It would simply be the height of hypocrisy and duplicity not to mention that Latvia has not seen rallies like those in November for a long time.
The numbers vary – from 6 to 10 thousand participants. But the essence does not change: the old town was filled with opponents of withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention.
I will not start the song about "paid," "indoctrinated," "did not read" for the hundredth time – why? Let's accept as a fact: concerned people unitedly rose from their warm chairs and loudly expressed their attitude to the current issue in public space. Why? Why? Let's talk about it.
I Have an Opinion!
In fact, we saw that there are about 10 thousand people in Riga who are not just indifferent, but who are capable of uniting and shouting their "not indifferent" in the face. Moreover, these are not some seniors 70+ who periodically hesitate at various government institutions with poorly drawn posters, but active youth with creative slogans. Let's even accept as an axiom that they are thinking youth.
Symbolically, the day before the rally, the budget for 2026 was adopted. Quietly, without noise and dust, without wringing hands and loud discussions. A decision was made about the lives of ordinary citizens of the country for the near future. No: no one says that it is scandalous, unacceptable, and outrageous. No one says anything at all. The situation is comically mirrored: to have a balanced opinion about the budget – it needs to be studied.
Even to be outraged by specific, out-of-context points, it is necessary for someone to have pulled out those very points. Authoritatively said that this is bad, then drew posters, coordinated the rally, made it clear that "all normal people are going" and only then – …
When the "Bottoms" Cannot Remain Silent
The people are tired of protests. There is so much around that is "not allowed," or "most likely not allowed," that people vitally need the opportunity to be outraged and pound their fists on the table. Cumulative energy is building up, and if it is not released, who knows where this spring might shoot. God forbid into the budget, for example. People need a controlled explosion – and they got it.
Trying to grab someone by the hand in this situation and explain that they have been deceived is, at the very least, foolish. And humanly – simply cruel. Having gained the legitimate right to protest, a person already feels like a rebel going against the system. They cannot be unsettled even by the prime minister of their country standing next to them, let alone some pathetic skeptics. Under strict police supervision, with prepared posters and demonstratively meaningless chants, the ceremonial opening of the "room of anger" took place, where everyone could scream out all the pain that had accumulated in an abstract and safe form.
Is it painful for dying education? For tariffs? For rising prices? – come to Dome Square, shout "meow-meow!" in their face. This time you will not be silenced, on the contrary, you will even be given a microphone and the support of a crowd of thousands. You have the support of the official media, the top officials of the state are shouting in unison next to you, and those who disagree will be harshly mocked by those who agree with you. A minute of fame for everyone who has grievances. To let it go. And so that tomorrow, when someone says "let's protest, we are doing so well," they will respond: "No, I already went yesterday."
If They Wanted to – They Went, If They Did Not Go – Then They Did Not Want to
In 1962, in Novocherkassk, factory workers, simple Soviet laborers, suddenly thought that "the power of the people" was not just beautiful words for the first of May. And on June 1, they declared a strike, naively deciding that "Comrade Brezhnev simply does not know what horrors are happening here." For three days, popular indignation boiled – just like in patriotic films, where a brave worker inevitably pins a corrupt official to the wall at the end.
On June 3, the crowd of protesters was shot. In 1962, yes. The dead were secretly buried from their relatives in different cemeteries in nameless graves. Information about the incident was classified until 1980. And no one particularly wanted to remember it. After all, this is different. Today, it can be spoken of boldly, as one of the manifestations of the brutality of Soviet power. But it is not like that for us, is it? We wanted to go out for the convention – we went out. Did not go out against the convention? Then we did not want to, and that’s why we did not go out. And they will not go out against the budget. There is no prohibition. They just do not want to. Right?
There are no revelations for such events. In the dispute between a thinker and a believer, the latter will always win. Especially with the unequivocal support of the holy inquisition. Even the disappointment in attempts to repeat the success does not lead to the thought that something was wrong the last time it worked. There will always be those who will authoritatively say that you simply went the wrong way this time. "You see, when you were really right – we supported you."
Unlove on a National Scale
At this point, we can turn off the lights. This society has broken – bring in the new. We allowed ourselves to be convinced that the correctness of the protest against the authorities is determined by the authorities. The circle is closed.
The state declared itself the legislator of fashionable protest trends, and the people breathed a sigh of relief. Not loving together is much easier than loving in spite of. We have entered an era of coordinated discontent. This is the perfect symbiosis: the system gets the opportunity to release steam, directing it into absolutely safe channels, while the citizen gets the illusion of their own significance, a sense of belonging to something important, which, in essence, risks nothing. From now on, the most radical act is one committed with official permission, accompanied by video cameras and a nod of approval from above. It’s like shouting about your freedom while standing in a cozy and well-lit cage, the door of which is not locked, but behind it – emptiness.
But real protest is always risk and unpredictability. It cannot be "beautiful," "fashionable," "well-organized," "coordinated." True protest – against inflation, tariffs, poor education, and terrible medicine, against corruption – is stepping out of the comfort zone. It is a shout in the face of a stronger opponent with the understanding of possible retaliation. It is the risk of getting fined, losing a job, and creating problems.
That is why 10,000 people go out for an abstract, but morally approved convention, while not even 100 will go out for a picket against it. The energy expelled at Dome Square did not go towards creating a public group to monitor budget expenditures. It was utilized.
About the Factory That Was Not Built
Instead of directing 10,000 people, their time, their creativity, their sincere desire to "make things better" towards creating something real – whether it be a truly powerful public institution for control or an initiative to reform a specific area – their energy was spent on a shout.
One day in the square, one flash in the media, and that’s it – the spring is released. The factory was not built because no one went to the construction site. Everyone went to the "free speech" celebration, which was actually a day of controlled capitulation.
What will remain after? A feeling that "we can," which will immediately be replaced by apathy when it comes time to repeat the success without the support of "top officials" and "official media." There will be a memory of the warmth and unity of the crowd, but not of the result. In the end, society will get used to the fact that protest is a therapeutic session, not a tool for change. It cleanses, gives a sense of duty fulfilled, but does not change reality beyond this "room of anger."
Darkness at the End of the Tunnel
The light of critical thinking in us has been successfully extinguished. We have replaced it with the light of spotlights in the square. And when it becomes truly painful next time and it is necessary to go out against something inconvenient, unpopular, against what no one will approve – the people will stay home. After all, they have already been made to understand: a legitimate protest is one that is convenient for the authorities, not one that hinders them.
The circle has closed not just in the issue of protest, it has closed in the very question of freedom. And we breathed a sigh of relief: we no longer need to decide what is right. The state has decided that for us. Now in this darkness, we can sleep peacefully.
Alexey Stetyukha, journalist, blogger
