Russia welcoming American conservatives?

An astonishing report issued two days ago from the Russian news agency RIA Novosti. According to it, Russia is about to start building a village – for American and Canadian conservative expatriates. To begin a construction project like that, one of course needs assurance of immediate occupancy. Again according to RIA Novosti – the Russians have that.

The Russia village project

The RIA Novosti report quotes Timur Beslangurov, a partner in VISTA Immigration, a Russian law firm specializing in immigration. Citizen Beslangurov spoke at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum. He said construction on the village would begin in 2024, “in the Moscow region.” He also said 200 families now want to relocate to Russia “for ideological reasons.” These are among about 10,000 non-Russians worldwide who want to move.

The project will ultimately self-finance from fees charged to the would-be immigrants. But the regional government still had to approve. Presumably VISTA sought the necessary approvals, though RIA Novosti did not make this clear.

Beslangurov gave two reasons VISTA clients gave for wanting to move to Russia. First was “radical values.”

Today they have 70 genders; it is not known what will happen next.

Second, several traditional Roman Catholics want to move, in the belief that a modern prophecy, that Russia will eventually be the only Christian country in the world, is valid.

Said Beslangurov, “Many normal people emigrate, including to Russia, but face huge bureaucratic problems from the Russian migration legislation.” In fact, that is his firm’s stock-in-trade. VISTA caters to entrepreneurs, corporate executive officers, professional athletes, and other professionals seeking citizenship, visas, and work permits in Russia. According to their home page, they have existed for fifteen years and helped twenty thousand people obtain work permits.

The RIA Novosti report comes with a copyrighted image of a house under construction. But that house is not necessarily part of the project.

Why might people want to move to Russia?

The Moscow Times, an English-language organ in Russia, picked up the RIA Novosti report. The Times reported in addition that Russia, which had seen a decline in tourism after the Ukraine Special Military Operation began, has seen an uptick in tourism, and work, study and other business applications, in early 2023.

Newsweek picked up the story later Thursday afternoon. They said they’ve reached out to Beslangurov and VISTA for comment but haven’t heard back. Furthermore they offered some recent history of legislation in Russia against LGBTQIA+ “propaganda” and “demonstrations” (presumably public displays of affection). In fact, a year before, the Duma forbade promoting alternative lifestyles to children. The more recent ban applies to adult behavior and also to entertainment media. It puts the country at further odds with Western institutions, but of course that is of no moment to Russians.

Newsweek also took note that Vladimir Putin had a much more friendly relationship with President Donald Trump than with Biden. Russian organs, including Russia Today, routinely air video from Tucker Carlson and other American critics of Western support for Ukraine.

Newsweek also quoted George Ajjan, an “international political strategist,” as suggesting Russia should have no trouble filling vacancies at any such village.

There are plenty of Americans who have made a choice to live abroad, whether borne of pragmatism and logistic ease, or ideological reasons. Out of 330 million, you could probably populate a small compound in Moscow suburbs with Americans as obsessed with their wokeness victimization narrative as they are willfully ignorant of the harsh realities of living in an authoritarian state.

The “authoritarian” nature of the Russian state is debatable, and in any event “authoritarian” does not necessarily mean “totalitarian.” Furthermore, Donald Trump’s detractors called him an authoritarian, which casts further doubt on whether the term properly applies.

Leftist reaction

The leftist site Political Flare, quoting almost verbatim from the Newsweek story, sarcastically suggested that “all Trump supporters, QAnon believers, anti-vaxxers, Oath Keepers, Big Lie believers, Proud Boys, and anyone else who’s a few neurons short of a brain” might wish to buy a house in that village. Megan Hamilton, the author, suggested that Mr. Beslangurov advertise on OANN and in The Daily Caller. She even suggested that Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) might want to move.

Reaction to this story, as Political Flare measures it, is 45% amused, 36% happy, and 18% excited. No user has registered anger, sadness, or indifference.

No organ has quoted any Russian officials announcing plans for such a village. The only source for the approval of the regional government in and around Moscow is this same Mr. Beslangurov. CNAV has reached out to VISTA Immigration for comment.

Concerning the reputed prophecy that Mr. Beslangurov mentioned: Russia does figure in a prophecy depicting it as the last Christian country. This prophecy does not come from the Bible, but from Seraphim of Vyritsa (1866-1949). He foretells warfare between Russia and the rest of the world. China will capture Siberia and other lands east of the Urals. Russia will retain her lands west of the Urals. There the Orthodox Church will remain, and Russia will indeed be the last bastion of Christianity in a world dedicated to its replacement. (The word antichrist properly means he who replaces Christ.)

Analysis

To suppose that VISTA Immigration or any of its officers – especially its senior partner – would lie about the proposed village outside Moscow, beggars imagination. VISTA caters to the kind of people who can pay, and who are likely to win Russian citizenship. VISTA achieves this result by convincing Russian authorities of the contributions their clients might make to Russian society. Trust is a consultant’s stock-in-trade. So Timur Beslangurov knows that if he talks about a village near Moscow, people will ask about it.

So we can accept the proposed immigrant village as real. And yes, regional authorities would have to sign off on it. They wouldn’t necessarily trumpet it to the public, however. Hence the lack of public announcements.

Russia has every reason to agree to let immigration specialists arrange for such a village, especially if their clients will pay to build it. Russia is trending negative in population – it peaked in 2019 and has been declining ever since. The people are old, and their women aren’t bearing as many children – so they need “new blood.” This project will bring it in – while ensuring the new immigrants leave behind the psychological sickness that pervades the West.

What about the West?

Low birth rate has been a problem for all civilizations. The reasons are legion, including the “Transgender Follies,” and the “socialism for the rich” of which Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. complains. (As usual, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has only an incomplete understanding of the problem.) The United States has one more chance to prevent its own population downtrend, and that’s the Election of 2024. If we “blow it” as we “blew” 2020 (for various reasons), then VISTA might wish to consider expanding its program. Russia might find itself building more “VISTA villages.”

Update

The semi-official organ Russia Today released their own version of this story late last night, at 11:27 p.m. EDT. It gave the additional detail that the village would rise in the Serpukhov District, south of Moscow.