The Patriot Alexei: Truth Against Tyranny

The patriot, Alexei Navalny, is not widely known in the United States but is well-known by our new amigo, Russia. The Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin, couldn’t get enough of harming this man throughout his working life, but Alexei had other plans to cheat Vlad out of destroying the history that was uncovered. What he did was to document what the dictator had been doing to him, his family, and the people of Russia.

Alexei achieved his goal. He documented the evil regime, documented his own experiences in and out of prisons, and provided a tremendous gift to both his family and the world with his new book.

Alexei’s book, Patriot, was released in 2024 after his death on February 16. It starts with a distinct and chilling statement with many more to follow on the pages ahead. Alexei starts it all with the most in-your-face pronouncement possible. He said, ‘If you’re reading this, I’m already dead.’

He speaks to the reader from beyond the grave. We should listen.

As Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei’s wife, wrote, Patriot was “a reminder of why the principles of individual freedom matter so deeply,” a matter of which most Americans need a lesson. We are now in an era where individual freedoms are being taken from us in the USA, piece by piece. Just look at what’s happened to women’s healthcare in just the recent past. Women are truly no longer equals with men in the US, just as it is in dictatorships and extremist forms of government throughout the world. Inequality and its many variations are covered in this book, as are corruption at the many levels of the Russian government, and an explanation for why Russians drink so heavily. Beware. Alexei covers tremendously varied subjects in just under 500 pages.

Most of all, his book is easy to read and not full of big words and big language. It’s in part what makes this book engaging, and worth a reading by an American audience.

Besides the issue of inequality and the many other issues he brings up, Alexei always returns the reader to a better understanding of the sources of happiness. During all the horrors of his later life, cut short by poisonings, Alexei never expressed regret nor remorse for anything. His most basic self was content with what he’d done in his life. He had reached his goals and would continue to reach them even after death. He had accepted his impending death and knew it would not be a natural one but one caused by a corrupt and heartless Russian dictator, one who we know will not face accountability for his hideous crimes against humanity.

Alexei would smile at his immoral guards, not snide smiles, but smiles of authentic joy. I believe that this level of happiness was due to his focus on the personal freedoms he had left in his life, his family, his memoir, and Yulia (not necessarily in that order).

The reader would be remiss if not looking for the incidences of personal freedom that Alexei indicates throughout the book. He noted incidences of freedom that led to what his guards thought was an abnormal sense of contentment, of happiness with his here-and-now in spite of being housed in the most horrifying prison on the planet. (Being who he was, Alexei was never sexually assaulted nor beat but he was fully aware of what had been done to the many victims of the prison guards. Horror.)

During his lifetime, Alexei was the leader of the Russia of the Future party and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). These were alliances that put Alexei on the dictator’s radar. Russian “president” Putin actually considered Alexei the most dangerous person in Russia. You know why? Because Alexei was fearless in his telling of the truth about the dastardly politics in his country.

It was a fearlessness that does not involve doing outrageous stunts with one’s body, like in the comedy series Jackass. It was a fearlessness that believes wholeheartedly that the truth will always prevail in spite of the consequences of telling truths.

Truth-tellers in America are in a sorry state today. The hate that leads to divisiveness, anti-science, chaos, Nazi’s, and one person being treated above the law is all happening right now. After reading his book, you will realize that Putin has reached our shores. It is my wish that the Democratic party finds an American Alexei to run, one who will oust the oligarchy and authoritarianism existent today, before the lack of truth becomes America’s horror.