Resistancegeorgia: Recent Comments

Comment on shooting rampage in Baku

2009-04-30T17:28:54Z

Ana, I checked out the facebook profile and discovered that owner of that profile is friends with old friend of mine from Baku. I wrote him and he said that this is not the guy. just to avoid misunderstanding...

Comment on Need for civil disobedience

2009-04-27T14:34:17Z

Civic disobideience agaisnt what?
So when we have 20% of land occupied by genocidal agressor the opposition want to start civil disobedience against own government. Priceless

Anyway disregard who Saakashvili is I don't want grechiha as a president.

Comment on The idea that Saakashvili is handling protests peacefully is false

2009-04-26T12:21:21Z

That's crap actually.
The tolerance which Georgian government is displaying is almost unique. In any other country not permitted protest blocking city centre would be cracked down by riot police within minutes(ref. antiglobalist protests in London recently), while Georgian government does everything possible to avoid violence.

The fact that opposition leader can not maintain discipline at the protest site has nothing to do with a government.

Hypocrisy has limits

Anyway what so called opposition wants? To force Saakashvili out? Ok lets say he is gone so what? How it is going to solve problems?

Oh I forgot ex communist elite heirs like Anna dolidze and her partner Mr kakabadze want their privilege back, alongside with immunity from the law...

Comment on a practical example of civil disobedience

2009-04-16T22:11:39Z

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Comment on Need for civil disobedience

2009-04-14T21:48:26Z

Hi Anna,

I think the thoughts reflected in your post about the “third platform” bear consideration – though as it seems the opposition does not have a platform (much less a party base, which is what they should have spent the past five years building), I wonder where we begin our counting.

I can't agree, though, with your two posts on civil disobedience. First of all, the example you link to in the video clip is arguably not an act of civil disobedience, nor is it a particularly constructive act of provocation of the police. Civil disobedience is predicated on the connection between action and law: the act of not obeying the law you wish to change, and refusing to comply without anger or retaliation. Eating lunch at a segregated lunch counter to change segregation laws connects disobedience to the expected change. What law do those men in the video want to change? The one against putting graffiti and stickers up and defacement of public property? This clip is at best a piece of irresponsible filmmaking, in its splicing to your speech in New York, and at worst, borders on astroturfing – the expression and tone the two perpetrators use is far stronger than its translation and to a non-Georgian speaking audience, misleading. After viewing it, I am most impressed by the amazingly well-trained Tbilisi police. Nobody’s touched the camera operator, nobody’s interfered violently. Do that in-your-face provocation of police one of the men takes in any western country and you’d be down at the station.

Second, I find your use of the meaningless newspeak term “neo-bolshevik” inexplicable and incendiary, particularly in the context of April 9th. Surely you can discuss your dislike for Saakashvili’s platform and actions without resorting to the misuse of Orwellian symbolism.

Comment on Third platform needed

2009-04-14T21:17:56Z

Hm, Such a good point Anna raised. Buttt,
You can not imagine how strong pathological roofs you encounter with this point. What I mostly face in my daily experience is that absolute majority discourage to think and to act-pro at the local level, because, the standards of low-conduct permits them to stay passive and still live wonderful life.
The easiest life-role is to treat cynical, critical and in an aggressive manner. to humiliate and distress.
And Pro-approach of individuals versus this pathological stream becomes un-fruitful, until the strong partnership among group of such individuals is formed - to back up.
Well, this is what we dealing each day at the local level and no wonder that this practice is absolutely copied in politics.

Comment on Starting points for dialog

2009-04-14T21:03:33Z

The biggest discomfort for me is that - All or Nothing approach - that opposition has adopted. I can feel and comprehand its underlined reasons, but All/Nothing conception is originally false in terms of political and sociological science. There will always be some persons having different perception of ALL. And some - resisting the reached results, even if they are good enough, because it was less than ALL!
Nothing is totally absurd as well, and there is the third option of - Worse than it was before!

As a human with bound nature I need to visualize the realistic outcomes,to ensure my basic feeling of safety.

Comment on Third platform needed

2009-04-14T01:20:40Z

Anna's point on need for pro-something movement vs against-something opposition is valid. It has always been valid. The problem is deep because it is based on knowledge, not amoution, it more about being prepared and providing real alternatives on how to get to that something, what the practical steps to take, how to avoid obstacles and navigate the currents to the desired end. So, Anna’s point has always been valid. But at least my recollection of events in Georgia show that radicals tend to dictate the course and "thinkers" tend to get marginalized into supportive roles at first, and than into obscurity. This happened in 1988-89 and again in 1991-1992. I remember people than who were trying to do painstakingly slow and tedious work of thinking things through, putting pros and cons together and trying as a result to do “smart” politics, instead of “laud” politics. Grand posturing somehow always won against the substance…

The "Caucasus our common home" approach has been on minds of many people since predating the days of USSR collapse. First time I heard enthusiastic buzz about this was 20 years ago in 1988 (I remember attending conference in Tbilisi which gathered quit large delegations all over Caucasus). It is a great idea which realistically had no chance than and even less chance now, when domestic political situation diverged so profoundly thought the Caucasus countries. But I would encourage another attempt, preferably on the level that would focus on creating public movement rather than on political movement.

Comment on Third platform needed

2009-04-14T00:34:10Z

Hi Onnik, I think this is a very timely suggestion and idea. The situation is certainly ripe for this kind of movement. All of us would have to overcome ethnical prejudices and political conspiracy theories so entrenched in our political discourses. But we should certainly continue thinking of this and working on this, and finding other collaborators.

Comment on Third platform needed

2009-04-13T23:35:37Z

Anna, yep, and that's precisely I felt looking in -- albeit on the ground -- in Yerevan last year for the presidential election here. To be honest, I think this is a problem with the domestic political situation in all three South Caucasus republics.

Some would argue that it's also a problem that exists in the U.S. too (although nowhere near as bad as here).

A hypothetical question for you, however. Even though we haven't truly democratic opposition movements in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia -- and not least because the frozen conflicts impact local politics too much -- is there the chance to try to develop a regional pro-democracy movement in the South Caucasus?