I’m an independent alignment researcher in Russia. Imagine someone wants to donate money to me (from Europe/UK/America/etc). How can I receive the money? It’s really crucial for me to receive at least 100$ per month, at least for a couple of months. Even 40$ per month would be a small relief. [EDIT: my latest, most well-received, and only published alignment research is here.]
Down below are all the methods I learned about after asking people, Google, Youtube and LLMs:
Crypto. The best option. But currently I’m a noob at crypto.
There are some official ways to get money into Russia, but the bank can freeze those transfers or start an inquiry.
Some freelance artists use Boosty (Patreon-like site). But Boosty can stall money transfers for months and more. If your account doesn’t have subscribers and legitimate content, it can rise suspicion of the site.
Someone from a ‘friendly country’ or from Russia itself could act as an intermediary. The last link on this page refers to a network of russian alignment researchers. (Additional challenge: I don’t have a smartphone. With a dumbphone it’s not practically possible to register in Telegram. But most russian alignment researchers are there.)
Get out of Russia. Impossible for me, even with financial help.
What should I do? Is there any system for supporting russian researchers?
Also, if I approach a fellow russian researcher about my problem, what should I say? I don’t have experience in this.
Needless to say, the situation is pretty stressful to me. Imagine getting a chance to earn something for your hard work, but then you can’t get even pennies because of absolutely arbitrary restrictions imposed by your own state.
Re: crypto. Please look carefully at federal law No. 259, article 14, point 5. ”<… corporate body, companies’ branches...>, individuals residing in the Russian Federation at least 183 days in twelve consecutive months are not allowed to accept digital currency as a counter-provision for goods, work, services and/or something which could be construed as paying for goods (work, services) in digital currency, <… except mining>” (translated in my own words). If crypto you choose meets definition of digital currency, you need to tread carefully.
“There are some official ways to get money into Russia, but the bank can freeze those transfers or start an inquiry.” True except I’d say “any bank in the actual transfer chain, which happens to include non-Russian banks too”.
Perhaps your research would be of interest to some people if you published it? Though this might require restructuring it, and I’m not familiar with details of your work.
These additional suggestions might not work in specific situations; not intended to offend in any case.
6. Get a half-time job. 7. Get acquainted with, and marry into, a upper mid-class family. 8. Get a grant (important: from Russia-aligned sources; if you qualify as youth or another class, try leveraging that). 9. Weren’t there legal ways to have a contract with non-residents which can pay in whatever currency? That, I don’t know at the moment.
because of absolutely arbitrary restrictions imposed by your own state
by both sides, to be precise
Also, if I approach a fellow russian researcher about my problem, what should I say? I don’t have experience in this.
This message is pretty much sufficient! To be better, it should also include some demonstration of what you will be working on.
If crypto you choose meets definition of digital currency, you need to tread carefully.
While it’s all about small sums, not really. Russian laws can be oppressive, but Russian… economic vibes… while you are poor enough, are actually pretty libertarian.
Thanks a lot for willingness to go into details. And for giving advice on messaging other researchers.
No offense taken. The marriage option was funny, hope I never get that desperate. Getting official grants is probably not possible for me, but thanks for the suggestion.
by both sides, to be precise
My wording was deliberate. It’s one thing to sanction another country, and another thing to “sanction yourself”.
Fellow russian researcher here. I doubt small donations can work. Not many people use crypto (I’m same noob and not sure if it’s worthy to learn it until I have big audience.) I tried to register with OpenCollective so that they would collect money for me before I leave Russia but they rejected despite me having a project to showcase.
If you have something to show, you could try applying for research grants. This is what I’m trying to do. But that only makes sense if you have time and not so desperate about nearest future.
Actually persuading someone to donate to you is harder for most people than figuring out how to use cryptocurrency.
Using crypto is not that hard in the average case. The main habits you need to get into are a) verify everything, 90% of all the services and platforms are scams b) no mistakes when dealing with large sums, practice with small sum first. one mistake can lose all your money
Maybe you can find a freelance job? For example, people who can do alignment research usually know how to write code. Or maybe you could give private lessons (math or computer science)?
Yes, you should spend time on this, but I think it could make your situation more stable than donations.
Reasonable advice. Sadly, I can’t do math or programming. My work is philosophical/conceptual/informal in the way some Arbitalarticles are informal. In terms of teaching, maybe I could teach chess. I play somewhat good (2100+ in different time formats on Lichess and Chess. com).
I’m an independent alignment researcher in Russia. Imagine someone wants to donate money to me (from Europe/UK/America/etc). How can I receive the money? It’s really crucial for me to receive at least 100$ per month, at least for a couple of months. Even 40$ per month would be a small relief. [EDIT: my latest, most well-received, and only published alignment research is here.]
Down below are all the methods I learned about after asking people, Google, Youtube and LLMs:
Crypto. The best option. But currently I’m a noob at crypto.
There are some official ways to get money into Russia, but the bank can freeze those transfers or start an inquiry.
Some freelance artists use Boosty (Patreon-like site). But Boosty can stall money transfers for months and more. If your account doesn’t have subscribers and legitimate content, it can rise suspicion of the site.
Someone from a ‘friendly country’ or from Russia itself could act as an intermediary. The last link on this page refers to a network of russian alignment researchers. (Additional challenge: I don’t have a smartphone. With a dumbphone it’s not practically possible to register in Telegram. But most russian alignment researchers are there.)
Get out of Russia. Impossible for me, even with financial help.
What should I do? Is there any system for supporting russian researchers?
Also, if I approach a fellow russian researcher about my problem, what should I say? I don’t have experience in this.
Needless to say, the situation is pretty stressful to me. Imagine getting a chance to earn something for your hard work, but then you can’t get even pennies because of absolutely arbitrary restrictions imposed by your own state.
EDIT 2: I got help. Thanks everyone!
Re: crypto. Please look carefully at federal law No. 259, article 14, point 5.
”<… corporate body, companies’ branches...>, individuals residing in the Russian Federation at least 183 days in twelve consecutive months are not allowed to accept digital currency as a counter-provision for goods, work, services and/or something which could be construed as paying for goods (work, services) in digital currency, <… except mining>” (translated in my own words).
If crypto you choose meets definition of digital currency, you need to tread carefully.
“There are some official ways to get money into Russia, but the bank can freeze those transfers or start an inquiry.” True except I’d say “any bank in the actual transfer chain, which happens to include non-Russian banks too”.
Perhaps your research would be of interest to some people if you published it? Though this might require restructuring it, and I’m not familiar with details of your work.
These additional suggestions might not work in specific situations; not intended to offend in any case.
6. Get a half-time job.
7. Get acquainted with, and marry into, a upper mid-class family.
8. Get a grant (important: from Russia-aligned sources; if you qualify as youth or another class, try leveraging that).
9. Weren’t there legal ways to have a contract with non-residents which can pay in whatever currency? That, I don’t know at the moment.
by both sides, to be precise
This message is pretty much sufficient! To be better, it should also include some demonstration of what you will be working on.
While it’s all about small sums, not really. Russian laws can be oppressive, but Russian… economic vibes… while you are poor enough, are actually pretty libertarian.
Thanks a lot for willingness to go into details. And for giving advice on messaging other researchers.
No offense taken. The marriage option was funny, hope I never get that desperate. Getting official grants is probably not possible for me, but thanks for the suggestion.
My wording was deliberate. It’s one thing to sanction another country, and another thing to “sanction yourself”.
Fellow russian researcher here. I doubt small donations can work. Not many people use crypto (I’m same noob and not sure if it’s worthy to learn it until I have big audience.) I tried to register with OpenCollective so that they would collect money for me before I leave Russia but they rejected despite me having a project to showcase.
If you have something to show, you could try applying for research grants. This is what I’m trying to do. But that only makes sense if you have time and not so desperate about nearest future.
Actually persuading someone to donate to you is harder for most people than figuring out how to use cryptocurrency.
Using crypto is not that hard in the average case. The main habits you need to get into are a) verify everything, 90% of all the services and platforms are scams b) no mistakes when dealing with large sums, practice with small sum first. one mistake can lose all your money
Maybe you can find a freelance job? For example, people who can do alignment research usually know how to write code. Or maybe you could give private lessons (math or computer science)?
Yes, you should spend time on this, but I think it could make your situation more stable than donations.
Reasonable advice. Sadly, I can’t do math or programming. My work is philosophical/conceptual/informal in the way some Arbital articles are informal. In terms of teaching, maybe I could teach chess. I play somewhat good (2100+ in different time formats on Lichess and Chess. com).