How do Polish people view themselves?

Hi guys,

Just wondering: when I hear my Polish friends talking about being Polish and the country itself (I seem to read this over here as well), it seems like they regard themselves as being somewhat superior or at least better than other cultures and countries. I would like to make this clear once and for all: do the Polish think of themselves as being from a better/worse society/culture/country than other ppl? If yes, on which fact or feeling is this based? Thanks!

M-G (bad mood/headache - but self induced :S )

Who doesn't???

(Even the Dutch hallucinate they were better than the Germans! Says all, really...)

:)

i have the same experiences, however on the otherside of the penny, they also say that we, the British, talk about the rest of the world like everyone is below us.

My Polish friends call it 'British Arrogance' for example when i tell them how much i like england and how England provides a good place fo people to come and get educated they say that i'm being arrogant and thats not true at all. then five minutes later i here them talking about the muslims and russians like their apes compared to the Polish, how confusing!!

thnx

T

I'm not someone special. I'm just a little bit different. Not in a good or a bad way. ...just a little bit different.

I've never compared myself to english ppl.

Tornado is making a good point there: I noticed that too. They are fully on their qui vivre about not being put below other nationalities and at the same time they look down on, indeed, muslims, Russians and so on. It's a bit double, therefore I wanted to get it clear how the sit actually is. And what better place to do this than a Polish forum? :)

M-G

Every country/ethnic groups thinks it's superior to other groups! It's called nationalism.

exactly... or jingoism

I feel with Polish people, especially abroad, it's not that we believe we're superior or that Poland is better than any other nation, it's just that Poland, while important historically, is very ignored in today's political/cultural atmosphere. I'm speaking from an American perspective but where comparable immigrant groups like Irish and Italians are celebrated and focused on (if you don't believe me, remind yourself what day next Monday is), Poland is like another planet that nobody knows about. Often times, I've gone too far with my "Polishness" for this reason. It's not that were arrogant (or at least I try not to be) its just that we are proud to be Polish, even if nobody else cares.

Its kind of ridiculous actually, but that's definitely true! This is especially true of European nations that pride themselves on their ancestor's historical achievements.

Find me an Italian that doesn't think Italy is the best place, has the best women, best food, best culture etc....
Same thing with a French person, or a Dutch person, or a Polish person.
I mean you'll find some people that aren't very nationalistic, but I doubt that would be the norm.

America is pretty notorious for this also.


I think that notions of 'British Snobbery' or 'British Arrogance' are associated with the nation's history of colonization. The very concept of colonization is based on the concept that X nation is better than Y nation, therefore we have a right to take over. However, colonialism officially ended in the 1960s and other nations have been slowly recovering from this idea of Britain as an 'evil colonizer'. These days, its more about America's imperial policies and notions of supremacy that has a lot of nations in the world p*ssed off.

...

You seem unjustifiably surprised.

This is true of everyone, from the Portuguese to the Chinese.

Polish pride is quite well established. However, behind the ostensible confidence lay insecurities.

TBH, it just depends!

Poles are not allowed to have nationalistic feelings because they are considered inferior.

Poland isnt superior to britian economically,

poland isnt superior to britian in millitary terms,

poland isnt superior to britian regarding technology and science,

Poland has depended on britian in ww2.

How thye fck can poles think they are superior to western europeans, what a joke, Honestly,

As Central Europeans :)

You missed culture on purpose or by accident??? :):):)

It would make no sense to introduce culture anyway, in the sense of a Polish-British comparison.

Scottish culture is very different from English culture which, in turn, is different from Welsh culture.

The Poles have very good technological experts and scientists. Just unlucky that Scotland is part of the UK ;) ;)

The Poles are proud of many things and rightfully so.

So noimmi is not so dumb after all, as some people here accuse him (her?) of?

He's a wonderful actor, he plays the part with aplomb!

How do Polish ppl view themselves?
in a mirror ,,,,,,,,no?

Sounds right to me, espana.

I view myself as a degenerate gambler and chronic alcoholic, though still quite superior to those of British ilk.

I've heard the doctors in Poland, like the bread and women, are the best in the world ;)

Time to get those delusions sorted out :)

Its no wonder this topic keeps coming up, is it?....Polish pride...

From my experience polish people are in general very proud. Even some of the most shy polish i have met come out with, rather needlessly amid conversation, some very strong, proud words of poland. I used to get pissed off by it. But now I see its just immaturity and perhaps even insecurity behind it all.

Of course, we have the right to say what we think and feel. But I have never heard my mother (who is irish ) or my father who is english say " Ireland/England is more beautiful than X ", as I have heard poles say to me ( Poland being more beautiful than X ) . I find it ignorant as this pole has not seen all of these countries.

Education is one topic I avoid at all costs with poles, clearly a lot of them assume that they are the gate keepers to all knowledge and information. They can be pretty condescending to say the least, and if they fuck up they pretty much wither in shame as though dropping a mug has brought shame on their country...then the smug giggle when the other drops the mug....*breath...

It can be irritating and it shocks them when I say, usually to taxi drivers, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and other countries produce equally good women.

Education, well, sometimes you are fighting a losing battle. I remember being in Żywiec one time and asking my GF who those louts on the train were. I skipped that train simply because I didn't want to share it with such loudmouths. Police were called in with full riot gear and Alsatians to quell the disturbances. It turns out that they were students from Jagellonia University in Kraków. Eminent I heard. Well, if that is eminent, I'd hate to see lowly.

My Scottish friend, VERY level-headed, thinks the same. He just gets into chit-chat style discussions as anything even remotely controversial is blown out of all proportion and he gets an earful.

Typical British.. :]

Unfortunately so

Sometimes i wonder has communism made polish people this way...
The strictness, the commitment, the hard working, the pride....
But also the coldness, the lifelessness, the lack of emotion and engagement...

Having lived in Ireland and England I have always been used to life and energy when with people, the banter and above the ability to laugh at one self and not take things overly seriously. I really dont care that cambridge and oxford are the top colleges in the world or that Irish people are liked all over the world, i especially dont use it as ammo in context of other countries, yet many poles dont seem to have breaks on these matters.

That's fine. But its not a likable trait, its more than likely bias and it just reflects poland in a bad light. Why cant they not , every now and again, joke a bit, laugh at how stupid these matters really are and stop getting so caught up.

Maybe you have met the wrong kind of Polish people. There are many who are full of life and emotion.

Still, some political spoofing would be nice. Taking the mickey a bit more etc etc.

I know what you mean about coldness but you can break their guard, trust me.

I'd love to know where it is you meet these people to draw such conclusions? Do you work in a morgue?