USA, Canada /
Polish-Americans as seen in the false mirror. Type A and Type B. [141]
I can see the existence of the two groups, A and B, but there is also as touched on in a previous post, the problem of defining who is in these two groups. To me, Antek is describing 1st generation PolAm who fall into A and B. And his designation would be correct about someone who came here from Poland, and then became a citizen of the USA. He/she is a PolAm.
However, there is that larger group of people who were not born here, that are second and third and many more generations. Those are the ones that I personally think of as PolAm, even though I know it includes the ones who were born in Poland, but became citizens.
I tend to think of those from Poland (both with green cards and those who are now a citizen of the USA as Polonia. Kind of like a country within a country. Of course, some who emigrate from Poland have not ever lived in the "little Polands" all across America and Canada, but moved instead to other communities.
Since I live far from any concentrated Polish communities, it is hard for me to see if they fall into A or B. There are a few born in Poland people that live near me and they seem to be in the A category. I have never really met a B kind in my whole life. Except on this forum.
We can see the same thing in regards to a business. The complainers are always louder than the satisfied people. This could be one explanation why B seems like a larger group on these forums. And, why I am very vocal third generation PolAm-GerAm who often defends Poland of today. I really have no business to do so. I have only visited Poland three times, and am far from an expert. But, I am absolutely shocked at how some of Poland's former residents speak about Poland. It defies what I see with my own eyes in Poland. So, I have to speak up.
Anyway, an example of my point. If someone stays at my hotel and is happy with their stay, it is the rare person who goes to the trouble to write online about what a great hotel we have. But the ones who were not happy, will take the time to write about their negative experiences.
So, I am guessing that the seemingly larger group of B people from Poland are just a lot more vocal and appear more numerous on this forum.
Another factor that comes into play is a psychological factor. It is known in psychology that even if a decision is a bad one, (i.e. you join a religion that thinks the end of the world is tomorrow and then the prophecy turns out to be false, you tend to defend that choice very rigorously). No one wants to say, "Yes, it was a terrible mistake, I was an idiot to do this."
Therefore, I guess some who are B might feel badly leaving their country deep down, and might not be that happy here. But, to save face, they will talk up the new country and put down the old country.
As for the vote....that appears to me to be a complication of the Polish rules that ignore citizenship of another country. Neither the USA or Poland acknowledges when someone is a citizen of another land. It is more or less not really allowed, but not bothered about.
I could see those people who were born in Poland as adults, being able to vote in Poland. People who live abroad in other countries for years, can cast their ballots in American elections, too. One would hope they stay abreast of all what is going on in their native lands, but it can be frustrating to those in a country living with the day to day realities.
Again, it is the law in Poland that brings in my opinion the trouble with PolAm from second or more generations who could vote because even not being born in Poland, they are citizens if they file for it and have the right to vote.
I actually think that if I made a case for it, I could obtain Polish citizenship. And heck, I would NEVER vote in a Polish election, but I can tell you I would not have voted for Kaczyński. My choice would have been Komorowski. I happened to be there during the elections. :-)
We who are still very proud of our ethnic connection to Poland (our genetic material does not change despite country of citizenship), should not vote. Many of us see Poland from the eyes of what our grand parents told us about Poland, and that is totally not relevant to Poland today. Most of us have not gone to Poland to visit. Yet, it makes me sad for us to be put down.
So, I dislike Delphie and Harry putting us down. Most of us are A people at heart. They have often made me very angry at their treatment of some on this forum. With some time though, I came to see why they do it. There are those in the group of new residents of this country and those who are second or third generation who are B like in their attitude, and it is their way of showing them how B they are.
I used to think Delph hated all Poles, even those in Poland. I have come to see that especially Delphie calls it like he sees it about B like people in Poland and abroad. And I think he likes to show that if he hated Poland, he would not be there working to make it better. So, I have come to moderate how I feel about them. At times, I do believe they go way too far.
Therefore, with this long post, I believe most PolAm are A. not B. Polish Forums is not a real slice of life of Poland, nor of Polish Americans. But, it's all we have. And I am always happy to see more natives of Poland take an interest in this forum to gain some balance. I'd like to see people who come here to learn about Poland, actually learn about Poland!
