2007. USSR is history. However, Solzhenitzyn's method can be as useful today as it was in 1972.
- Do not like wasteful and inconsiderate use of natural resources yet cannot leave your job and start picketing polluting factories? I have an easy way for you: do not invest in companies that treat the Earth like dirt.
- Disgusted with the idea of Internet censorship yet wonder what you can do? Try not to use services of companies that succumb to Chinese government's requirements for censoring web content. Use Wikipedia that refuses to do so!
- Uncomfortable with the idea that governments might be reading your e-mails without your permission or proper legal procedure? Boycott e-mail service providers that are willing to share e-mail contents with oppressive regimes. Wonder who these are? Start with Yahoo! - read the story of Shi Tao, Chinese journalist who is serving 10 years in prison for sending an e-mail to his friend and who's e-mail was willingly disclosed by Yahoo! to Chinese authorities.
Want to make one more step and promote Freedom? Use your blog and your website, put there links to Human Rights organizations and blogs. I do that - see http://www.conflair.com/TheOtherStuff.asp.
Technorati tags: human rights, internet censorship, Shi Tao
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