Explain wealthy men and mail order brides

[Anonymous]

Moments later, James and Irina recited their wedding vows under an arch of flowers.
But what should have been the perfect moment was in fact nothing of the sort. By midnight James was lying alone in hospital, sick from a suspected spiked drink. He was married, but it wasn't to the woman he loved. It was the couple's wedding planner.
This is a story about how a British man lost most of his life savings, as well as his dignity. And how Ukraine's justice system laughed in his face.
James is not his real name.
Such is his embarrassment that he's told no-one in the UK his story, not even his family. The BBC has verified his account of what happened using bank documents, official records, text messages, and interviews with many of those directly involved.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57358241

[Anonymous]

Walk down it in the evening and you'll almost certainly see Western men dining out with much younger Ukrainian women, a bag of expensive designer gifts sitting on the chair beside them.
Ukraine is one of Europe's poorest countries, with an average wage of about $350 (£247) a month. There's a thriving "dating" industry here. It's multi-faceted and ranges from pay-per-mail email services to face-to-face "romance tours", where Western men pay thousands of dollars to meet a series of prospective young Ukrainian "wives".

Same article

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Up until 10 years ago it made sense for a lot of classy educated beautiful women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics to marry into the west. Now, not so much. The economies have developed and they have much easier access to foreign countries through visas. There are still opportunities for 40 year old guys to marry well particularly if they are willing to marry someone who already has a child/divorced. But anyone older than that will have a lot more trouble. Single beautiful women in those countries have a lot of options. There are plenty of men. However, men age and die much more quickly due to alcoholism and other issues so there is definitely a gender imbalance over age 50. Not so much at younger ages.

'Their economies have developed'
-says who?

Let's see , which of these eastern European countries have flourishing economies ? Not Russia, not Ukraine, not Bielorussia .most European countries not part of the eruppean union have terrible economies .

They are good enough to have a comfortable life, especially in urban centers. I mean SOMEONE is keeping afloat the mortgage market in Moscow and St. Petersburg. SOMEONE is keeping vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business.

Give me a break !! With the exception of a few politically connected people in Moscow, the rest of the Russians are toiling away in poverty . Before the arrival of Russians, who use to keep vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business ? Here's the truth ; those countries were already hotbeds of tourism while the Russian were singing the praising of the Communist leader [i] du jour.

I love how American white men do their own mental gymnastics without any data. Keep dreaming that EE or Asian women want a fat, balding American man making 50K/year. They can get a much wealthier guy in their own country, 100% thinner and taller too in EE. Russians own a ton of real estate in London and Dubai and the poverty rate in Russia is well below the one in the USA. In US, boomers have insane alcohol and drug abuse problems. Boomers consume crystal meth at rates TRIPLE those of Millennials, Gen Xs and Zers. 10% of boomers abuse sedatives and 17% binge drink frequently. So yes, if these women are marrying an older American guy, there is a high probability he's a fat old drunk. The US averages are lower simply because Millennials and Zers barely drink and use drugs.
I'm in an affluent pocket in VA and I see a LOT of white American women with successful Asian husbands. My dentist is Korean and his wife is white. My friend's daughter (we're both EE from the same country) is marrying a Chinese guy who is finishing med school. I'm near a big medical center, my family is working in healthcare, and ALL the Indian surgeons have white wives. None of them are fat, like 74% of the Caucasian men BTW, and 100% of them are very successful. If you look at the Pew data, more and more white women are marring Asian men, especially the college educated one. I think everyone is realizing how much of a loser the average white guy is here.

If you were paying attention which by your comments it appears you're not , the thread is about wealthy men . However , anyone making $50k/yr in this country has it better than the vast majority of Russians.

Probably true if you compare averages between the countries but not in relation to big cities. Women from large cities in Russia are not "needy" even by the US standards. Many own apartments with no mortgages, and real estate in big cities is same value as in the US big cities, if not not expensive. I still own 2 apartments in Moscow which I use for travel and to rent out, and can go back anytime. This is around $0.5mm in net equity that I owed since age 23, vs average US home equity by retirement of around $150K.

You kept talking about large cities as if outside of Moscow there is anything of value going on elsewhere in Russia. Even in Moscow, it's a tiny fraction of kremlin-connected people who , thanks to their embezzlement and corruption live large. Stop trying to act like some of us aren't knowledgeable about Russia.

Of course provincial Russia on average is worse than US. But girls from villages or small towns are not typically on these international websites. In large cities upper middle class is pretty vast. My family wasn’t connected to Kremlin and we had several properties since Soviet times. If you are familiar with historical events, families were allowed to “privatize” state-owned apartments in early 1990s. We got one via privatization, another one as purchased in early 2000s from savings (had a small IT business). Also had a “dacha” with lake access near Moscow. It’s a typical middle class situation in these cities

Middle class in Russia is what we call poverty here in the United states .stop comparing apples to oranges . You can't be that dense , can you ? There's a reason why Russia exports women through the mail order business. All that nonsense you wrote is just that —nonsense .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Up until 10 years ago it made sense for a lot of classy educated beautiful women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics to marry into the west. Now, not so much. The economies have developed and they have much easier access to foreign countries through visas. There are still opportunities for 40 year old guys to marry well particularly if they are willing to marry someone who already has a child/divorced. But anyone older than that will have a lot more trouble. Single beautiful women in those countries have a lot of options. There are plenty of men. However, men age and die much more quickly due to alcoholism and other issues so there is definitely a gender imbalance over age 50. Not so much at younger ages.

'Their economies have developed'
-says who?

Let's see , which of these eastern European countries have flourishing economies ? Not Russia, not Ukraine, not Bielorussia .most European countries not part of the eruppean union have terrible economies .

They are good enough to have a comfortable life, especially in urban centers. I mean SOMEONE is keeping afloat the mortgage market in Moscow and St. Petersburg. SOMEONE is keeping vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business.

Give me a break !! With the exception of a few politically connected people in Moscow, the rest of the Russians are toiling away in poverty . Before the arrival of Russians, who use to keep vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business ? Here's the truth ; those countries were already hotbeds of tourism while the Russian were singing the praising of the Communist leader [i] du jour.

I love how American white men do their own mental gymnastics without any data. Keep dreaming that EE or Asian women want a fat, balding American man making 50K/year. They can get a much wealthier guy in their own country, 100% thinner and taller too in EE. Russians own a ton of real estate in London and Dubai and the poverty rate in Russia is well below the one in the USA. In US, boomers have insane alcohol and drug abuse problems. Boomers consume crystal meth at rates TRIPLE those of Millennials, Gen Xs and Zers. 10% of boomers abuse sedatives and 17% binge drink frequently. So yes, if these women are marrying an older American guy, there is a high probability he's a fat old drunk. The US averages are lower simply because Millennials and Zers barely drink and use drugs.
I'm in an affluent pocket in VA and I see a LOT of white American women with successful Asian husbands. My dentist is Korean and his wife is white. My friend's daughter (we're both EE from the same country) is marrying a Chinese guy who is finishing med school. I'm near a big medical center, my family is working in healthcare, and ALL the Indian surgeons have white wives. None of them are fat, like 74% of the Caucasian men BTW, and 100% of them are very successful. If you look at the Pew data, more and more white women are marring Asian men, especially the college educated one. I think everyone is realizing how much of a loser the average white guy is here.

If you were paying attention which by your comments it appears you're not , the thread is about wealthy men . However , anyone making $50k/yr in this country has it better than the vast majority of Russians.

Probably true if you compare averages between the countries but not in relation to big cities. Women from large cities in Russia are not "needy" even by the US standards. Many own apartments with no mortgages, and real estate in big cities is same value as in the US big cities, if not not expensive. I still own 2 apartments in Moscow which I use for travel and to rent out, and can go back anytime. This is around $0.5mm in net equity that I owed since age 23, vs average US home equity by retirement of around $150K.

You kept talking about large cities as if outside of Moscow there is anything of value going on elsewhere in Russia. Even in Moscow, it's a tiny fraction of kremlin-connected people who , thanks to their embezzlement and corruption live large. Stop trying to act like some of us aren't knowledgeable about Russia.

Of course provincial Russia on average is worse than US. But girls from villages or small towns are not typically on these international websites. In large cities upper middle class is pretty vast. My family wasn’t connected to Kremlin and we had several properties since Soviet times. If you are familiar with historical events, families were allowed to “privatize” state-owned apartments in early 1990s. We got one via privatization, another one as purchased in early 2000s from savings (had a small IT business). Also had a “dacha” with lake access near Moscow. It’s a typical middle class situation in these cities

Middle class in Russia is what we call poverty here in the United states .stop comparing apples to oranges . You can't be that dense , can you ? There's a reason why Russia exports women through the mail order business. All that nonsense you wrote is just that —nonsense .

You have no idea what you are talking about, hence the confidence, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so fascinated by this. My BIL married a Russian woman he met online. He was neither rich nor good looking, so I always just assume she was desperate to get to America. I definitely consider that prostitution, and it also makes me feel really sad that she felt she had to do that to get out of Russia (I really like her, truth be told). I do agree with previous posters that the way she acts is super unnatural to me - she fawns over him constantly and is always laughing at his (really bad) jokes, almost as if she thinks she's in a rom-com. He is always pawing at her in a really uncomfortable way.
They've been married 8 years now, so assume she's happy? I just wonder how these women (and men) actually meet online. Are there sites I don't know about? Are the women just trolling facebook?

They meet the same way people meet on dating apps.

[Anonymous]

omg people you made me call my brother and ask him about an update on this lol. He said all the poor girls do webcamming now and can make 5K euros/month, so nobody wants to marry fat old Americans anymore. He told me that there are specific office buildings set up with their own IT department too. Apparently it's a billion $$ Industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Up until 10 years ago it made sense for a lot of classy educated beautiful women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics to marry into the west. Now, not so much. The economies have developed and they have much easier access to foreign countries through visas. There are still opportunities for 40 year old guys to marry well particularly if they are willing to marry someone who already has a child/divorced. But anyone older than that will have a lot more trouble. Single beautiful women in those countries have a lot of options. There are plenty of men. However, men age and die much more quickly due to alcoholism and other issues so there is definitely a gender imbalance over age 50. Not so much at younger ages.

'Their economies have developed'
-says who?

Let's see , which of these eastern European countries have flourishing economies ? Not Russia, not Ukraine, not Bielorussia .most European countries not part of the eruppean union have terrible economies .

They are good enough to have a comfortable life, especially in urban centers. I mean SOMEONE is keeping afloat the mortgage market in Moscow and St. Petersburg. SOMEONE is keeping vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business.

Give me a break !! With the exception of a few politically connected people in Moscow, the rest of the Russians are toiling away in poverty . Before the arrival of Russians, who use to keep vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business ? Here's the truth ; those countries were already hotbeds of tourism while the Russian were singing the praising of the Communist leader [i] du jour.

I love how American white men do their own mental gymnastics without any data. Keep dreaming that EE or Asian women want a fat, balding American man making 50K/year. They can get a much wealthier guy in their own country, 100% thinner and taller too in EE. Russians own a ton of real estate in London and Dubai and the poverty rate in Russia is well below the one in the USA. In US, boomers have insane alcohol and drug abuse problems. Boomers consume crystal meth at rates TRIPLE those of Millennials, Gen Xs and Zers. 10% of boomers abuse sedatives and 17% binge drink frequently. So yes, if these women are marrying an older American guy, there is a high probability he's a fat old drunk. The US averages are lower simply because Millennials and Zers barely drink and use drugs.
I'm in an affluent pocket in VA and I see a LOT of white American women with successful Asian husbands. My dentist is Korean and his wife is white. My friend's daughter (we're both EE from the same country) is marrying a Chinese guy who is finishing med school. I'm near a big medical center, my family is working in healthcare, and ALL the Indian surgeons have white wives. None of them are fat, like 74% of the Caucasian men BTW, and 100% of them are very successful. If you look at the Pew data, more and more white women are marring Asian men, especially the college educated one. I think everyone is realizing how much of a loser the average white guy is here.

If you were paying attention which by your comments it appears you're not , the thread is about wealthy men . However , anyone making $50k/yr in this country has it better than the vast majority of Russians.

Probably true if you compare averages between the countries but not in relation to big cities. Women from large cities in Russia are not "needy" even by the US standards. Many own apartments with no mortgages, and real estate in big cities is same value as in the US big cities, if not not expensive. I still own 2 apartments in Moscow which I use for travel and to rent out, and can go back anytime. This is around $0.5mm in net equity that I owed since age 23, vs average US home equity by retirement of around $150K.

You kept talking about large cities as if outside of Moscow there is anything of value going on elsewhere in Russia. Even in Moscow, it's a tiny fraction of kremlin-connected people who , thanks to their embezzlement and corruption live large. Stop trying to act like some of us aren't knowledgeable about Russia.

Of course provincial Russia on average is worse than US. But girls from villages or small towns are not typically on these international websites. In large cities upper middle class is pretty vast. My family wasn’t connected to Kremlin and we had several properties since Soviet times. If you are familiar with historical events, families were allowed to “privatize” state-owned apartments in early 1990s. We got one via privatization, another one as purchased in early 2000s from savings (had a small IT business). Also had a “dacha” with lake access near Moscow. It’s a typical middle class situation in these cities

Middle class in Russia is what we call poverty here in the United states .stop comparing apples to oranges . You can't be that dense , can you ? There's a reason why Russia exports women through the mail order business. All that nonsense you wrote is just that —nonsense .

You have no idea what you are talking about, hence the confidence, I guess.

This is why everyone hates the muskovites. You just assume that Moscow is Russia and forget that there are millions of people outside of Moscow. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus still export women because these women are desperate to get out and what a middle class IT guy can offer them is way better than what they would get back home.

[Anonymous]

Russia is a shit hole country so people are still fleeing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Up until 10 years ago it made sense for a lot of classy educated beautiful women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics to marry into the west. Now, not so much. The economies have developed and they have much easier access to foreign countries through visas. There are still opportunities for 40 year old guys to marry well particularly if they are willing to marry someone who already has a child/divorced. But anyone older than that will have a lot more trouble. Single beautiful women in those countries have a lot of options. There are plenty of men. However, men age and die much more quickly due to alcoholism and other issues so there is definitely a gender imbalance over age 50. Not so much at younger ages.

'Their economies have developed'
-says who?

Let's see , which of these eastern European countries have flourishing economies ? Not Russia, not Ukraine, not Bielorussia .most European countries not part of the eruppean union have terrible economies .

They are good enough to have a comfortable life, especially in urban centers. I mean SOMEONE is keeping afloat the mortgage market in Moscow and St. Petersburg. SOMEONE is keeping vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business.

Give me a break !! With the exception of a few politically connected people in Moscow, the rest of the Russians are toiling away in poverty . Before the arrival of Russians, who use to keep vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business ? Here's the truth ; those countries were already hotbeds of tourism while the Russian were singing the praising of the Communist leader [i] du jour.

I love how American white men do their own mental gymnastics without any data. Keep dreaming that EE or Asian women want a fat, balding American man making 50K/year. They can get a much wealthier guy in their own country, 100% thinner and taller too in EE. Russians own a ton of real estate in London and Dubai and the poverty rate in Russia is well below the one in the USA. In US, boomers have insane alcohol and drug abuse problems. Boomers consume crystal meth at rates TRIPLE those of Millennials, Gen Xs and Zers. 10% of boomers abuse sedatives and 17% binge drink frequently. So yes, if these women are marrying an older American guy, there is a high probability he's a fat old drunk. The US averages are lower simply because Millennials and Zers barely drink and use drugs.
I'm in an affluent pocket in VA and I see a LOT of white American women with successful Asian husbands. My dentist is Korean and his wife is white. My friend's daughter (we're both EE from the same country) is marrying a Chinese guy who is finishing med school. I'm near a big medical center, my family is working in healthcare, and ALL the Indian surgeons have white wives. None of them are fat, like 74% of the Caucasian men BTW, and 100% of them are very successful. If you look at the Pew data, more and more white women are marring Asian men, especially the college educated one. I think everyone is realizing how much of a loser the average white guy is here.

If you were paying attention which by your comments it appears you're not , the thread is about wealthy men . However , anyone making $50k/yr in this country has it better than the vast majority of Russians.

Probably true if you compare averages between the countries but not in relation to big cities. Women from large cities in Russia are not "needy" even by the US standards. Many own apartments with no mortgages, and real estate in big cities is same value as in the US big cities, if not not expensive. I still own 2 apartments in Moscow which I use for travel and to rent out, and can go back anytime. This is around $0.5mm in net equity that I owed since age 23, vs average US home equity by retirement of around $150K.

You kept talking about large cities as if outside of Moscow there is anything of value going on elsewhere in Russia. Even in Moscow, it's a tiny fraction of kremlin-connected people who , thanks to their embezzlement and corruption live large. Stop trying to act like some of us aren't knowledgeable about Russia.

Of course provincial Russia on average is worse than US. But girls from villages or small towns are not typically on these international websites. In large cities upper middle class is pretty vast. My family wasn’t connected to Kremlin and we had several properties since Soviet times. If you are familiar with historical events, families were allowed to “privatize” state-owned apartments in early 1990s. We got one via privatization, another one as purchased in early 2000s from savings (had a small IT business). Also had a “dacha” with lake access near Moscow. It’s a typical middle class situation in these cities

Middle class in Russia is what we call poverty here in the United states .stop comparing apples to oranges . You can't be that dense , can you ? There's a reason why Russia exports women through the mail order business. All that nonsense you wrote is just that —nonsense .

You have no idea what you are talking about, hence the confidence, I guess.

This is why everyone hates the muskovites. You just assume that Moscow is Russia and forget that there are millions of people outside of Moscow. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus still export women because these women are desperate to get out and what a middle class IT guy can offer them is way better than what they would get back home.

Great analytical skills /s. You are repeating some old rumors and probably have never been to Russia at all. I am not from Moscow, don’t hate people based on their place of birth or location, and know enough middle class Russians not to compare them with Americans living in poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:omg people you made me call my brother and ask him about an update on this lol. He said all the poor girls do webcamming now and can make 5K euros/month, so nobody wants to marry fat old Americans anymore. He told me that there are specific office buildings set up with their own IT department too. Apparently it's a billion $$ Industry.

So you are comparing mail-order-brides with sex-workers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Up until 10 years ago it made sense for a lot of classy educated beautiful women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics to marry into the west. Now, not so much. The economies have developed and they have much easier access to foreign countries through visas. There are still opportunities for 40 year old guys to marry well particularly if they are willing to marry someone who already has a child/divorced. But anyone older than that will have a lot more trouble. Single beautiful women in those countries have a lot of options. There are plenty of men. However, men age and die much more quickly due to alcoholism and other issues so there is definitely a gender imbalance over age 50. Not so much at younger ages.

'Their economies have developed'
-says who?

Let's see , which of these eastern European countries have flourishing economies ? Not Russia, not Ukraine, not Bielorussia .most European countries not part of the eruppean union have terrible economies .

They are good enough to have a comfortable life, especially in urban centers. I mean SOMEONE is keeping afloat the mortgage market in Moscow and St. Petersburg. SOMEONE is keeping vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business.

Give me a break !! With the exception of a few politically connected people in Moscow, the rest of the Russians are toiling away in poverty . Before the arrival of Russians, who use to keep vacation operators in Turkey, Egypt and Italy in business ? Here's the truth ; those countries were already hotbeds of tourism while the Russian were singing the praising of the Communist leader [i] du jour.

I love how American white men do their own mental gymnastics without any data. Keep dreaming that EE or Asian women want a fat, balding American man making 50K/year. They can get a much wealthier guy in their own country, 100% thinner and taller too in EE. Russians own a ton of real estate in London and Dubai and the poverty rate in Russia is well below the one in the USA. In US, boomers have insane alcohol and drug abuse problems. Boomers consume crystal meth at rates TRIPLE those of Millennials, Gen Xs and Zers. 10% of boomers abuse sedatives and 17% binge drink frequently. So yes, if these women are marrying an older American guy, there is a high probability he's a fat old drunk. The US averages are lower simply because Millennials and Zers barely drink and use drugs.
I'm in an affluent pocket in VA and I see a LOT of white American women with successful Asian husbands. My dentist is Korean and his wife is white. My friend's daughter (we're both EE from the same country) is marrying a Chinese guy who is finishing med school. I'm near a big medical center, my family is working in healthcare, and ALL the Indian surgeons have white wives. None of them are fat, like 74% of the Caucasian men BTW, and 100% of them are very successful. If you look at the Pew data, more and more white women are marring Asian men, especially the college educated one. I think everyone is realizing how much of a loser the average white guy is here.

If you were paying attention which by your comments it appears you're not , the thread is about wealthy men . However , anyone making $50k/yr in this country has it better than the vast majority of Russians.

Probably true if you compare averages between the countries but not in relation to big cities. Women from large cities in Russia are not "needy" even by the US standards. Many own apartments with no mortgages, and real estate in big cities is same value as in the US big cities, if not not expensive. I still own 2 apartments in Moscow which I use for travel and to rent out, and can go back anytime. This is around $0.5mm in net equity that I owed since age 23, vs average US home equity by retirement of around $150K.

You kept talking about large cities as if outside of Moscow there is anything of value going on elsewhere in Russia. Even in Moscow, it's a tiny fraction of kremlin-connected people who , thanks to their embezzlement and corruption live large. Stop trying to act like some of us aren't knowledgeable about Russia.

Of course provincial Russia on average is worse than US. But girls from villages or small towns are not typically on these international websites. In large cities upper middle class is pretty vast. My family wasn’t connected to Kremlin and we had several properties since Soviet times. If you are familiar with historical events, families were allowed to “privatize” state-owned apartments in early 1990s. We got one via privatization, another one as purchased in early 2000s from savings (had a small IT business). Also had a “dacha” with lake access near Moscow. It’s a typical middle class situation in these cities

Middle class in Russia is what we call poverty here in the United states .stop comparing apples to oranges . You can't be that dense , can you ? There's a reason why Russia exports women through the mail order business. All that nonsense you wrote is just that —nonsense .

You have no idea what you are talking about, hence the confidence, I guess.

America's economy is almost 23 times the size of the Russian economy . Russia's economy is the size of the Italian economy despite the fact that Italy has less than half of its population. So, you attempting to compare America's economy and Russia makes me wonder if you're just trolling—in which case I must say you're bad at it —, or just sincere in your ignorance .

Furthermore, I'm assuming you're typing from the united states of America, a country you seemingly have no intention of leaving anytime soon, right? If you're so confident about the economic prospects one might have in Russia, then may I suggest you board the next available flight and go flourish over there ? My hypocrisy radar is just really flawless and I can't stand people like you . You flee your mafia state and once in America, attempt to dabble in revisionism . Putin could use your mediocre propagandist skills .

[Anonymous]

A Russian "bride" here: there is no argument that US economy is much larger than Russian economy, the GDP/capita is higher etc. However, Russian middle class would be way more educated than US middle class. You can live about same in Russia for income of around $600/month as you would live in the US for $5,000/month. The reasons are: free schools, child care, cheaper food, free housing, low taxes. You basically only spend on food and clothing.

It still doesn't change the fact that women who want to grow their potential, income, expand professional opportunities wouldn't want to leave the country. There are fewer opportunities for educated women over 40 y.o. comparing to the US. You are a "granny" in Russia after age 40. Many "brides" are over 40 marrying US husbands who are 11-20 years older. This particular applies to women in smaller cities or remote regions. In Moscow and St Petersburg not so much - incomes in these cities are already very similar to US "middle" class and housing is free. Many families have familial assets accumulated since soviet times which are worth hundreds of thousands.

I was a Fulbright scholar but didn't use the scholarship as my US husband I met on such dating website wanted to marry me, and was willing to pay for my degree himself. If I went to the US on Fulbright, there would be visa limitations and I wouldn't be able to work for a few years. Once I finished my degree, I found a gainful employment in DC at a much better position I would have landed back in Moscow. We also had a pretty happy marriage for 16 years:traveled, had a child. Unfortunately the marriage didn't work out as he went after another foreign woman. But it doesn't mean that our choices back then were wrong or there was no love etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
America's economy is almost 23 times the size of the Russian economy . Russia's economy is the size of the Italian economy despite the fact that Italy has less than half of its population. So, you attempting to compare America's economy and Russia makes me wonder if you're just trolling—in which case I must say you're bad at it —, or just sincere in your ignorance .

Furthermore, I'm assuming you're typing from the united states of America, a country you seemingly have no intention of leaving anytime soon, right? If you're so confident about the economic prospects one might have in Russia, then may I suggest you board the next available flight and go flourish over there ? My hypocrisy radar is just really flawless and I can't stand people like you . You flee your mafia state and once in America, attempt to dabble in revisionism . Putin could use your mediocre propagandist skills .

Another FSU native here and a 20+year DC area resident. I've always said that if you're an immigrant, you cannot really have an authentic discussion about America with an American. I mean you can, but you are only allowed one point of view: unadulterated awe. Despite the professed love of diversity and "immigrants", the second an immigrant brings up something they love about their home country AND dislike about America, the answer never wavers: go back to where you came from, you ungrateful savage.

To the point: yes, Russia's economy isn't comparable to America, yes. But - and it's a big but - there are many shades of gray between American affluence and Russian poverty level, including a comfortable life in an urban center. I've left to go to graduate school, but if I stayed, I would have had a very nice career, a comfortable apartment, and all the joys of urban living in a country where high culture is pretty cheap, education is free, and high-quality extracurriculars are abound. Add to this that Europe is very close and you can easily travel to interesting destinations in a weekend. Yes, you have to be comfortable with apartment living, but isn't this what we're being shamed for, daily, in the Real Estate sub-forum? When we're reminded that half the world lives in apartments? Well then!

So there you have it. I have a comfortable life in Washington, and I have no doubt that if I stayed, I would have had a comfortable life in Moscow, a different one, but a comfortable one nevertheless. And I have zero Kremlin connections, marvel at that please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
America's economy is almost 23 times the size of the Russian economy . Russia's economy is the size of the Italian economy despite the fact that Italy has less than half of its population. So, you attempting to compare America's economy and Russia makes me wonder if you're just trolling—in which case I must say you're bad at it —, or just sincere in your ignorance .

Furthermore, I'm assuming you're typing from the united states of America, a country you seemingly have no intention of leaving anytime soon, right? If you're so confident about the economic prospects one might have in Russia, then may I suggest you board the next available flight and go flourish over there ? My hypocrisy radar is just really flawless and I can't stand people like you . You flee your mafia state and once in America, attempt to dabble in revisionism . Putin could use your mediocre propagandist skills .

Another FSU native here and a 20+year DC area resident. I've always said that if you're an immigrant, you cannot really have an authentic discussion about America with an American. I mean you can, but you are only allowed one point of view: unadulterated awe. Despite the professed love of diversity and "immigrants", the second an immigrant brings up something they love about their home country AND dislike about America, the answer never wavers: go back to where you came from, you ungrateful savage.

To the point: yes, Russia's economy isn't comparable to America, yes. But - and it's a big but - there are many shades of gray between American affluence and Russian poverty level, including a comfortable life in an urban center. I've left to go to graduate school, but if I stayed, I would have had a very nice career, a comfortable apartment, and all the joys of urban living in a country where high culture is pretty cheap, education is free, and high-quality extracurriculars are abound. Add to this that Europe is very close and you can easily travel to interesting destinations in a weekend. Yes, you have to be comfortable with apartment living, but isn't this what we're being shamed for, daily, in the Real Estate sub-forum? When we're reminded that half the world lives in apartments? Well then!

So there you have it. I have a comfortable life in Washington, and I have no doubt that if I stayed, I would have had a comfortable life in Moscow, a different one, but a comfortable one nevertheless. And I have zero Kremlin connections, marvel at that please.

See, herein lies the problem . You have chosen to assume that I'm an American, which in your view could mean someone who is probably white and born here . The ridiculousness of this aside, it shows how far gone you are in your hypocrisy and ignorance . To assume that anyone who dares wonder why you're here if Russia is seemingly a flourishing economy must be asking for unadulterated awe is dishonest at best . But , what if that was the case ? When you go to Rome you act like the Romans, no?

From the onset, some of you here chose to view this thread as an insult towards EE women which to me it isn't. But to pretend that dire economic outlook isn't the primary motivation for this phenomenon is to lose all credibility. There's a similar industry in many french-speaking west African countries that export women to Europe through marriage to older European men. I doubt that if all the arguments used to explain the Mail order industry were used to describe the same phenomenon in wesy Africa, you would've had your panties in a bunch .

Immigration is almost always motivated by one single factor: to have what you don't have at home. Point blank . So,all your talk about life in urban centers in russia—which really means moscow—is just that: white noise .

[Anonymous]

The the poster above: nobody is arguing US offers more economic freedoms and opportunities. But some posters on this thread nearly equalized this type of (basically economic) immigration with prostitution. I don’t see much difference between a girl from Tver marrying a man who she met online in the US vs many US college girls wanting to “marry up” to a lawyer, doctor etc.

The existence of international dating websites opens borders. Putin in fact wanted to limit the exodus of young educated child bearing age women first he came to power! It affects Russian economy and in fact improves the US economy as it’s legal immigration that produces GDP snd American born kids for US