Dear Oppressive Governments:
In the United States, people are allowed freedom to live, speak and pursue happiness as long as they don’t harm others. In the United States people are allowed freedom of expression. People express themselves in many different ways, whether it be through music, writing, speech, art, etc. This isn’t the case everywhere in the world. It is unjust that people are not allowed in some places to express their feelings even when they are not hurting anyone just because oppressive governments want control. If the government’s power is questioned then they fear their control might be taken away. In Russia, for example, people can get jailed and arrested for freely expressing their opinions. This is wrong. If people aren’t being violent and harmful they should be allowed to do and say what they want.
A recent example of this type of injustice occurred in 2012. The Russian punk band Pussy Riot was arrested on charges according to The New Yorker of being “empathetically vulgar”, “inappropriate in a church” and doing things that “offended religious believers” such as dancing in a church. They were protesting because they though that President Putin shouldn’t be reelected and that he was throwing aside “democracy” according to an interview with them from USA Today. They were speaking out against President Putin and his oppressive government.
In the United States if you were to do any of things Pussy Riot was charged for as described above it would be legal. It wouldn’t be something you were given a two-year prison sentence for doing. Pussy Riot wasn’t violent -- they were dancing in a church and voicing their opinions. Putin didn’t want people to voice their opinions and speak out against him. He didn’t want to be questioned, because if there were speculation that something he was doing something wrong his use of authority might be questioned and he might lose that power. When the verdict came out it said that all three women had “mixed-Personality disorder” and some of the traits the court listed of this disorder were “A proactive approach to life”, “a drive for self-fulfillment”, “stubbornly defending their opinion”, and “inflated self-esteem”, among others. Aren’t these traits that a society should promote? These are traits that can help people flourish and grow and cause positive change to happen.
Artists and activists should be able to express their opinions without getting put in a prison camp for almost two years, which was what happened to Pussy Riot. Freedom of expression can lead to good things and improvement in the world. Even though Pussy Riot was put in jail, they still made a difference because their story brought attention to issues of censorship and control in Russia. Many musicians including Sting, Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others condemned the sentences along with the United States and the European Union.
Ideas themselves usually don’t lead to injuries or pose a threat to lives; however, if some ideas are brought to action then yes people can be killed or injured. Because of this, we don’t allow people to say they are going to harm others. If people are saying those things then there is a fear they may act on those ideas.
But Pussy Riot was promoting the idea of voting against President Putin in the upcoming election. That idea certainly does no physical harm. Oppressive governments should allow people to voice their ideas and opinions, not label them as mentally ill and throw them in jail. I stand with all the others who have condemned the treatment of the members of Pussy Riot.
Sincerely,
Gabriele Esposito-Wilcock
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