News / There is no Muslim in Poland [116]

Of course it is true that Native Americans had settled the continent--thinly, in terms of numbers--before the Spanish and English settlers arrived. But now there is a status quo. This is true of most every nation or region on the planet. Humans migrate and some groups push out others.

But at any given time, there is a status-quo that most people want to preserve. Despite all the clap-trap about "diversity" and "multiculturalism" being so wonderful, they can also cause tension, rivalry, and violence between populations.

Nations like Japan, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark have the lowest crime rates in the world, and it is no coincidence that they are extremely homogenous in terms of race and culture.

News / There is no Muslim in Poland [116]

Great points, Mirek. Funny how no one seems to care about what the Europeans and Americans feel about immigration to their countries, and whether or not they would like to preserve their nations and cultures instead of being blended into an international rabble.

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]


An American journalist named Joe Sobran once had this to say: "An 'antisemite' used to be someone who didn't like Jews. Now, it's someone the Jews don't like!"

He lost his job soon after... ;)

Food / Hot tea in Poland; where can I find it? [46]

'Earl Gray' is the best as far as I'm concerned.

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]


Thanks Puzzler, and I wish the same to you. As far as standing up to the new communists, I intend to do my part, however small it may be. Good luck to you--and I'm sure we'll "speak" again on the forum!

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]


LOL! Is that sarcasm my Spidey Sense detects?


I understand your point, Puzzler. But this division isn't as laden with significance as you seem to think. "Eastern Europe" has never been a derogatory term. It DOES imply former Soviet rule, and with it a sense of economic under-development, as well as cultural differences vis-a-vis "the West."

As Poland and other countries become more and more a part of the "mainstream" in Europe, this distinction between East and West will likely disintegrate. But thought-models die hard, and there is still value and meaning in these divisions, especially in Britain and America, where they are part of our understanding of history, artificial as they may be in many ways. If we didn't have the Eastern/Western Europe "model," we would have another simplification, and it would have its own uses and limits.

In any case, why is Poland so eager to be a part of "the West," anyway? In case you haven't noticed, Westerners are in a state of terminal decadence and decline. At this point, the prefix 'Western' is DEROGATORY! Radio Maryja, for example, has NO counterpart in America and Western Europe. The conservative ideas that you presumably admire in that organization are all-but-dead in the West. If Poland falls too closely into the EU-NATO orbit, then she will NOT be Poland much longer.

Your history books will be re-written, and Polonophobes in Brussels will shift more and more of the Holocaust on YOUR shoulders, telling your nation that it must accept hordes of non-European refugees and immigrants to "expiate" for its supposed sins. Needless to say, this would be a FARCE and a TRAGEDY.

Some may think this is absurd, and I hope it is. Still, we should be ever-vigilant...

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]

Thanks, Grzegorz. I would have have guessed Czechia was Catholic...I still have a lot of research to do on Eastern Europe.

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]


Thank you for the invitation, ukpolska! If I do end up in Poland in a year or so, I may well take you up on it. I understand that you've been teaching English for quite a few years, and I will be sending some questions your way in the English-teaching threads.

As far as the "Eastern European" terminology in regard to Poland, Shawn_H has answered it for me. Not only is this a Cold War division, but it is also an academic and historical one in British and American texts.

I am currently reading a book called The Civilization of the Middle Ages, which one would assume covers medieval history over all of Europe. Instead, as in the previous book I read (Origins of Modern Europe), the focus is almost exclusively on Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain (and in this order of importance as far as the space dedicated to each). Even in books ostensibly devoted to "European History," anything east of the Oder river is only mentioned in passing, and even then it is considered in relation to German history.

Anyway, my point is that the Eastern/Western divide is standard in American and British academia, at least in the material I'm familiar with. It also plays into the historical Germanic/Slavic divide, post-Roman Empire, and the Western Christendom/Eastern Orthodox separation. (Of course, these divisions are always sloppy, since Catholic countries like Poland, Romania, and Croatia fall into the "Eastern" world.)

By the way, as long as I'm talking to Poles and Europeans, and am too lazy to check Wikipedia at the moment, what are the official or main religions/churches in the Czech Republic and Slovakia?

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]


Eastern Europe has not become fully-Westernized, and has not integrated completely into the global junk-culture. I think America and Britain are neck-in-neck in the race for national and cultural disintegration. Germany and the Netherlands are not far behind, along with the rest of the wealthier Western nations.

In Eastern Europe there is still some semblance of communal life--the Catholic church is not yet dead in Poland, unlike in Italy and France--and people still want to start families. The Easterners still take pride in their ethnic identities and national heritage, while we Brits and Americans have been made to feel ashamed of ours.

In any case, those are the philosophical reasons! On a more practical level, I'm a fairly young guy--soon to finish grad. school--and the prospects here are not great. America becomes MORE expensive and LESS livable with each passing day. What a deal!

Regarding the TEFL/ESL thing, I like the idea of a 25-hr. work week (or thereabouts), and enough of a salary to afford a room or studio and still have money left over for fun. Where I live that's impossible. Also, this will be my last chance to really travel, before getting tied down with a career and family, so why not take the opportunity?

Anyway, my apologies (ukpolska) if I seemed like I was getting worked-up over the Radio Maryja thing. In all honesty I don't know a huge amount about them, except that they are conservative, pro-family, and pro-national, and do NOT want Poland's popular culture to become a wasteland like America's. Maybe they are crude and laughable in some ways, but I sympathize with their fears. Polish identity--symbolized by the Catholic church--sustained the nation and gave the people hope throughout the miserable Soviet experiment. It would be a shame if that identity and tradition now evaporate in the face of Western cultural promiscuity.

UK, Ireland / Are British people really interested to integrate with Poles? [92]

It's interesting reading about people's experiences with different nationalities. Some of the female posters have commented that Eastern European and Russian men tend to be more warm and approachable than British and American ones. Likewise, British and American men find Slavic women to be more personable and polite.

I agree with these perceptions, and I think the major reason is the strength of feminism and extreme individualism in the West. Relations between men and women in the UK and America have been polluted in some ways, and a strange dynamic of resentment and competition exists between the two sexes. Another factor are the media in the West, especially sleazy TV-news programs that are constantly fear-mongering their audiences about men being potential rapists, predators, and pedophiles.

The Eastern Euros have a real advantage in the romance department, and it's not just the accent! I think they are more used to cordial and comfortable relations between men and women, where the two sexes are able to play their natural roles. They haven't been paralyzed by the political-correctness-cult that exists in the USA and Western Europe, where men are afraid to hold the door or pay for dinner on a first date because the woman might find it patronizing and insulting! (I know it sounds ridiculous, but these are just two of the more extreme examples.)

Anyway, in my experience immigrants and visitors to the USA and Britain from more traditional and non-politically-correct societies often get along well with the opposite sex, and are far more casual and relaxed in their interactions with others. It's a shame that the culture in America and Britain has become so neurotic that people are afraid to speak and act freely and naturally.

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]

You're absolutely right, Misiek. The "New Europe" (the whole West, in fact) is nothing to get excited about. I don't see much of a future for the younger generations...

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]



So in other words, you don't know what you're talking about?

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]

You claim to be better informed than I am, so why don't you explain the situation to me? Give me your best and most honest analysis, using what you KNOW to be reliable information and leaving out personal opinions: What is wrong with Radio Maryja?

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]

I don't see what all of the sniveling and whining are about--Radio Maryja is a single contrarian news source. It has a small audience and budget. All of the other news sources are free to spout their pro-EU, one-world, modernist garbage. I'm glad Fr. Rydzyk is struggling for the Polish nation and its traditional culture. I only wish they had an English-language service.

As far as the alleged "antisemitism," this accusation is likely political in nature, and may well be entirely fictional. Christophobia and hostility against the Polish nation on the part of the new EU elite are the REAL factors here.

Life / Opinions about Radio Maryja [134]

Good points, Puzzler and Misiek. It's good to see that there are still people in Europe who aren't fooled by communist and socialist propaganda against the Church and the Polish nation. I don't speak Polish, and cannot judge the supposed "antisemitic" content of Radio Maryja directly, but I am very skeptical about reports in the junk-media that allege this.

I must agree with Puzzler that the Polonophobia coming from some elements of the Jewish community--while never recognized or pointed out in the media as such--is at least as great, if not greater, than the possible anti-Jewish sentiment on the part of some Poles.

My gut-feeling regarding the "Radio Maryja controversy" is this:

The radio station is a legitimate and courageous hold-out of the REAL Catholic church in Poland, and Father Rydzyk has more character and bravery than most priests for standing up for traditional culture--against the New World Order, Amerika-kultur, E.U.S.S.R. or whatever you want to name it.

The anti-national and anti-religious leadership of the E.U., as represented by the WProst and other papers, are against the Catholic church and especially Radio Maryja because it represents an alternative to their purely secular, socialist, and materialist vision of the future. Radio Maryja represents one of the last vestiges of true Polish identity--both religious and national--and the new E.U. elites do NOT believe in religions or nations. (In this respect they are Polonophobic.)

Love / Do Polish men like aggressive women? [26]

Polish men HATE IT when this happens!

(Actually, I'm only joking, Lucynda. ALL men LOVE this mode of greeting. It crosses all cultural and linguistic boundaries. It's a universal language, really. But that DOESN'T mean YOU should do it! Take the high ground and behave yourself--you'll attract much better material that way.)

Love / What do men want with Polish Girls huh??? [72]


LOL! I resent your crude stereotypes about Americans as much as you resent mine about Western (USA & UK) women. (But I think my generalization in the previous post is more accurate.)

Why do people have such a hard time dealing with the concept of GENERALIZATION? I never said ALL American/British women are slags--any more than ALL Americans live in trailer parks--just that IN GENERAL Polish and Eastern European women are perceived as being more "marriageable," pro-family, and down-to-earth when it comes to men and relationships.

I didn't invent this perception, but it's a recurrent theme on this site/forum, so clearly it exists, and it must have come from somewhere. Perhaps it is TRUE? Maybe women from more traditional and conservative societies DO make better partners in some ways. It's worth considering, since more than a few people on polishforums share this perception.

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with Western women per se, it's a matter of culture and environment at issue here. And, while I shouldn't have to spell it out: No, Western women aren't tramps and brats, but I think many here would agree with me that they are less friendly and approachable than Eastern Euros in general.

Love / What do men want with Polish Girls huh??? [72]

These kinds of threads are always controversial. Like it or not, many Western men (as well as Indians, Middle Easterners, and Africans) seem to be VERY interested in marrying Polish and Eastern European women. American and British females have a lackluster reputation; and realistically it's well deserved for many of them. Dressing and acting like Britney Spears (i.e. "sluttish"--forgive the terminology) is problematic. Especially when seemingly every female between the ages of 15 and 35 cops an attitude and ACTS like they're some kind of Pop star.

Unfortunately, the rich Western nations have cultural problems: what Edward Gibbon and Oswald Spengler would call "decadence" and "degeneracy." Men want to have it both ways: loose and easy women while they're young, single, and on-the-prowl, and yet they expect to discover a pristine "Holy Mary" type once they're older, fatter, and ready to settle down.

As much as Western women resent it, the men in the US and Britain don't find many of them desirable as long-term mates. Not because of looks and figure so much as attitude. Women from more traditional and family-oriented societies--the "Old Country"--have the upper-hand. They are seen as loyal, down-to-earth, and good spouse-material!

We all love the slags and Hot-N-Trashy types when we're in college, but then we want to settle down with a REAL woman. This is the state of our junk-culture in the US and Britain.

Life / Indian moved to Poland [532]

One must keep in mind, however, that the IQ of the average Indian is 81, whereas the average Englishman has an IQ of 100. This information is available on wikipedia, and is based on the research of Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen in their book "IQ and the Wealth of Nations."

I am ethnically "white," of Polish and Italian descent, and would probably blend in pretty well. But I have heard that there is some resentment of foreigners, and especially non-Europeans, in Eastern Europe. I don't know if this is exaggerated, or if there may be some danger from a very small minority of the population. I want to visit Poland, and perhaps stay for a year or two as an English teacher, but I am a little nervous about the resentment some of the young men especially might feel.

I think that many of them believe--perhaps legitimately--that wealthier Westerners, Americans, and others are coming to--quite frankly--steal their women and take advantage of the weaker economy/wealth differential. I think people need to be sensitive to this perception, as it IS human nature. Maybe some of the native Poles could tell us if this is the case? Is the general feeling toward foreigners staying in Poland to work negative?