One more thing. Surround yourself with Godly people who will encourage you to stand up for what's right. My priest and parish (Russian Orthodox) have definitely helped me be braver. Also, pray to St. Alexander Nevsky to intercede for you. He defended Holy Russia against Mongols and Germs!

Lecture of the day: Be like Richard Stallman. So the obvious grain of salt in this advice: Sometimes you will have to compromise for the sake of something higher. If, for instance, you have a family to feed, better think twice before blindly “standing up for your principles” at work. Autistically following this advice can be harmful. If one only has responsibility for oneself, that’s a different story of course, but even then: Getting your principles in order and dropping all the stupid and autistic ones before standing up for them seems obligatory to me. As an example, rejecting the vaccine on the prinpicle of rejecting the social pressure of getting vaccinated and not wanting to “be told what to inject in one’s body” seems very stupid to me. If there’s something at stake, why would you risk it by making a scene about a moot issue? (On the other hand, if one has well-researched concerns about the safety of the vaccine, rejecting to take the vaccine is of course very legitimate and everything else would be stupid and cowardly.) In the same vein, I consider it generally advisable to hide your power level from peers who are no friends. Anyway, I think your view on this will slightly change once you have children, Luke. Nevertheless I support the general line of your advice!