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Comment by pinaceae | Hacker News Reader

If the US really would like to hit Putin in the balls, they would offer all Russian university graduates (at least in STEM) a green card and a one way flight ticket to the US.

Since 9/11 and the effects on immigration to the US there has been a whole lost generation of Russian techies sitting on the benches, not being able to join the rank of Brin and other over here. Lots of very smart, very well educated people.

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that's what people outside and even many inside don't understand about Russia - many people there, even university graduates, will stay there at their own will. Putin is really supported by the Russian people - that is the real deep problem, ie. the problem is with the people not with the one of them who just happened to be the leader.

To "adamnemecek" (below) - no. Unfortunately support of Putin (or at least of the national ideas he is actively using/riding/associating himself with) among the "enlightened" people is appallingly high. The people mentioned by the parent have had ample opportunities to emigrate and they haven't.

Presumably Putin is supported mainly by people who don't fall in the category of people described by the parent comment. Sure there might be some who support him but I'm guessing that most don't.

Nope, it seems counterintuitive that educated people might support someone who is pretty much a dictator, but they do. Russian mentality is different and seems odd to westerners.

To that end, The Soviet Experiment by Ronald G. Suny [1] is a worthwhile read, and I'd highly recommend it to the curious. It provides a great deal of insight into Russia's recent history (and outlook), from the fall of the Tsar to more modern times. Suny provides a backdrop that illustrates some of what purringmeow alludes to, although it (obviously) contends with the creation of the Soviet Union and some of the cultural attitude for which it was responsible.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Soviet-Experiment-Russia-Successor...

You are not right. People who are vocally pro-Putin will be the first ones to grab a Green Card.

After all, Putin's own daugters live in the Netherlands. He's setting an example here, isn't it?

For STEM fields (esp. software) it was relatively easy to get H1B visa until 2013, yet very few people (think couple thousands per year) actually did that compared to 1990s if you look at USCIS stats.

While I agree that this strategy might work out well for the US, I'd like to point out that the US doesn't do this for any countries currently.

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