Reiteration Of The Point...

 I first made few years ago. Namely almost five ago. 

However, the immigration from Western Europe to Russia is a separate matter. How large is this flow of West European immigrants is difficult to assess as of now. Bar some very high profile people such as Steven Seagal or Ornella Muti getting their Russian citizenship, it is very difficult to even separate, such as in German case, if these are "native" Germans immigrating to Russia or Russian Germans who merely return, after their Germany's odyssey, back to their Russian motherland. Here is another example of Germans getting to settle in Russia.

Evidently Russian Germans begin to manifest their practical desires to move to Russia in thousands now.  Even despite the fact that some of them have small children and German children subsidies are higher than Russian ones (I admit, I don't know how Maternity Capital applies here). Many are Christians. Here is Klaus who consults German organizations and families who move to Russia. This is the original German language video. 

Here is his video with Russian dubbing.
 

I was surprised that many natives from Bavaria, Cologne area or Hamburg are also leaving for Russia. As I said many times, Germans, especially Germans from former GDR, not to mention Soviet (Russian) Germans are absolutely not alien to Russians. For all heavy history between two peoples, Germans also have been a significant part of modern (since 17th century) Russia's history. It is a given. Very many Germans still reside in Russia, especially Altai region and they are admired and viewed as.... well, Russians with German roots. Real patriots. One such story about German farmers in Altai (in Russian). I knew that numbers were significant but now that they are in thousands, one has to take a serious note. So, the trend is pronounced, including for Germans who return to Crimea. In an astonishing and deeply ironic turn of events, many Germans say that they go to Russia for liberty. Who would have thought. 

Yet, as Peter Hitchens, the one I respect, unlike his late verbose and highly opinionated brother, states and I agree with him:

We are throwing away our liberty. We are willingly and, in some cases, cheerfully throwing it away because we have ceased to value it. In fact, we are increasingly comfortable with being told what to do rather than deciding what to do for ourselves.” This is anathema to him. Liberty is “the most precious jewel we have in this country”, it is not just “an abstract concept because it decides how you live”.

I am afraid for the UK it is a done deal. US? We'll see. You can watch full interview by Hitchens here. And Hitchens makes a succinct point here:

However, Hitchens argues, the encroachment of the state and the destruction of liberty was to some extent stalled by the Cold War. If the argument of the Western powers was that the Soviet Union was a totalitarian state, it was untenable to impose state control over Western societies.  

I agree with him here completely. It was the issue of a contrast, granted significantly blown out of proportion, which was a restraining factor in otherwise creeping assault on liberty, and we all observe the fruits of this restraining factor disappearing today. Those are bitter, if not poisonous, fruits.