‘In Bad Times like These, Anyone who Thinks Turns Out to be a Dissident,’ Russians Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Feb. 21 – In reflecting upon their situation under Vladimir Putin, some Russians are now saying that “in bad times like the ones at present, anyone who thinks independently turns out to be a dissident in the eyes of the powers that be and suffers accordingly.”

            This is just one of the anecdotes in the latest collection posted online by Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/47832/-). Among the best of the rest are the following:

·       In a secret circular, the authorities have decided to order Russians to smile because even frowns are a discredit to the regime.

·       Polls now show that a majority of Russians supports the execution of the majority of Russians.

·       Putin has decided to boost the birthrate by taking housing away from Russians who don’t give birth and handing their residences over to migrants who traditionally have more children.

·       Immediately after Navalny’s death, Putin promoted four jailors to the rank of major general, an action that apparently was no coincidence.

·       The cursed wild 1990s led Russians to develop the bad habit of expecting that they would be able to eat every day, but after the upcoming presidential election, Putin will cure them of that.

·       As in 1937, the powers that be are arresting officials of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf. And once again, “when they came for the deaf, we didn’t say anything …”

·       The grandchildren of those who read the works of the late satirist Vladimir Voinovich will again be reading his Adventures of Ivan Chonkin in samizdat now that his books are being taken out of libraries.