Canadian couple takes their family to someplace they will truly be free?
August 19, 2024 12:47 PM Subscribe
The Feenstras escaped woke and are now headed for broke.
This is the update! Here is Part One and Part Two if you want to read more about this bizarre saga. (A friend of mine was posting about this in disbelief, and I am sharing the same disbelief.)
Also: damn, those poor kids.
This is the update! Here is Part One and Part Two if you want to read more about this bizarre saga. (A friend of mine was posting about this in disbelief, and I am sharing the same disbelief.)
Also: damn, those poor kids.
Our country is better for having lost them, I'll say that much. But yeah, those poor kids. I feel like this is a situation where Children and Family Services should have apprehended the kids before their parents could kidnap them to Russia.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 12:59 PM on August 19 [11 favorites]
posted by mrjohnmuller at 12:59 PM on August 19 [11 favorites]
I heard about his some time ago on the CBC. Such ignorance, meanness, and stupidity.
I feel for their children.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 1:00 PM on August 19 [10 favorites]
I feel for their children.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 1:00 PM on August 19 [10 favorites]
From the first link: "Russia also now offers a fast-track to citizenship and waiver of the language requirement if you join the army, but somehow that seemed rude to mention." LMAO! but yes, their kids don't deserve this.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 1:02 PM on August 19 [13 favorites]
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 1:02 PM on August 19 [13 favorites]
I wish TFA didn't reference pierogi so much, since those are the freedom-loving food of the Polish people, unlike the degenerate, Kafka-esque vareniki which are emblematic of terrible non-free Russia and also probably filled with PCBs and Novichok.
posted by 1adam12 at 1:09 PM on August 19 [64 favorites]
posted by 1adam12 at 1:09 PM on August 19 [64 favorites]
Child abuse.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:10 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:10 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
I didn't think it possible, but this story exhausts my strategic schadenfreude reserve.
posted by adamrice at 1:13 PM on August 19 [61 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 1:13 PM on August 19 [61 favorites]
As an aside, I've just been reading I Love Russia, by Elena Kostyuchenko and it's an incredible, not at all easy read. She's a journalist for the now-closed (thanks Vlad) Novaya Gazeta, a paper where numerous journalists were successfully killed by the state; she luckily survived the attempts so far. And it's a mix of memoir and reportage, staggering in its vividness on the many Russias that are part of the legacy of the collapse, marketisation and Putinisation of Russia. I can't recommend it enough but it also regularly just breaks me, so there's that.
posted by onebuttonmonkey at 1:14 PM on August 19 [28 favorites]
posted by onebuttonmonkey at 1:14 PM on August 19 [28 favorites]
"Eight of their nine children" makes me wonder what the ninth is doing. Hopefully enjoying Canada.
posted by pangolin party at 1:15 PM on August 19 [32 favorites]
posted by pangolin party at 1:15 PM on August 19 [32 favorites]
Those poor kids.
posted by signsofrain at 1:16 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
posted by signsofrain at 1:16 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I had not heard of this story and I didn't think my jaw could drop any farther whilst I was reading it.
Anyway, grown-ass adults who want to FAFO? Fill your boots, you idiots. But bringing children along? Absolutely fuck all the way off.
I expect they will very much find out the hard way if PP is elected and they want to come back to Canada.
posted by Kitteh at 1:19 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
Anyway, grown-ass adults who want to FAFO? Fill your boots, you idiots. But bringing children along? Absolutely fuck all the way off.
I expect they will very much find out the hard way if PP is elected and they want to come back to Canada.
posted by Kitteh at 1:19 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
After Anneesa's rant followed by Arend's abject apology, I'm curious how much of their bravado is brain worms (i.e., "yes, it's hard, but there are no gays here") vs bluster-at-gunpoint (i.e,. "we have nothing to return to Canada with, we're stuck here, and need to be very fucking careful not to alienate those who, thanks to our stupidity, now have total control over our lives.")
I'm with those for whom this whole episode is very much on the border of "demonstrably unfit to be parents, state should take their children".
posted by fatbird at 1:20 PM on August 19 [13 favorites]
I'm with those for whom this whole episode is very much on the border of "demonstrably unfit to be parents, state should take their children".
posted by fatbird at 1:20 PM on August 19 [13 favorites]
As a woke LGBTQ vegan, I don't hate the fact that these people are experiencing a non-imaginary struggle at last. The adults, of course; I feel for the kids, after getting plenty fucked up myself by a childhood that was way less overtly abusive than whatever this is.
posted by terretu at 1:22 PM on August 19 [12 favorites]
posted by terretu at 1:22 PM on August 19 [12 favorites]
> I didn't think it possible, but this story exhausts my strategic schadenfreude reserve.
I understand the military has begun airlifting emergency Nelson Muntz gifs to affected regions.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:22 PM on August 19 [52 favorites]
I understand the military has begun airlifting emergency Nelson Muntz gifs to affected regions.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:22 PM on August 19 [52 favorites]
"Eight of their nine children" makes me wonder what the ninth is doing. Hopefully enjoying Canada.
This is the first thing I thought, too. Poor kids.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:25 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
This is the first thing I thought, too. Poor kids.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:25 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
Stories like this make it kinda hard for me to uphold my conviction that housing and basic necessities (food, healthcare, daycare) are a human right, but yeah, even dumbfucks gotta live and the kids shouldn’t suffer. Canada should fly them back, give them basic housing, and then confiscate the children’s passports (and guarantee their livelihood) until they reach adulthood.
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:27 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:27 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
His parents, if they are still alive, must be so dreadfully disappointed in how he turned out -- they moved to Canada in 1988, and already he's managed to fuck it all up.
posted by aramaic at 1:48 PM on August 19 [10 favorites]
posted by aramaic at 1:48 PM on August 19 [10 favorites]
I mean, why’d they leave that oppressive hellhole The Netherlands in the first place? I’m dubious about those parents too
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:50 PM on August 19 [18 favorites]
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:50 PM on August 19 [18 favorites]
I hope that the Russians are treating them with as much compassion and patience as they treated immigrants to Canada who didn't speak English or French.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 2:01 PM on August 19 [24 favorites]
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 2:01 PM on August 19 [24 favorites]
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their Canucks too
posted by torokunai at 2:05 PM on August 19 [21 favorites]
I hope the Russians love their Canucks too
posted by torokunai at 2:05 PM on August 19 [21 favorites]
They probably make more money on YouTube than they do farming, and all of these setbacks just give them more things to make videos about. I suspect it's actually all going according to plan.
posted by tofu_crouton at 2:43 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
posted by tofu_crouton at 2:43 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
The Feenstras escaped woke and are now headed for broke.
"To Russia With Hate" was right there!
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:43 PM on August 19 [24 favorites]
"To Russia With Hate" was right there!
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:43 PM on August 19 [24 favorites]
I read that their oldest child is over 18, chose to remain in Canada, and is staying with extended family.
posted by orange swan at 2:54 PM on August 19 [22 favorites]
posted by orange swan at 2:54 PM on August 19 [22 favorites]
He's an idiot.
His parents immigrated to Canada in 1988. His parents would know you that just don't show up.
They would know that there are rules. Lots of rules: language, educational, capital requirements etc
He just packed up and went.
posted by yyz at 2:58 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
His parents immigrated to Canada in 1988. His parents would know you that just don't show up.
They would know that there are rules. Lots of rules: language, educational, capital requirements etc
He just packed up and went.
posted by yyz at 2:58 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
No, but, seriously, I would like these guys to be successful and make Russia a worthwhile place for North American conservatives to go, rather than how they're putting all the effort into trying to convert North America into the culture they imagine it should be. Russia, please make it easier for people who believe in Russian Values to show up and live nicely. Over there. Away from us.
posted by AzraelBrown at 3:03 PM on August 19 [23 favorites]
posted by AzraelBrown at 3:03 PM on August 19 [23 favorites]
Alex Jones is currently trying to start some sort of wave of right wingers moving to Russia.
No one tell him.
posted by orange swan at 3:06 PM on August 19 [37 favorites]
No one tell him.
posted by orange swan at 3:06 PM on August 19 [37 favorites]
Watching the video mentioned in the article (and there are more recent ones that I will surely also consume), you’d swear it was a Nathan Fielder bit.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:10 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 3:10 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
The fact that in 2024 half of the Republican party is saying that Putin is a modern day Marx (not intended as a compliment) and the other half are, well, this yet the party is somehow holding together by a thread is really something.
posted by muddgirl at 3:35 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 3:35 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
It would be funnier if one of the kids didn’t have a seizure disorder.
Yikes. Anyone know what Russian healthcare is like for tourists?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:38 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
Anyone know whether legal immigrants ever get conscripted in Russia? Russia really really leans on its various minorities to make its draft quotas...
posted by Sauce Trough at 3:46 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
posted by Sauce Trough at 3:46 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
From part 1
in their chosen city of Nizhny Novogorod (once known as Gorky, after another famous content creator).
posted by bunderful at 3:53 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
in their chosen city of Nizhny Novogorod (once known as Gorky, after another famous content creator).
posted by bunderful at 3:53 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
The kids have perfected their Soviet smiles!
posted by rhizome at 3:59 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 3:59 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
Obligatory: poor kids.
Also obligatory: what catastrophic fuck wits.
hope that the Russians are treating them with as much compassion and patience as they treated immigrants to Canada who didn't speak English or French.
I'm flagging this as a fantastic comment.
posted by chasles at 4:04 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
Also obligatory: what catastrophic fuck wits.
hope that the Russians are treating them with as much compassion and patience as they treated immigrants to Canada who didn't speak English or French.
I'm flagging this as a fantastic comment.
posted by chasles at 4:04 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I kinda like how much he recommends farming in Russia, (nevermind he hasn't farmed yet), because the government gives fantastic subsidies to farmers. You aren't going to get that kind of subsidy from the government in Canada, folks!
posted by 2N2222 at 4:05 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
posted by 2N2222 at 4:05 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
As a former resident of Saskatchewan, it boggles my mind that ANYONE could look at that place and go "hey you know, SASKATCHEWAN is too woke!"
A land where the flags exhorting Trudeau fornication are only second in number to Alberta, where the common clay keep voting for the Saskatchewan Party and somehow keep expressing surprise that life gets more of what you get when you vote Conservative...
And they figured RUSSIA was better than that for their ideology. Someone got algorithmed good and hard.
posted by barc0001 at 4:08 PM on August 19 [51 favorites]
A land where the flags exhorting Trudeau fornication are only second in number to Alberta, where the common clay keep voting for the Saskatchewan Party and somehow keep expressing surprise that life gets more of what you get when you vote Conservative...
And they figured RUSSIA was better than that for their ideology. Someone got algorithmed good and hard.
posted by barc0001 at 4:08 PM on August 19 [51 favorites]
If the child with the seizure disorder ends up dying because of the lack of quality care for his-or-her condition, the parents will of course take responsibility and realize the error of their ways instead of blaming the Wokeness of the Canadian government for making them leave for Russia in the first place.
/sarcasm
(Granted maybe they already realized what a mistake they've made and the optimistic posts are more to save face and/or avoid an even worse fate at the hands of their new benefactors. But nevertheless, fug them).
posted by gtrwolf at 4:19 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
/sarcasm
(Granted maybe they already realized what a mistake they've made and the optimistic posts are more to save face and/or avoid an even worse fate at the hands of their new benefactors. But nevertheless, fug them).
posted by gtrwolf at 4:19 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
They probably make more money on YouTube than they do farming, and all of these setbacks just give them more things to make videos about. I suspect it's actually all going according to plan.
I wonder how that works with sanctions?
posted by ryanrs at 4:40 PM on August 19 [2 favorites]
I wonder how that works with sanctions?
posted by ryanrs at 4:40 PM on August 19 [2 favorites]
I really don’t think the profit margins on YouTube videos (which they’ve been doing for a long while, way before this odyssey) are gonna make up for migrating to political limbo in Russia.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:50 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 4:50 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
Ah, I see their bank accounts got frozen at the beginning of Part 1.
posted by ryanrs at 4:57 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 4:57 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I certainly feel for the kids and it's a shame they are suffering and will continue to suffer because of the arrogance and stupidity of their parents. I don't feel at all for the parents and have no problem that their choice to be stupid and arrogant is (for a change) paying them back in kind.
I'd love to see the supposed 'haven' for hard-core right-wingers outside Moscow take off and be wildly popular. I eagerly await the time when I can laugh like a lunatic as the Russian Government nationalises the whole thing, takes all their money then deports them all.
posted by dg at 5:20 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I'd love to see the supposed 'haven' for hard-core right-wingers outside Moscow take off and be wildly popular. I eagerly await the time when I can laugh like a lunatic as the Russian Government nationalises the whole thing, takes all their money then deports them all.
posted by dg at 5:20 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I think that it's quite likely that they're not getting out until the regime has extracted maximum value from them, whether that's propaganda value or whatever capital they were going to put toward a Russian farm. As Wonkette points out, if they try to invest in land, their Russian "partner" is going to own 51% of it, which basically means that it belongs to them.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:31 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:31 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
No one tell him.
Don’t worry; it’s not like Alex Jones will go himself.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:47 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
Don’t worry; it’s not like Alex Jones will go himself.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:47 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
Wow, things sure have changed since Bernie was in Russia.
WaPost archived link
posted by Ideefixe at 5:55 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
WaPost archived link
posted by Ideefixe at 5:55 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
I'm sitting over here blasting a Crass record, smoking my drugs, hanging out with all types of sexual deviants, scraping by wondering if maybe I'm not rich cause of the "woke mind virus," and these landed gentry assholes are volunteering for subjugation?
Who let Alex Jones be a director? I've seen several stories like this and I want to think it's fake but... These people really exist? Damn dude, unplug the Internet for a while.
posted by SystematicAbuse at 6:08 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
Who let Alex Jones be a director? I've seen several stories like this and I want to think it's fake but... These people really exist? Damn dude, unplug the Internet for a while.
posted by SystematicAbuse at 6:08 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
>Alex Jones is currently trying to start some sort of wave of right wingers moving to Russia.
Stop.Don't.Come back.
posted by torokunai at 6:13 PM on August 19 [24 favorites]
Stop.Don't.Come back.
posted by torokunai at 6:13 PM on August 19 [24 favorites]
Their YouTube channel shows under 200K subscribers, and their recent videos are, with a couple of big exceptions, way under 200K views. I don't know much about the economics of YouTubing, but I'm under the impression the channels I've followed who have "gone pro" were doing better. And that they didn't have TEN mouths to feed.
posted by Western Infidels at 6:49 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
posted by Western Infidels at 6:49 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
I'm trying to think of a way to put this as delicately as possible but this guy had to be fooled by whoever he was talking to on the internet because the situation he describes is not true in Canada in 2024, let alone in rural Saskatchewan. This is some brainwashing-by-social media shit because the white man still enjoys an unearned place of privilege in Canadian society. I would know!
Dude had to sell everything and leave because queer people breathe the same air as him?
posted by monkeymike at 7:12 PM on August 19 [19 favorites]
Dude had to sell everything and leave because queer people breathe the same air as him?
posted by monkeymike at 7:12 PM on August 19 [19 favorites]
> I don't know much about the economics of YouTubing, but I'm under the impression the channels I've followed who have "gone pro" were doing better.
Alphabet tries to have that obscured as much as possible, and it used to be (probably still is?) against the terms to discuss payout rates openly. Some of the Youtube channels I watch have in a roundabout way discussed monetization from time to time and in the early goldrush days, it was generally understood that if your videos reliably pulled 6 figures viewership, that equated to around $1000-$1500 for a million views - or a buck to a buck and a half per thousand. If you had lower viewership the monetization rate was a lot lower.
These days it's been hinted the rate is about half or lower of those numbers, so even if they're reliably getting 4 videos a month out that hit 100K views per, a 40 hour week at a McDonalds pays considerably more. Though maybe that meagre bit goes further in Russia? Although how do they even GET paid considering the sanctions and all. Youtube sure isn't going to cut them a cheque that will cash in Russia, and no Canadian bank's going to let anyone transfer or wire money to Russia...
posted by barc0001 at 7:38 PM on August 19 [2 favorites]
Alphabet tries to have that obscured as much as possible, and it used to be (probably still is?) against the terms to discuss payout rates openly. Some of the Youtube channels I watch have in a roundabout way discussed monetization from time to time and in the early goldrush days, it was generally understood that if your videos reliably pulled 6 figures viewership, that equated to around $1000-$1500 for a million views - or a buck to a buck and a half per thousand. If you had lower viewership the monetization rate was a lot lower.
These days it's been hinted the rate is about half or lower of those numbers, so even if they're reliably getting 4 videos a month out that hit 100K views per, a 40 hour week at a McDonalds pays considerably more. Though maybe that meagre bit goes further in Russia? Although how do they even GET paid considering the sanctions and all. Youtube sure isn't going to cut them a cheque that will cash in Russia, and no Canadian bank's going to let anyone transfer or wire money to Russia...
posted by barc0001 at 7:38 PM on August 19 [2 favorites]
My bet is on some complicated scheme involving cryptocurrency and them never seeing their money again.
posted by ryanrs at 7:48 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 7:48 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
Oh wait, their Canadian bank didn't freeze their funds, the receiving Russian bank did?
lol
posted by ryanrs at 8:01 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
lol
posted by ryanrs at 8:01 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
They left Saskatoon Berry jam behind to go to Russia?
posted by Ickster at 8:22 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
posted by Ickster at 8:22 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
In Putin's Russia, jdam berries you!
posted by ryanrs at 8:26 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 8:26 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
As an aside, I find it amusing that Wonkette is still using the same blog style writing as it did in 2005.
posted by usr2047 at 10:38 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
posted by usr2047 at 10:38 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
There was a story recently of an Maga American (I believe) who went to Russia to try to volunteer or help the Russians, who suffered a horrific fate at the hands of the Russians who he was trying to help. I think they thought he was a spy or some such. Not gonna go into details to spare folks who might be triggered, but it was pretty terrible.
posted by ishmael at 11:19 PM on August 19 [2 favorites]
posted by ishmael at 11:19 PM on August 19 [2 favorites]
I feel like there needs to be more detail than that. Do you have any name or something?
posted by Carillon at 11:54 PM on August 19
posted by Carillon at 11:54 PM on August 19
His name was Russell Bentley.
posted by ishmael at 12:31 AM on August 20 [1 favorite]
posted by ishmael at 12:31 AM on August 20 [1 favorite]
Correction- he wasn't Maga, he was pro-Putin.
posted by ishmael at 12:37 AM on August 20 [1 favorite]
posted by ishmael at 12:37 AM on August 20 [1 favorite]
No, sadnesses here - The healing for them are the Ones, this family took time to escape from. Ones to be the first to help them in need, as compassion wins in the end. Not, self righteous ideologies of which is dumb. Why, the posted thread is here, not to mock than; please do not do. This family needs help being a better Family.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:11 AM on August 20
posted by thomcatspike at 1:11 AM on August 20
I hope there are some grandparents or other relatives who can save the children soon.
But man, how stupid can any person be? Why didn't someone stop them? His Dutch parents ought to know more about Russia. (Well, maybe they have passed away).
As a former resident of Saskatchewan, it boggles my mind that ANYONE could look at that place and go "hey you know, SASKATCHEWAN is too woke!"
A land where the flags exhorting Trudeau fornication are only second in number to Alberta, where the common clay keep voting for the Saskatchewan Party and somehow keep expressing surprise that life gets more of what you get when you vote Conservative...
As far as I can see, this is a thing across the globe. The people who are most scared of "wokeness", whatever that is, live the furthest away from communities where LGBT+ people are accepted and feel safe. Same with immigration. You can see it in election results all over the place, even in Russia, though it is hard to read through the propaganda.
The other day I watched one of those TV shows where the hosts visit different celebrities, and this time it was a far right politician (yes they normalized a fascist on national TV). Anyway, he already lived in a small town, but last year he had moved out to a farmhouse and created a 1950s fantasy universe. On taxpayer money. He would never be able to live like that as a teacher, his original profession.
posted by mumimor at 3:31 AM on August 20 [9 favorites]
But man, how stupid can any person be? Why didn't someone stop them? His Dutch parents ought to know more about Russia. (Well, maybe they have passed away).
As a former resident of Saskatchewan, it boggles my mind that ANYONE could look at that place and go "hey you know, SASKATCHEWAN is too woke!"
A land where the flags exhorting Trudeau fornication are only second in number to Alberta, where the common clay keep voting for the Saskatchewan Party and somehow keep expressing surprise that life gets more of what you get when you vote Conservative...
As far as I can see, this is a thing across the globe. The people who are most scared of "wokeness", whatever that is, live the furthest away from communities where LGBT+ people are accepted and feel safe. Same with immigration. You can see it in election results all over the place, even in Russia, though it is hard to read through the propaganda.
The other day I watched one of those TV shows where the hosts visit different celebrities, and this time it was a far right politician (yes they normalized a fascist on national TV). Anyway, he already lived in a small town, but last year he had moved out to a farmhouse and created a 1950s fantasy universe. On taxpayer money. He would never be able to live like that as a teacher, his original profession.
posted by mumimor at 3:31 AM on August 20 [9 favorites]
This is some brainwashing-by-social media shit because the white man still enjoys an unearned place of privilege in Canadian society.
The irony here is that Russia is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the disruptive social media this numbnut likely consumed and believed.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:44 AM on August 20 [10 favorites]
The irony here is that Russia is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the disruptive social media this numbnut likely consumed and believed.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:44 AM on August 20 [10 favorites]
@ryanrs: In Putin's Russia, jdam berries you!
Khrushchev: "We will berry you!"
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 4:49 AM on August 20 [7 favorites]
Khrushchev: "We will berry you!"
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 4:49 AM on August 20 [7 favorites]
The irony here is that Russia is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the disruptive social media this numbnut likely consumed and believed.
Ironic, or part of the plan? I mean, Russia's population was already declining before they started throwing away lives in their stupid war.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:30 AM on August 20 [1 favorite]
Ironic, or part of the plan? I mean, Russia's population was already declining before they started throwing away lives in their stupid war.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:30 AM on August 20 [1 favorite]
...the Feenstras seemed to have gotten an upgrade in their handlers. When they reappeared they were driving around in a van ISO plots of farmland around in their chosen city of Nizhny Novogorod (once known as Gorky, after another famous content creator).Heh.
posted by flabdablet at 5:50 AM on August 20 [2 favorites]
It's like some weird twisted reworking of The Mosquito Coast.
posted by JanetLand at 6:11 AM on August 20 [10 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 6:11 AM on August 20 [10 favorites]
They probably make more money on YouTube than they do farming
Sorry, no. They were dairy farmers in Canada. I'm not saying dairy farming isn't hard work - it absolutely is - but Canada's supply management system means that any halfway competent dairy farmer has a ticket to the upper middle class.
posted by mightygodking at 6:55 AM on August 20 [9 favorites]
Sorry, no. They were dairy farmers in Canada. I'm not saying dairy farming isn't hard work - it absolutely is - but Canada's supply management system means that any halfway competent dairy farmer has a ticket to the upper middle class.
posted by mightygodking at 6:55 AM on August 20 [9 favorites]
> ... this story exhausts my strategic schadenfreude reserve.
Indeed. I clicked in vaguely aware of the saga, expecting a lot of laughing and pointing, and was not surprised.
These people did not wake up one morning and decide "Hey let's completely shit our lives away in the dumbest possible fashion!" They got to where they wound up because the people they looked up to have been lying to them all their lives. And possibly-trustworthy voices that could call the liars by their right names are instead preoccupied with creating an appearance that prevents them from speaking out.
These people are victims, and no they didn't "deserve" what they got here. Even if they're too wrongheaded to ever admit they fucked up.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 7:23 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
Indeed. I clicked in vaguely aware of the saga, expecting a lot of laughing and pointing, and was not surprised.
These people did not wake up one morning and decide "Hey let's completely shit our lives away in the dumbest possible fashion!" They got to where they wound up because the people they looked up to have been lying to them all their lives. And possibly-trustworthy voices that could call the liars by their right names are instead preoccupied with creating an appearance that prevents them from speaking out.
These people are victims, and no they didn't "deserve" what they got here. Even if they're too wrongheaded to ever admit they fucked up.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 7:23 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
What's the opposite of brain drain?
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:26 AM on August 20 [6 favorites]
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:26 AM on August 20 [6 favorites]
Dipshit leak?
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:34 AM on August 20 [9 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:34 AM on August 20 [9 favorites]
These people did not wake up one morning and decide "Hey let's completely shit our lives away in the dumbest possible fashion!" They got to where they wound up because the people they looked up to have been lying to them all their lives.
Sorry, no. The adults here lived in Canada in the 21st century, not in North Korea or in some de facto ghetto or even 1920s deeply rural Saskatchewan. They had a near-infinite choice of voices to listen to. They chose evil ones because those resonated with the evil in their hearts. If it turned out to be unpleasant for them to live in an authoritarian society that promises to privilege their kind, imagine how unpleasant it is for those who are explicitly being trampled down by the system they so fervently supported.
Mind you, I don't think they deserve to die, or sit in prison, or actually starve. Heck, I think they deserve the universal health care that I'm sure they found tremendously galling to have to watch other people receive alongside them in Canada. And the kids are completely innocent in all of this. But they deliberately and over a significant period of time chose to sell out their old home and move somewhere on the basis that it was far crueler to people different from them. If they don't like how that worked out for them...oh well.
posted by praemunire at 7:50 AM on August 20 [55 favorites]
Sorry, no. The adults here lived in Canada in the 21st century, not in North Korea or in some de facto ghetto or even 1920s deeply rural Saskatchewan. They had a near-infinite choice of voices to listen to. They chose evil ones because those resonated with the evil in their hearts. If it turned out to be unpleasant for them to live in an authoritarian society that promises to privilege their kind, imagine how unpleasant it is for those who are explicitly being trampled down by the system they so fervently supported.
Mind you, I don't think they deserve to die, or sit in prison, or actually starve. Heck, I think they deserve the universal health care that I'm sure they found tremendously galling to have to watch other people receive alongside them in Canada. And the kids are completely innocent in all of this. But they deliberately and over a significant period of time chose to sell out their old home and move somewhere on the basis that it was far crueler to people different from them. If they don't like how that worked out for them...oh well.
posted by praemunire at 7:50 AM on August 20 [55 favorites]
Smegma encrustation?
posted by Jacen at 8:19 AM on August 20 [2 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 8:19 AM on August 20 [2 favorites]
This story proves to me the value of travel to education. This family sounds like they'd never been out of Saskatchewan before their migration. What boggles my mind how they seemed to trivialize the learning of Russian, a language well-known as being one of the most difficult.
posted by Rash at 8:40 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
posted by Rash at 8:40 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
They got to where they wound up because the people they looked up to have been lying to them all their lives. And possibly-trustworthy voices that could call the liars by their right names are instead preoccupied with creating an appearance that prevents them from speaking out.
These people are victims
I think I get what you're trying to do here, which is to contextualize their choices in a way that doesn't load all the blame on their shoulders. But calling them victims denies them any agency at all. I'm also from Saskatchewan, and while rural conservatism is driving force across the entire province, the community and mediasphere telling them to escape the woke by fleeing to Sibera is not something found in the soil there. Online radicalization played a big part, I'm pretty certain, but the end result came about by a series of conscious decisions on their part to 1) not check what they were consuming, and 2) act on what they were consuming because it affirmed their odious beliefs.
I'm not certain where to place the balance of responsibility--choices are never made in a vacuum. But I know that context you try to focus on also included a lot of saner voices that they rejected.
posted by fatbird at 8:56 AM on August 20 [8 favorites]
These people are victims
I think I get what you're trying to do here, which is to contextualize their choices in a way that doesn't load all the blame on their shoulders. But calling them victims denies them any agency at all. I'm also from Saskatchewan, and while rural conservatism is driving force across the entire province, the community and mediasphere telling them to escape the woke by fleeing to Sibera is not something found in the soil there. Online radicalization played a big part, I'm pretty certain, but the end result came about by a series of conscious decisions on their part to 1) not check what they were consuming, and 2) act on what they were consuming because it affirmed their odious beliefs.
I'm not certain where to place the balance of responsibility--choices are never made in a vacuum. But I know that context you try to focus on also included a lot of saner voices that they rejected.
posted by fatbird at 8:56 AM on August 20 [8 favorites]
But they deliberately and over a significant period of time chose to sell out their old home and move somewhere on the basis that it was far crueler to people different from them.
Yeah, that goes to the heart of it beautifully. The kids are victims, the parents are not.
posted by tavella at 9:10 AM on August 20 [5 favorites]
Yeah, that goes to the heart of it beautifully. The kids are victims, the parents are not.
posted by tavella at 9:10 AM on August 20 [5 favorites]
My view is the other way, these adults aren't victims of the right wing "mind virus" they are perpetuating the same right wing memes to go viral and make that sweet social media money.
posted by muddgirl at 9:16 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 9:16 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
The irony here is that Russia is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the disruptive social media this numbnut likely consumed and believed.
Ironic, or part of the plan? I mean, Russia's population was already declining before they started throwing away lives in their stupid war.
But I suspect the Russian authorities view people like this as almost more trouble than they're worth. Perhaps they have exploitable propaganda value, but they're not likely to contribute more to Putin's authoritarian vision for Russian society than the resources it would take to get them settled and integrated... if such integration is really even possible.
It's interesting to think of these folks as part of a long line of foolish Western idealists who have projected their own utopian dreams onto Russia. For much of the 20th century, it was Western leftists who fetishized the Soviet Union who chose to emigrate there, and then found out the hard way that the harsh reality didn't match their expectations.
Now it's right-wingers... but the dynamic really hasn't changed all that much. Horseshoe theory strikes again.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 9:35 AM on August 20 [5 favorites]
Ironic, or part of the plan? I mean, Russia's population was already declining before they started throwing away lives in their stupid war.
But I suspect the Russian authorities view people like this as almost more trouble than they're worth. Perhaps they have exploitable propaganda value, but they're not likely to contribute more to Putin's authoritarian vision for Russian society than the resources it would take to get them settled and integrated... if such integration is really even possible.
It's interesting to think of these folks as part of a long line of foolish Western idealists who have projected their own utopian dreams onto Russia. For much of the 20th century, it was Western leftists who fetishized the Soviet Union who chose to emigrate there, and then found out the hard way that the harsh reality didn't match their expectations.
Now it's right-wingers... but the dynamic really hasn't changed all that much. Horseshoe theory strikes again.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 9:35 AM on August 20 [5 favorites]
While we're debating if they're victims, they're still posting videos about how great it is to move to Russia.
The lying far-right social media personalities that conned them into this shitshow...it's them. And they're doing it to others.
posted by ryanrs at 10:04 AM on August 20 [13 favorites]
The lying far-right social media personalities that conned them into this shitshow...it's them. And they're doing it to others.
posted by ryanrs at 10:04 AM on August 20 [13 favorites]
he was pro-Putin.
So.... MAGA then?
Well, that particular dude self-described as a "communist", but I bet he was more of a contrarian in the style of Glenn Greenwald. It would make the full embrace of Putin and the right-wing talking points about Russia make more sense.
posted by ishmael at 10:20 AM on August 20
So.... MAGA then?
Well, that particular dude self-described as a "communist", but I bet he was more of a contrarian in the style of Glenn Greenwald. It would make the full embrace of Putin and the right-wing talking points about Russia make more sense.
posted by ishmael at 10:20 AM on August 20
The kids are victims, the parents are not.
We're sending Bibles to El Salvador... it's a gift from all of us, Otto.
posted by flabdablet at 10:46 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
We're sending Bibles to El Salvador... it's a gift from all of us, Otto.
posted by flabdablet at 10:46 AM on August 20 [4 favorites]
MetaFilter: Blue Schadenfreude
posted by pmbuko at 11:15 AM on August 20 [3 favorites]
posted by pmbuko at 11:15 AM on August 20 [3 favorites]
... to go viral and make that sweet social media money.
I don't even know that their positive videos about moving to Russia are even their own idea anymore. I am fairly certain Russian intelligence/propagandists/powers-that-be swooped in to force them show Russia in a positive and awesome light in exchange for being allowed to, you know, be a family and eat food. The first clue is how they posted a video of being annoyed with bureaucracy, and that got waffle stomped right away, replaced with an apology and re-directed at themselves ("no, we're not complaining about Russia, no"). If I was Polkovnik Russian Propaganda I would have these guys on a very short leash and doing my dirty work, given their existing audience and place in the news cycle and the enormous disadvantage the family is in.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:27 AM on August 20 [6 favorites]
I don't even know that their positive videos about moving to Russia are even their own idea anymore. I am fairly certain Russian intelligence/propagandists/powers-that-be swooped in to force them show Russia in a positive and awesome light in exchange for being allowed to, you know, be a family and eat food. The first clue is how they posted a video of being annoyed with bureaucracy, and that got waffle stomped right away, replaced with an apology and re-directed at themselves ("no, we're not complaining about Russia, no"). If I was Polkovnik Russian Propaganda I would have these guys on a very short leash and doing my dirty work, given their existing audience and place in the news cycle and the enormous disadvantage the family is in.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:27 AM on August 20 [6 favorites]
That family has clearly failed to do its own research on the dangers of getting vaccinated against the Woke Mind Virus.
posted by flabdablet at 12:51 PM on August 20 [3 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 12:51 PM on August 20 [3 favorites]
"These people are victims"
Yes, and need help. Unfortunately, their support for wellness...they moved away from. Community is Ones Best Friend & Doctor.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:59 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
Yes, and need help. Unfortunately, their support for wellness...they moved away from. Community is Ones Best Friend & Doctor.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:59 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
> I think I get what you're trying to do here, which is to contextualize their choices in a way that doesn't load all the blame on their shoulders. But calling them victims denies them any agency at all.
I don't agree with that. Being a victim doesn't mean that you're utterly helpless. There is no way to speak an utterance that both expresses the inescapable responsibility one has for one's actions with the inescapable limitation that everyone has, of being able to act only in ways that you've prepared for somehow. People who grow up in some kinds of environments seldom escape certain kinds of damage, damage which leads them to ignorant self-destructiveness like we see on display here. If you grew up in a subculture that reproduces this kind of arrogant ignorance, probably you would not have escaped either. If you did grow up there and escaped, I'm guessing your attitude is more along the lines of "there but for the grace of God goes me."
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 1:01 PM on August 20 [5 favorites]
I don't agree with that. Being a victim doesn't mean that you're utterly helpless. There is no way to speak an utterance that both expresses the inescapable responsibility one has for one's actions with the inescapable limitation that everyone has, of being able to act only in ways that you've prepared for somehow. People who grow up in some kinds of environments seldom escape certain kinds of damage, damage which leads them to ignorant self-destructiveness like we see on display here. If you grew up in a subculture that reproduces this kind of arrogant ignorance, probably you would not have escaped either. If you did grow up there and escaped, I'm guessing your attitude is more along the lines of "there but for the grace of God goes me."
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 1:01 PM on August 20 [5 favorites]
To, the threads author. I enjoyed how You supported "woke & trans". in a way as to point the attention on those that are failures, here, A Family walked away from their community because; all about them, not their neighbors too.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:35 PM on August 20
posted by thomcatspike at 1:35 PM on August 20
And in the category of I've got a bridge;
From TASS ,Russian news agency, August 19
Russia offers safe haven for people trying to escape Western liberal ideals
Heartily endorsed by Alex jones.
God it's ridiculous. I won't link to it.
So you don't have to:
RealAlexJones
PUTIN JUST DROPPED A BOMBSHELL DECREE
letting freedom-loving folks bypass the usual bureaucratic nonsense like language tests or history exams. If you're ready to reject the insane policies of your home countries that push these destructive, anti-human, neoliberal agendas, Russia is rolling out the red carpet!
--
It's hilarious, but there are people , obviously, who will buy into this bullshit and there are people like Jones willing to peddle it.
posted by yyz at 2:07 PM on August 20 [4 favorites]
From TASS ,Russian news agency, August 19
Russia offers safe haven for people trying to escape Western liberal ideals
Heartily endorsed by Alex jones.
God it's ridiculous. I won't link to it.
So you don't have to:
RealAlexJones
PUTIN JUST DROPPED A BOMBSHELL DECREE
letting freedom-loving folks bypass the usual bureaucratic nonsense like language tests or history exams. If you're ready to reject the insane policies of your home countries that push these destructive, anti-human, neoliberal agendas, Russia is rolling out the red carpet!
--
It's hilarious, but there are people , obviously, who will buy into this bullshit and there are people like Jones willing to peddle it.
posted by yyz at 2:07 PM on August 20 [4 favorites]
wow, how dare these immigrants refuse to assimilate
posted by ryanrs at 2:09 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 2:09 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
Unfortunately, the family hit their second setback when they tried to unfreeze their money. In a YouTube clip, Arend expressed his frustration, noting the challenge of navigating the situation without English-speaking assistance in Russia.
You can't "Press 2 for English" in Russia? That must be so frustrating for minorities that don't speak the official language.
posted by ryanrs at 2:18 PM on August 20 [8 favorites]
You can't "Press 2 for English" in Russia? That must be so frustrating for minorities that don't speak the official language.
posted by ryanrs at 2:18 PM on August 20 [8 favorites]
That TASS article from yyz leads to another story from the 15th about an American family of 5 applying for 'asylum' in Russia to escape the moral decay of the West and New York specifically.
Googling those Americans' names comes up with absolutely nothing beyond the TASS article, but I'm sure the people really do exist and weren't made up for propaganda purposes.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:39 PM on August 20 [3 favorites]
Googling those Americans' names comes up with absolutely nothing beyond the TASS article, but I'm sure the people really do exist and weren't made up for propaganda purposes.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:39 PM on August 20 [3 favorites]
I wonder if they looked into gun ownership before they got there.
The emergence of the AK-47 as one of the world's most popular assault rifles has presented a stereotype of Russians as wielding AK-47s and having a gun culture similar to America. However, the reality of the situation presents the opposite, according to a survey done by the Zircon public opinion research group, over 70% of Russians were opposed to the right to bear arms
posted by waving at 5:22 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
The emergence of the AK-47 as one of the world's most popular assault rifles has presented a stereotype of Russians as wielding AK-47s and having a gun culture similar to America. However, the reality of the situation presents the opposite, according to a survey done by the Zircon public opinion research group, over 70% of Russians were opposed to the right to bear arms
posted by waving at 5:22 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
If you grew up in a subculture that reproduces this kind of arrogant ignorance, probably you would not have escaped either. If you did grow up there and escaped, I'm guessing your attitude is more along the lines of "there but for the grace of God goes me."
No, I know a number of people who grew up in evangelical communities, including some to whom I'm related, who aren't like this. This is not some Tara Westover situation, or even Hasidic Williamsburg. These guys had the full menu to choose from, and this is what they picked.
posted by praemunire at 6:06 PM on August 20 [6 favorites]
No, I know a number of people who grew up in evangelical communities, including some to whom I'm related, who aren't like this. This is not some Tara Westover situation, or even Hasidic Williamsburg. These guys had the full menu to choose from, and this is what they picked.
posted by praemunire at 6:06 PM on August 20 [6 favorites]
What's the opposite of brain drain?
When emigration raises the average IQ of both countries.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 6:09 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
When emigration raises the average IQ of both countries.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 6:09 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
I wonder if they looked into gun ownership before they got there.
I totally also hope what the article sort-of implies, that they were forced to get vaccinated immediately.
posted by ctmf at 6:56 PM on August 20 [3 favorites]
I totally also hope what the article sort-of implies, that they were forced to get vaccinated immediately.
posted by ctmf at 6:56 PM on August 20 [3 favorites]
I bet they feel so free though.
posted by ctmf at 6:57 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 6:57 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
Favorite quote:
"And Arend felt targeted for being a white, meat-eating man.
'You’ve got the whole woke movement, where a traditional male is
seen as toxic in the West. In many jobs it’s a hindrance to a good
career, because they’re trying to pick people from colored
backgrounds … minorities,' he complained to a Russian YouTuber.
"How a non-colored-background man’s career is hindered when he
owns his own farm in a place that’s 85 percent un-melanated,
unclear. It’s just too much tolerance, and they’ll go to any lengths
to not tolerate it!"
posted by mmrtnt at 8:02 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
"And Arend felt targeted for being a white, meat-eating man.
'You’ve got the whole woke movement, where a traditional male is
seen as toxic in the West. In many jobs it’s a hindrance to a good
career, because they’re trying to pick people from colored
backgrounds … minorities,' he complained to a Russian YouTuber.
"How a non-colored-background man’s career is hindered when he
owns his own farm in a place that’s 85 percent un-melanated,
unclear. It’s just too much tolerance, and they’ll go to any lengths
to not tolerate it!"
posted by mmrtnt at 8:02 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
There is no way to speak an utterance that both expresses the inescapable responsibility one has for one's actions with the inescapable limitation that everyone has, of being able to act only in ways that you've prepared for somehow.
Thank you for this, Aardvaark Cheeselog, as one who has struggled for years to express this seeming paradox (we live it daily even as we fail hence 'seeming') I can only applaud how well you have put it. If anyone knows a better formulation I'd love to hear it.
posted by dutchrick at 11:47 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
Thank you for this, Aardvaark Cheeselog, as one who has struggled for years to express this seeming paradox (we live it daily even as we fail hence 'seeming') I can only applaud how well you have put it. If anyone knows a better formulation I'd love to hear it.
posted by dutchrick at 11:47 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
Mod note: One removed, please remember the Content Policy and avoid name calling, thanks
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:50 AM on August 21 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:50 AM on August 21 [1 favorite]
When I feel bad about my life choices, reading about these dimwits perks me right up.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:30 AM on August 21 [3 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:30 AM on August 21 [3 favorites]
Defeenstration is a tradition in Russia.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:30 AM on August 21
posted by kirkaracha at 10:30 AM on August 21
His name was Russell Bentley.
He was in Spetsnaz. In his 60s! Tell me you're desperate without telling me you're desperate.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:02 AM on August 21 [2 favorites]
He was in Spetsnaz. In his 60s! Tell me you're desperate without telling me you're desperate.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:02 AM on August 21 [2 favorites]
I don’t want to paint all Canadian farmers of Dutch origin with the same brush but there are a ton of them in Southern Ontario putting up election signs for right wing splinter parties while simultaneously staffing their farms with tax payer subsidized foreign guest workers.
posted by brachiopod at 4:58 PM on August 21 [9 favorites]
posted by brachiopod at 4:58 PM on August 21 [9 favorites]
The Alex Jones Russian Homestead Sweepstakes should drop people in places like Kyzyl, Chita, or Sakhalin Island.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:51 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:51 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]
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posted by Pedantzilla at 12:53 PM on August 19 [25 favorites]