this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
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[–] Etterra@discuss.online 43 points 6 days ago (1 children)

You can't fix stupid, but you can laugh when it moves to Russia.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (5 children)

It's propaganda poisoning all the way down.

The Russians, the Americans, and the Brits are all choking on their version of Nationalist Exceptionalism as all three countries nosedive.

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[–] CoolSouthpaw@lemmy.world 33 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Whenever these morons move to Russia, they improve the average IQs of both countries.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 12 points 5 days ago

Russians are no stupider, on average, than anyone else. They just have shittier luck regarding the system they've been born into.

[–] volley3744@lemmy.world 50 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Ilja Belobragin, general managing partner at Move To Russia, a company which helps foreigners relocate to Russia, says something he frequently hears from his clients is that they "don't recognise the community around me anymore".

Some prospective migrants complain about high immigration in their own countries or what they see as declining living standards, he says.

Let's break this down: The people say they "don't recognise the community around [them] anymore" because of "high immigration", so they decide to become an immigrant surrounded by people of a different nationality than them.

As I see it, this is for one specific reason only: I don't believe it's the different cultural values from immigration that bothers them (they are literally moving into a wholly foreign culture; although I'm sure the Orthodox church gives some perverse appeal), but I believe they are bothered by ethnicity/skin colour. I believe these people are racists more than they are xenophobes.

I believe, for these people, Russia is a better alternative only because they have a certain perception of white-skinned Russians. I don't think these people are aware of places like Tuva, or Yakutia, or Chechnya - and I don't think they would ever visit those places. To say their quiet part out loud, I think these "conservatives" are just people who are white supremacists, moving because it's a "white country" in their eyes, and thinking all white people have some shared essence. This is how they can justify to themselves being a foreigner in a foreign land. How else could they justify it to themselves?

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 32 points 6 days ago (3 children)

From what I've read in the past, a lot of them are just really homophobic.

[–] Comet79@lemmy.world 16 points 6 days ago

Russia's been running a massive propaganda campaign in Europe and the US for more than a decade. Including slandering the LGBT and trying to associate them with illegal activities, promoting Christian orthodoxy over atheism, depicting Europe as degenerate and failing, demonizing immigrants and trying to frame them as criminals etc.

The people who move to Russia thinking they are upgrading their lives are few according to this article, but I'm still surprised by how these people completely ignored how authoritarian and destitute that country is. Germans moving to Russia thinking it's the better place to be is a huge propaganda victory for the latter.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Someone who is homophobic has two choices:

  1. Leave behind everything you own and know to go live as an immigrant in a foreign country where you don't speak the language or understand the customs.
  2. Don't have gay sex.

Gay sex must be really good.

[–] zaphod@sopuli.xyz 8 points 6 days ago

A lot of these people have kids they take with them and usually they claim stuff like the government is teaching gay sex in schools.

[–] feetandballs@lemmy.zip 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

"Certainly this will get rid of my urge to hump butt"

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

We'll have none of that gay stuff in my house.

Now, where should I hang my framed copy of this?

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[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 10 points 6 days ago

they “don’t recognise the community around me anymore”.

I think that's a narrative implanted in their brains by conservatives: too many brownskinned people, danger danger danger.
Just like Russia deliberately creates the narrative that they offer an alternative, conveniently ignoring the multicultural nature of Russia - and the obvious conflict of becoming an immigrant yourself.

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[–] Nautalax@lemmy.world 39 points 6 days ago (2 children)

This article inspired me to check and Teddy Boy Greg (the disgruntled white power barber with a ton of ridiculous facial tattoos who moved to Russia to get away from what he called “degenerates”) has recently died in Ukraine

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (6 children)

White supremacist died fighting Russia's war against... checks notes... alleged neo-Nazis? Dude wasn't blessed with an overabundance of critical thinking.

[–] antonim@lemmy.world 43 points 6 days ago

checks notes… alleged neo-Nazis

Allow me to present this handy guide:

[–] Nautalax@lemmy.world 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

One of the interesting things about their propaganda style (which unfortunately is spreading elsewhere…) is that they will spin up entirely different conflicting narratives and even have people arguing between them on their platforms. This is because if they stick to just one kind of narrative, it can only find purchase with the particular sort of audience it’s geared to and will probably fail elsewhere. But if they spin up a ton of different narratives from various mouthpieces geared to many different audiences and blast them unceasingly, then there are still plenty of other hooks to potentially catch a listener even if some are definitely flubs. And if there’s mass confusion in what you actually stand for with all sorts of contradictory statements constantly in the churn of being advanced or withdrawn and defended or blasted, then past a certain point people just kind of give up in the face of the background noise and believe whatever they want rather than if everyone were more closely keeping track of the same smaller and simpler narrative. Part of the reason why they have numerous controlled opposition parties.

So to people who hate nazis they indeed target a constant barrage of “WE ARE FIGHTING UKRONAZIS” content as justification. This guy however was part of a different stream pulled in by the presentation of Russia as a stern conservative defender of traditional values against the wokeness of the decadent west.

The barbershop pole on his nose got me every time lmao

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[–] Archelon@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

What a nice patch of sunflowers he’ll make.

[–] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 32 points 6 days ago (2 children)

At the time, he believed Russia offered an attractive alternative: a society built on Christian faith and family values

As the bible says: Give birth to as many children as possible, so that your corrupt leader can send them to war.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (3 children)

You joke, but this is 100% in the Old Testament.

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[–] rwrwefwef@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 days ago

As the bible says: Give birth to as many children as possible, so that your corrupt leader can send them to war.

As Putin himself says.

[–] UndergroundParking@lemmy.cafe 27 points 6 days ago (3 children)

One of the few good things russia has done. Voluntarily pulling dumbasses into their own borders.

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[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 42 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Some prospective migrants complain about high immigration in their own countries or what they see as declining living standards, he says.

Worried about immigration and poor living standards? Become an immigrant in Russia! Conservatives aren't great at thinking things through.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)
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[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Russia is the perfect country for the MAGA fucknuts. I'm surprised Ben is not serving as canon fodder on the front. 224 idiot Germans moved to Russia, WTF! Stay there and do not return.

[–] CoolSouthpaw@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

That's right. They should stay there for a bit, get conscripted, and then get killed in Ukraine. Fucking pieces of shit.

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[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 24 points 6 days ago

I'm entirely in favor of a program that promotes the voluntary exit of xenophobic reactionary cunts from the US, as long as we can come up with some way to not let them return after it inevitably all goes to shit for them.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 34 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Many of the would-be migrants are attracted by Russia's Shared Values visa, sometimes called the "anti-woke" visa (...)

Introduced by President Vladimir Putin in 2024, the visa offers temporary residency for up to three years to citizens of 47 countries Russia considers "unfriendly".

There is no limit to the number of people who can apply and applicants do not need to pass the usual Russian language, history or law tests.

Instead, they must declare that they share Russia's traditional spiritual and moral values and reject what the Russian government describes as the "destructive neoliberal ideology" of their home countries.

Imagine no alarm bells going off as you read that 🤦

Also, the USA is one of those 47 countries! Remember that the next time Trump boasts about his good relations with Russia and/or Putin being his buddy.

The whole article - Leo's story - is worth the read.

Following their move to Russia, Leo's family became one of the most visible examples of Western migration.

Russian state media filmed their asylum ceremony and Leo publicly thanked President Putin for welcoming them. At the time, Leo believed he was helping to pioneer what he calls "an unprecedented piece of immigration legislation".

But the reality proved more difficult than he'd anticipated.

Within weeks of arriving, Leo says they were defrauded of 5 million roubles – about £52,000 ($66,000) – by a contact they trusted, leaving them homeless.

When I spoke to Leo earlier this year, he was living separately from his wife in the city of Ivanovo, and his older children had returned to the United States.

Asked whether Russia had lived up to his expectations, Leo describes the last two years as the best and worst of his life.

Something in the article reminded me of the Anastasia movement, one of those esoteric cults you need to look a little closer at to see the fascism.

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[–] Akasazh@lemmy.world 26 points 6 days ago (1 children)

My schadenfreude is through the roof

[–] GirthBrooksPLO@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

Schadenfreudegasm

[–] rozodru@piefed.world 21 points 6 days ago (3 children)

it just constantly boggles my mind how mentally ill people (Leo clearly has some form of mental illness) and truly idiotic people (again, applies to Leo) always seem to have enough money to just blow away like this. Meanwhile intelligent and sane individuals are barely scraping by.

I mean i'm comfortable in life, more than comfortable, but i don't have "move to another country simply because I hate a particular thing in society" money.

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[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

man I wish we could convince the entire GOP to go. imagine that timeline....

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Play with fire, get burned.

Devout religious people... Lol

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[–] Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 days ago

Some prospective migrants complain about high immigration in their own countries or what they see as declining living standards, he says.

Pot calling the kettle black.

[–] Bogus007@lemmy.zip 13 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Yep, and please prevent them from ever coming back. May they rot in Russia.

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[–] TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (4 children)

As Russia faces international isolation, a few thousand people from countries including Canada, Britain, the United States and parts of Europe are choosing to move there.

Europe is not a country and Great Britain is also a part of Europe. Brittain just isn't a part of the European Union anymore. Their island didn't drift away from the continent. Then the United Kingdom, also known as Great Brittain and Northern Ireland, consists of 4 counties, namely England, Wales, Scotland and the north of Ireland (which they should give back to Ireland). Then there are small weird situations like the City of London within London and the Isle of Man which is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea.

So Great Brittain aka. the United Kingdom is a country consisting of several countries and Europe is a continent. The European Union is a union of countries which are most (not all) countries in Europe but not including the UK. It's not that hard.

How is the BBC not getting this.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 10 points 5 days ago (3 children)

"Parts of Europe" implies "other countries."

Great Britain is also a part of Europe

In British usage, "Europe" means the mainland. So it depends on context. If you're talking geography, that's one thing. Politics is another. Common usage, something even different (and less precise).

So Great Brittain aka. the United Kingdom is a country consisting of several countries

It's a state consisting of four countries (England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and a handful of other bits, as you mentioned. The status of the City of London is not autonomous, except for local affairs: it's still part of England. There were other random parts of England with limited self-governance, such as the stannary towns which had their own Parliament-- the City is a relic of that time.

How is the BBC not getting this.

There are lots of important things the BBC doesn't get, but this is lost in the noise.

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[–] Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The UK is different to Great Britain. The terms are not interchangeable.

[–] TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 5 days ago (14 children)

The full name is The United Kingdom of Great Brittain and Northern Ireland. Souece

So the UK includes the north of Ireland but great Brittain does not.

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