Putin and his advisers don't understand the power of public

In the words of Alexei Navalny, “Putin and his advisers don't understand the power of public opinion in the West. They believe in conspiracy theories and that someone is orchestrating a malicious campaign against Russia. They don't realize that even conservative politicians have to react when newspapers and artists express their concern on such an issue,” we hear the cry of one who understood both tyranny and liberty. He speaks of the power of public opinion, that invisible force which in free societies carries the weight of armies, able to shape the course of governments through the voices of ordinary citizens, thinkers, and creators.

Navalny reveals the blindness of rulers who mistake every criticism for conspiracy. In Russia’s halls of power, dissent is crushed, newspapers silenced, artists bound or exiled. Thus they cannot imagine that in the West, a single poem, painting, or editorial could stir a nation, forcing even reluctant leaders to act. Where authoritarianism breeds suspicion and secrecy, democracy feeds upon transparency and the many voices of its people.

History gives us the tale of Émile Zola and the Dreyfus Affair in France. When a Jewish officer was wrongly convicted of treason, it was not generals or ministers who first brought justice, but a writer. Zola’s famous article “J’Accuse” shook the conscience of France, compelling politicians to confront corruption. This is the very power of artists and newspapers Navalny speaks of: the ability of words and images to awaken societies where silence would otherwise prevail.

His words are also a warning. To dismiss the public as weak is folly, for when people unite in outrage, even the most entrenched rulers must bend. In the West, politicians, no matter how conservative, cannot ignore the outcry of their voters, stirred by the press or the arts. Navalny reminds us that free societies live by this rhythm: the governed do not merely submit; they speak, and their voice compels action.

So let this teaching endure: rulers who mock the power of opinion build their houses upon sand. Armies may conquer, conspiracies may deceive, but the voice of the people, once awakened, topples empires. From Zola to Navalny, from pamphlets of revolution to the songs of protest, history proves this eternal truth—that the pen, the brush, and the voice, carried by the people, wield a force that tyrants can neither command nor silence forever.