Most people in Russia are against this war.

Most people in Russia didn’t vote for Putin and his ‘United Russia’ party. Many didn’t want to vote, but were forced to by their employers.

All major media companies in Russia are state-owned, and telling the truth is not their job. The ones that tried were closed, banned, the journalists were fired, imprisoned or even murdered.

Putin and his government could never win any elections, if not the all-embracing propaganda. And even with it, he bans real opponents from elections and ‘rewrites’ the results every time.

Many people in Russia have been involved in protests against Putin’s government since 2010. Some have been protesting since 2001, when the largest private TV company was seized by pro-Putin people. In recent years protesting has become simply dangerous — you can be tortured or raped by the police. People are imprisoned and fined for merely passing by protesters.

All this time Putin wasn’t representing Russia. It was obvious for anyone with basic analytical skills, but still he, his government and his oligarch friends and the money they have stolen from Russian citizens had been welcomed in the ‘western world’.

At the same time, mere mortal citizens of Russia need to get visas for most countries in the world. They need to pay fees considered expensive in Russia. Starting a business or just getting a work-permit in a ‘western’ country have always been insanely difficult and full of bureaucracy for someone who only has Russian citizenship. That never was a problem for Putin’s friends of course — they have unlimited money and power, so it’s only natural that they live and store money far from Russia.

It’s easy to say that people of dictatorship countries deserve their fate because they didn’t fight for their freedom. But many studies and social experiments have shown already what happens with people’s minds when they’re kept in aggressive societies and when they’re stuck with no hope. Starting a revolution is not for everyone. Most people just want to live peacefully and be loved, see their families and friends alive, even if they’re not prospering.

***

Here are two action points:

— Simplify visa processes for all non-residents. It can be automated and done online. It should take minutes and ideally be free — you’ll get money when people come to you country anyway. Passports were invented to remove borders, now they only create them.

— Allow non-residents to form companies or be hired, live and work in your country without wasting months and thousands of euros/dollars/whatever on local lawyers.

These two simple things will not only let your economies grow like never before, but will also gradually destroy all dictatorships in the world because finally people would have a choice what to fund with their taxes — science, art and innovation, or wars and luxurious life of corrupted governors and their pet oligarchs.

Until then, borders are dictatorships’ best friends. Until then, they’ll continue to kill people together.