this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
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If there are that stupid let them.

[–] Akasazh@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My schadenfreude is through the roof

[–] GirthBrooksPLO@lemmy.world 9 points 23 hours ago

Schadenfreudegasm

[–] MrSulu@lemmy.ml 61 points 1 day ago (2 children)
  1. Not really very different to the promises of great new lives made to people joining ISIS
  2. Oh the irony of becoming a migrant elsewhere whilst complaining about migrants at home.
[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 54 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Nonono, he is not an immigrant, he is an expat. HUGE difference! Just ask the British pensioners in Spain and southern France!

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 13 points 23 hours ago

A lot of the Brits in Spain have been leaving because the Spanish have cracked down on tax-dodging, and because Brits lost their freedom of movement in the EU when they voted for Brexit. And the expats are whining like mad about it.

Meanwhile, I know some people who've moved to Spain and Portugal, learned the language, assimilated and gotten the passport, instead of living in a soulless monolingual enclave, quaffing Spanish champagne, creeping on their neighbors' wives and cultivating their melanoma like the Costa del Sol bunch.

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[–] rozodru@piefed.world 21 points 1 day ago (2 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.

[–] amgine@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I also think people with the mental caliber of Leo don’t think of consequences when they spend their money, so it’s possible he sold everything he owns and built debt to leave.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 7 points 21 hours ago

"Sure, I'll borrow $100k. Good luck collecting when I'm in Russia!"

Honestly, getting rid of them for $100k is probably a bargain.

[–] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago

I mean he moved there and was immediately scammed out of his life savings so... you're spot on lmao

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 85 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Imagine being dumb enough to think Texas isn't conservative enough for you

[–] 0x0@infosec.pub 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ive heard afghanistan is a great alternative for repubes

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 7 points 23 hours ago

They might find the Pashto boy-raping culture congenial. And the rule by religious reactionary idiots with guns will feel a bit like back home in Texas.

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[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 41 points 1 day 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 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)
[–] 0x0@infosec.pub 8 points 1 day ago

~~at thinking~~_

[–] tal@lemmy.today 88 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Leo is a devout Christian who had become increasingly disillusioned with...the rise of the LGBTQ movement.

Although he is committed to staying in Russia out of a sense of "destiny", he now says he misses the freedoms that have shaped the American personality.

"[In] Russia you don't have these human rights values."

I mean...

[–] Jiral@lemmy.world 34 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

In some unmentioned corners of lemmy, they'd tell you without a hint of irony, that this is Western Propaganda and Russians are enjoying much more freedom than people in lets say Germany, where oppression has reached unheard of levels. ...

or something like that.

[–] captcha@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Well, I know a person from Canada that had an opinion that Russia is a great place to do business in, because you can do whatever you want if you pay the right people. That was a long time ago, don't know if any later events changed his mind

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[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I hate gays more than I love human rights

hope the guy gets sent to the front and barely survives just so he can share his message with all the other idiots.

bet he'll see dudes blowing dudes for socks or boots on the front lines.

[–] rozodru@piefed.world 13 points 1 day ago

I hate gays more than not being homeless.

Imagine hating a group of people SO much you'd rather be homeless in Russia of all god damn places.

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[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 21 points 1 day ago

these human rights values

LOL, that's just FAFO with a chef's kiss. Kudos for honesty though. I hope he becomes reformed and much more skeptical of bullshit narratives; although the article does not read like it. More like he's comfortable with a 50/50 divide in his mind. Christianity, I guess.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 131 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 56 points 1 day ago (3 children)

That Leo guy is especially dumb. It felt good to read the end of his story. Scammed of money, devorced, and alone.

[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 11 points 1 day ago

lost his wife and kids and still is inhaling the copium

[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 46 points 1 day ago

That dude literally walked through life like a rube on the boardwalk holding a balloon and wearing a propeller beanie. Easiest mark in the world.

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[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 34 points 1 day 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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[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 99 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I wonder if he'll be drafted

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.

Although he is committed to staying in Russia out of a sense of "destiny", he now says he misses the freedoms that have shaped the American personality.

"[In] Russia you don't have these human rights values."

[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Human rights? I thought that was "woke" /s

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[–] egrets@lemmy.world 33 points 1 day ago (2 children)

he is committed to staying in Russia out of a sense of "destiny"

More like "density".

[–] LordMayor@piefed.social 5 points 22 hours ago
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[–] inari@piefed.zip 45 points 1 day ago
[–] Bogus007@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

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

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[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 67 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I guess credit to them for following through but now they're in the Find Out phase.

Conservatives, tankies should really be careful for what they wish for.

[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

nope please tankies live your best life, move to mother russia today

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[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 day ago

Conservatives, tankies should really be careful for what they wish for.

It's kinda like when you see a dog barking behind a window, and it immediately calms down when you open it.

Russia is the greatest country in the entire world... Until they have to live there.

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[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 41 points 1 day ago (1 children)

These people construct a dream world in which all their problems are the result of “woke”, and in which Russia is a bastion of Conservative values. It’s delusional, and sad, but there’s a lot of influencers talking convincingly about how awful our life is. Sometimes people believe them.

Eat the rich, don’t move to Russia.

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