Здравствуйте! And a message for Russia

Day 490, 18:14 • Published in Russia Russia • by GeekyGator

Greetings, Russia, from a recent American immigrant.

Я понимаю немного по-русски. Я изучаю язык.

Your, now our, country is doing quite well. We've got several territories back and are on the way to becoming a powerful nation once again. The efforts of all of citizenry are to be applauded. You have done with little what many cannot do with much.

However, there is a major issue that I can see. Before I detail it, let me preface my comments with a quick statement about American-Russian relations.

America loves Russia. Perhaps a little too much. In terms of the attitudes of the American populace, we can't get enough. Russia is a beautiful, mystical, and mysterious country, and all of these things give it an air of romance that is appealing to Americans. Chebbba can attest to the positive response to Russia considering the response to the articles posted while in the US.

When I speak with my friends still back in America, many of them consider Russia their first choice when they decide to move out of the USA. This is great for Russia; you are a very large country, and a very large country needs a very large population to make it defensible.

This is the problem. The same problem that lead to Russia's initial fall; a lack of citizens, has not been solved despite the recent gains in terms of territory. There are not enough Russians to defend Russia in the eRepublik world. Russia, as a country, requires immigrants if it wishes to restore its former borders. There is no way for Russia to exist without immigration.

I do not mean to insult the citizens of Russia with that statement, but it is the truth. There are 100,000 citizens in eRepublik, but only 0.5% of them, 500, live in Russia. Russia has the most hardworking, dedicated, and skilled citizens in eRepublik, but you all cannot survive if you are outnumbered ten to one.

The good news is what I prefaced this problem statement with; Americans, and many other foreigners, love Russia and would love to come here. There are hundreds of immigrants considering moving to Russia right now, many of them skilled, many of them with capital, and all of them with the experience needed to help the current citizens of Russia build up industry and defend Russia from attack.

The bad news is that all of these immigrants do not speak Russian. Nearly all the newspaper articles I have seen have been only in Russian, and to be frank online translators are terrible. Many immigrants, like myself, are learning a little, but will not be able to read fluently any time soon. They will not stay in, and hence will not contribute to, a country that alienates them completely with language. If there is only Russian, there are no immigrants, and if there are no immigrants, hope for Russia is slim.

Most of you native Russians also speak English; providing an English translation, or even a short summary, would go miles towards giving Russia a better image internationally and to foreigners and immigrants. This would allow immigrants to move to Russia and become active parts of the community; they will start businesses, they will fight in your wars, and generally contribute to your country's growth and development. An extra moment when you write your newspapers to include a short English summary or even better an English translation would mean the world to your immigrants, and hence mean worlds to Russia.

Спасибо.
GeekyGator (гикегатор)