Today, something a very good friend once said to me came back to haunt me. He said he wanted to see where all this fuss I’m kicking up would lead. It’s made me think more deeply about what he meant.
Sadly, of Estonia’s 1.3 million citizens, only a handful are truly willing to stand up for themselves, their people and their country, and to take responsibility. So far, everyone else has watched from the sidelines, treating much of what that handful of people do as entertainment.
People are afraid to step outside their comfort zone. They fear that if they act, the consequences could cost them the comfort they have now. Yet life in Estonia hasn’t been comfortable for a long time. Some 250,000 Estonians live below the subsistence line.
Those who still have the means leave the country for greener pastures, thinking, of course, that heaven forbid they should have to do anything to save it. Once again, securing their own well-being comes first. But I can hardly blame them. We all want to survive and look after our children. I did the same when I found my own Arcadia in Finland. Yet the reality is that you’re no longer in your homeland. You work for someone in another country who, in return, makes it possible for you to live with dignity.
Over the years, I’ve devoted my free time and a great deal of money to standing up for the Republic of Estonia, its land and its people. Some of that money I earned with my own hands abroad, some through my political work on streaming platforms, and some came from donations.
Wherever you are, at home or abroad, if this country, this land and its people matter to you, please don’t just watch. Take action. Today, the easiest way to do that is to join olejulge.ee.
For our land and our people, free from party affiliation!
– Mario Maripuu, creator of olejulge.ee, one of the members who re-established Rõdali parish, westerner
