BeamZ - Stop Putin Now

The Big Idea

The ‘Big Idea’ behind the Stop Putin Now movement is simple. In today’s interdependent, interconnected world, can a large (maybe very large) group of focused ordinary citizens of the world — Stop a War?

The idea first formulated as I was watching BeamZ Kyiv show host, Olga Dudakova, produced a show about Ukrainian love stories the night before the Russian Army invaded Ukraine. I was watching because 190,000 soldiers were about to cross the border and obliterate Olga’s city as she was in a park telling two love stories to her mostly Canadian and American audience. Olga delivered a great show and yet Olga and everyone watching knew that the invasion was imminent.

At that moment, I thought everyone in the audience would do almost anything to prevent what was about to happen. And then I thought, why not? I am old enough to have protested the American war in Vietnam. It took almost ten years of escalating protesters, with students getting shot by soldiers on college campuses and bombs blowing up buildings, but the powers in the American government finally retreated. And that was ten years of a country’s own citizens protesting vigorously.

But today's world is so different. We are more connected to each other in our neighborhoods, our communities, across our country and truly around the world. Our economies and the products we use everyday come from the hands of ordinary people everywhere. In less than a year, BeamZ has built show hosts in over 40 countries and our small ‘headquarters’ staff lives on five different continents.

I think we can use that interdependence and interconnectedness to bring this war to a close much faster than Vietnam. I hope you will join the Stop Putin Now movement, because while the opportunity for success is there, I think it will take a large, very large number of us to make it happen.

As I write this, two of my grandchildren, ages 3 and 5, are asleep in the next room with the tune of Baa Baa Black Sheep in a loop to help them sleep safely and soundly. I know there are 40 million Ukrainians for whom that kind of sleep is no longer available. And I will not sleep well until we all, we ordinary citizens of the world, do our best to Stop this War Now.

About the author.

Jim Jorgensen is a co-founder of the BeamZ show platfor