Only a General Strike!

We cannot agree to live in conditions of violence and lawlessness.

"We missed the moment of the first, powerful wave of strikes. This is a big mistake. That was the only moment when the regime was really frightened and wavered," writes the reader of the telegram channel Basta! "The strike stopped the violence. But at that moment, we did not go on strike, hoping that "a strike is the sacred duty of the proletarians." In the meantime, we will continue to sell, earn money, go to offices, comfortably and habitually. Of course, we went to pickets of 200 people at the checkpoints and promised the workers to chip in and compensate for the lost salary. But the workers did not come out for money; they came out for dignity and against lawlessness. And they were left alone. We, business, state employees, had to support them not with likes, water, and compensation, but with a general strike. Only this level of support corresponded to the level of their action.

Yes, a strike is a serious and difficult act associated with inevitable losses. Someone will lose money, someone a career. Someone can come to an agreement with the boss and write "at own expense" and just tighten up expenses. Students, if expelled, will enroll in European universities and even will benefit from it. Everyone has it differently. But everyone, firstly, needs to accept the need for this sacrifice, and secondly, to think about how to reduce personal losses to a minimum.

And do not expect that the chairman of the bank, the head of production, or the trade network director will send us to the strike. All large private Belbusiness is not independent of the state. Our new strike can only start from below, initiated by each of us independently. As, in principle, our protest works.

The good thing about a strike is that it makes the protest visible to everyone. If the subway trains start running twice less often, this is noticeable to everyone; if half of the students do not come, this is noticeable to the entire administration; if half of the shops and cafes are closed, it is noticeable. The workers will come out again if we show them that we are together, and we are also ready to lose a lot today for a normal life for ourselves and our children.

The strike is a test of maturity, solidarity, and humanism of Belarusians. For me, it is undeniable that not even mine but other people's lives and health are more valuable than my financial and professional losses. First of all, we are people, and then marketers, bankers, sellers, teachers. We cannot agree to live in conditions of violence and lawlessness.

I am under no illusions, and I am not deceiving you: we risk losing a lot if we do not reach the General strike."