News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Why would you want them back, the UK has never been an enthusiastic member.... give them a status similar to Switzerland and Norway and move on....

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


She made no compelling argument to stay in the EU (that is her performance and her policies did not)

And the whole idea of the EU is supposed to be good relations rather than forcing countries to live in eternal penury while being preached at. Who needs that crap?

Merkel literally cannot leave office soon enough.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

Brexit and the dysfunctional Euro (which makes real economic recovery impossible for southern Europe) not exactly great achievements.... she's the most divisive leader in Europe, hardly a uniting figure.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Parliamentary democracies should set a good example for the rest of the world.... Clearly stablished term limits (between 8 and 12 years as head of state) could help those in countries where they use your arguments to keep human excrement like Putin and Erdogan in power....

Being a head of state for over 10 years should be a mark of shame

News / Poland's PIS party and the UK Tories [25]


Yeah, that's the idea. One problem you may have noticed in Poland is that there is a lack of common ground among Poles and a lack of what might be called a uniting figure (that all Polish people can identify with). JPII was the closest, but he didn't live in Poland and he's long dead.

The reconstituted Spanish monarchy was immensely valuable in navigating away from dictatorship toward democracy in that country and helped preserve the still fragile civil order when it was most in danger (1981 coup attempt). It later went to sh|t after 2008 but the monarchy was a crucial piece of the puzzle that helped Spain move forward.

A similar figure in Poland might have prevented the worst of the ideological warfare over the past in Poland. The time for that has now past, but it might have worked if begun between 1994-1998 or so.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


I don't think there's anything well-intentioned about her.... she's out of touch because she's been in office too long, no national leader is any use after 10 years in office.

News / Poland's PIS party and the UK Tories [25]


I used to think that a monarch could be a good temporary thing for Poland as a symbol of national unity above petty partisan divisions (since non-partisan dignity is as alien to Polish politicans as it flying to Jupiter under their own power). It worked very well in Spain until a few years ago (where it's now outlived its usefulness though they're still hanging around so there's that to deal with...).

Love / Polish Man being with English Woman - he insists on paying for EVERYTHING [36]


Yes and no. 45 years of socialism strengthened that aspect of Polish society but there is some tradition of tolerated oddballs (manifesting as fussy pedants). And those born after 1995 are a good deal less rigid.


During late communism and well into the 1990s and early 2000s discreet adultery was probably more socially acceptable than public platonic fraternization.

Do not, I repeat, do not get married until you've spent time around the prospective spouse's family and find them (and where they live) to be mostly tolerable....

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


That's nation state thinking, western governments are moving away from that and toward a hotel model. A country is a hotel room, rented out to different people at different times (so the owners -the EU) don't care who's in what room as long as the bills are paid.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Why is Italy supporting and encouraging human trafficking in the mediterranean?

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]


Lithuanian?


What would you prefer, a professor (Polish academic title) who would know once told me that in the 1950s there was serious thought given to reform (in the direction of Czech) but that it was finally decided to leave it alone.

Just changing some consonants and leaving the vowels alone, how does this look?

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Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]

Have you given up all pretense that you were ever a fluent speaker of Polish? Cause only a monolingual person would write something so monumentally silly....

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Is there any ethnic group without a shameful history?

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Western Europe as a whole has not yet recovered from the consequences of WWII (which cannot all be laid at the feet of Germany). In a way the countries of the old eastern bloc (except for Russia and some other ex-soviet states) are now generally better off. They went through a few decades of light hell with communist regimes but emerged from them with their national ego intact, they believe they deserve to exist (it's not clear if many western europeans even want their countries to exist as countries rather than generic places on a map of unified Europe.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


The institutional misogyny of Islam is a concern (are women choosing those freely or being forced into them?) And is anyone keeping a record to make sure their rulings really are in line with British law (which directly contravenes Islamic law in many areas)...

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Tell an African American that a normal person doesn't care about the color of their skin... I'd like to be a fly on the wall....

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

As I keep saying (will someone finally listen to me?!?) the coming challenge is to figure out how to make an economy work with a declining number of people. It's quite doable considering how close advanced societies (like Germany) are to a post scarcity economy anyway.

The idea that populations have to always keep growing to keep the economy afloat is pure voodoo and unsustainable (since the Earth is a finite place - it cannot sustain an ever increasing number of people). Germany with between 50 to 60 million people would be a much greener and more pleasant place than Germany with over 80 million.

Work / Work in Poland for a person who moved to America as a kid, and who speaks great Polish [5]


Only you can answer that... finding a job shouldn't be a problem (unless there's a major downturn or something) but how happy you'll be depends on lots of stuff that you didn't include - the Poland you left is dead and there's a new one in its place that may or may not be to your liking. How often have you been back?

Also "read and write fairly well" won't cut it You'll need to be able to do your job in Polish too so you'll need to increase your skills in reading and writing (and probably speaking which probably has lots of gaps if you're anything like other people in your position I've known). Start off by keeping up with your field in Polish (should be stuff online).

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Hey sperg troll in normal human communication


means 'has achieved nothing' which is a little unfair, no troll in the history of this not-so-great forum has so united posters in disgust and revulsion... that's sort of an achievement?

Please back to the topic

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


No one knows something that doesn't exist... tovorisch

News / Hungary Veto on Poland Sanctions may not happen [108]


post wherever you want, just don't expect everyone to agree all the time

you post with an aggressive attitude (which is fine) but then get a burr up your bvtt anytime someone disagrees.

News / Hungary Veto on Poland Sanctions may not happen [108]


Two of whom don't live in Poland (and I wouldn't be surprised if snotty doesn't either).

I have my criticisms of the EU but there is no will to seriously think about leaving it yet (not any real need)...... and compared with the CCCP the EU is kind of a chickensh1t operation and would be a lot easier to get shut of.

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]

The Yiddish word is (or at least used to be) used in American English as schlimazel (other spellings too, like shlemozzle, but more of just a spoken word) with the meaning of Polish pechowiec (unlucky person).

please stay to the topic, everyone

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


That would be stupid even for Merkel, Batty and Taci, google translate gives four possible translations of 'quagmire*' in German, which would be most appropriate

Sumpf
Schlamassel
Pfuhl
Morast

I'm thinking maybe Morast would be the most appropriate (though I like Schlamassel).

*what the US had in Vietnam and Russia had in Afghanistan, and then because of Geroge Whack-a-mole Bush the US also still has in Afghanistan and Iraq.

USA, Canada / I'm struggling with my culture - I grew up Polish in America. DNA test. [37]

Alexandria, the key in getting the most out of a trip (or long term move) to Europe is to keep your expectations in check. the more you build it up in your mind as great the more likely you are to be disappointed. the more you expect that there will be difficulties the better you can get through them.

Poland can be a great place to live for an American (like you and me) but you need to know the language (very well) and know how things work (it takes at least a year's residence before it starts making any sense).

Also remember Poland is a northern country and people are not sunny and bright. Polish people can be very harsh with each other in ways that might shock an American. And.... the more you're accepted as a local, the shorter and more confrontational people might be with you (treating you like they treat each other). I like to say that Poland can be a great assertiveness training school for wimpy Americans - you'll have to learn to stand up for yourself or you'll regret it.

The weather for almost half the year can be pretty gloomy too (and very rapid weather changes can take their toll if you're sensitive to things like air pressure changes like I am).

Like I said, it can be a great place to live but you need to remember that no place is perfect and learn how to deal with the downsides.

Poland (and Greece) are very pro-American so people won't have anything against you for being American.

I've only been to Greece a few times as a tourist (but I work with a few Greeks) and I've known Polish people who've lived there. Remember that Greece has been in an economic depression for the last 10 years with no real end in sight. It's very different culturally from Poland so anything you learn about "Europe" will not necessarily transfer to Poland.

Welcome to the forum but it does have some very negative and nasty non-Polish trolls (none on this thread so far).

USA, Canada / I'm struggling with my culture - I grew up Polish in America. DNA test. [37]


Traditionally that's a regional thing, strongest in the modern Rust Belt (called 'the Foundry' in the Nine Nations model)*.

That''s where you had the Italian-American Greek-American etc. clubs. It was much more restricted in other parts, in New England there might be Portuguese and Irish identification, in the White South it was almost entirely absent (people might identify their heritage as English or Scottish but they didn't have clubs or anything.

It's been spread a little bit as people from that area go to other parts of the country so where I grew up (in the south but a migration destination for Northerners) by the 1980s you had Italian-American or German-American clubs but nowhere near as strong as in the Rust Belt.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Nations_of_North_America

USA, Canada / I'm struggling with my culture - I grew up Polish in America. DNA test. [37]

that isn't inconsistent with being Polish where everybody was invading, so (I'm guessing you have some German and Swedish ancestory - both countries have invaded Poland after all....)

Cheer up, you're as Polish as you want to be!

USA, Canada / I'm struggling with my culture - I grew up Polish in America. DNA test. [37]


Unlike some ethnicities, Polishness is largely based on culture (and language) and self-identification. I live in Poland and have come across people with Czech, German, Jewish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Greek and other names who self-identify as Polish and are regarded as such by everybody.

So the good news is that you're as Polish as many Poles.

What was the rest of your test (and you do realize they make up part of the results on those tests, don't you?)

News / "It's too late for Germany" (but not for Poland) [1798]


Letting in large numbers of people who don't share your values (and have no intention of letting their children be contaminated by them) ..... wha'ts the pay off exactly?

Language / Common errors in Polish grammar or spelling [26]


Of course someone who isn't Polish at all (comme vous) will find Polish to be odd. In reality it's no odder than most European languages and less odd than some.


Peasants dream of glory....