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Posts by mst_ski  

Joined: 27 Jul 2012 / Male ♂
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From: Denmark
Speaks Polish?: yes

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mst_ski   
27 Jul 2012
History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]

I can see a lot of 'Slavic thinking' with regard to hospitability in Sweden. I think it's because of the climate, as most Slavs live or lived in areas where distances were large and the weather harsh. Also there is very different mentality between Scandinavia and Germany. In Denmark they call it 'tribal society' because people are closely bound by being Danish and if you look different and were born here, you might still be treated with some kind of reserve, it's not offensive or anything, though, but you still are "not a real Dane". Even people from Southern Jutland are characterized as Germans sometimes, but I suppose the situation I know was just picking up on somebody from there. Also in Denmark it is important not to show you are better or think so, with regard to others, you need to be a bit humble to gain respect, and 'a bit' means a lot here. This is different than the UK for the most part or the US, but similar to Poland (my home country). And with regard to social thinking Scandinavia is somewhat similar to Russia (maybe not Russia recently, but in the old days most people lived there in small farming communities helping one another and doing social work).

On the other hand the difference is that in Scandinavia people care about making things in order and planned maybe more and that they are less warm to strangers (a 'hospitality' thought: they are not showing emotions to strangers but still 'inside' they are no different with emotions). And everything is more formal, including hospitability in sense of meeting arangements - you need to be on time, no be rude, say thanks - but that's nothing new, really. People also say that Scandinavians are not spontaneous and there is something in it, but it's more about that they need to plan everything and it takes time in my humble opinion.

In the end, I would like to say I have been living in the US, UK, Poland and Denmark and I see that Denmark-UK or Denmark-US in terms of 'mentality' differ like Poland and Denmark. Different Slavic nations have emerged as tribes in modern locations some 1500 years ago. This is when things separated between them. At least 4000 years ago or before Indo-Europeans have conquered Europe. Indo-Europeans means among others those who gave rise to Slavic and Germanic peoples' languages and culture. Indo-Europeans already had their own culture and religion, but because of this amount of time lapsed no-one asks about 'Indo-European mentality' and the question is similarly without and answer with regard to 'Pan-Slavic-mentality'. You can group South (Western and Eastern), Western and Eastern groups and then you are able to say something about the mentality of each group (maybe) and how it was shaped thanks to, among others, historic records, but not about Slavs as a whole. I believe the group is too diverse for it to be meaningful. And we have no data on early Slavs in an amount which would suggest their customs, religion and the point of view, like we have with e.g. Romans.

Although Sweden is a largely egalitarian and relaxed environment, hospitality and eating arrangements are often a formal affair.
mst_ski   
27 Jul 2012
Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]

Individualism and a lot of pride might be seen as trying to prove being better in an offensive way in Poland. But there is individualism there, of course. Again I would say that comparing to eg, Sweden, Poland is very individualistic. The point is that it is less so than, for example, the USA, but hey - very many other places in the World, and Western/Northern Europe, are.

Well, talking about the IQ and political knowledge then US and the most of Europe have almost the same IQ. Political knowledge in Poland is not widespread and many people vote only because the guy looks nice or promises a lot, but close to 0% actually read party programme for the future on their own. Europe is badly managed, much more so than the US, because the US is truly one country, whereas in Europe there is Brussels and local governments who have overlapping rights so for example making country to cuts its spending cannot be done from Brussels because people like their flags, languages, cultures and patriotism (sometimes ill-defined) more than the EU, whereas America is really united. Also in terms of politics, democracy as a whole is bad because of populism and lack of consecuences in the long term for bad decisions, but we do not know good alternatives.Instead of arguing about which one of you is the most stupid one could propose something maybe? Or help in a campaign to popularize social sciences?
mst_ski   
27 Jul 2012
Love / Polish wife is threatening me to pay child support 1000zl per month. [40]

Don't you see the first and foremost problem here, that the court told the guy to pay 1000zl when he earns 750zl on paper? Or did I misread something? If life in Poland for a person was good for 1000zl as it should be, there is no problem, the guy can have contact with the baby AFAIK. This guy works, he has taken a risk with marriage and a child and now he pays. Poland needs young people, and because of this kind of court decisions (among other things) only a few decide to have children in Poland (low salaries with regard to child support cost) and the country is aging and soon there will be cuts in pensions and public services. But yes, let's snap the guy, he should know each and every paragraph of the law, predict that he will split with his wife, realise that he can only get a half-legal job and and that Poland is a country where living for half of this salary is almost impossible. If the guy cares, the baby has a better future in the USA. They both made a mistake in marriage and both have rights to the child, but probably the court will favor the mother, just because she is the mother is an advantage for her, I think.