some Poles have embraced materialism too easily and have forgotten or abandoned tradition and nation.
So true. This was much more prevalent in post-communist Poland. There was of course materialism in communist Poland as wanting to have nice things, envying your neighbors new car, etc. is just human. The people were a bit more equal though than they are now so the materialism wasn't as prevalent. Ah I remember the trouble my dad would go through to get AC DC and Black Sabbath Records, VCRs, Levis Jeans, etc. He was a jeweler in communist Poland and my grandparents (his parents) ran a meat business which they still do. By communist standards they were pretty damn well off and had a lot of foreign currency, especially German, hidden away. I remember when I had my first Holy Communion they gave me $1,000 USD as a present. This was a lot of money at the time in the US let alone in Poland. People were shocked that a young kid could be given so much money as a gift.
The class distinction and inequality is crazy in Poland and I would argue that is just as bad, if not possibly worse than in the US. (Yes there is more extreme wealthy people in the US but at least the poor here have access to things like welfare, food stamps, CHIP, rent assistance, etc. In Poland, the welfare is tiny I believe its like 80 or 100 or 120 Eu a month or something like that. I remember reading an article about 'the only Brit' in Poland on welfare.)
Anyway, I'll use my family as a specific example from both mom and dad's side. They run the whole gambit of poor village dwellers to millionaires. Some are very well educated and others are simply extremely cunning and street smart.
Lower class - Agricultural family in a small village - My great aunt from my moms side lives on a farm outside of Walbrzych. She lives on a large pig farm. Although she does have electricity, she did not have indoor plumbing until the late 80s/early 90s. She is poor but since her and her husband run a farm and have a lot of land they are able to eat a lot of the food that they grow and the animals they raise. However, obtaining even a 10 year old car would unrealistic as would taking a vacation outside the country or being able to retire without working and continuing to run the farm. They own a Maluch which her husband actually won in some raffle or something. No formal education.
Middle class - family in a suburb/small town outside of Wroclaw - My cousins live on a farm in Prusice (outside of Wroclaw) and my uncle works for Dolpasz which I believe is a fertilizer company. They are I'd say middle to upper middle class. They have a large multigenerational home, a decent bit of land with a small amount of ducks, chickens, rabbits, goat, geese, etc. They have an older car and most of their belongings are rather old as well. However, they are a very happy family and they do not have to worry where their next meal will come from. They have enough to survive on but they are unable to afford say like a BMW 3-series or a new 60' Samsung. They are able to afford taking local vacations in Poland but a vacation to like Paris or London would be a bit of out their reach unless they saved for it for a long time. The parents are not educated but all the children have graduated college and are working in entry level post-college jobs.
Middle Class #2 - Major in the military - My uncle is a Major in the land forces. When I was a child he took me to his base and I got to ride in a BMP, shoot the ak-47s, sit in a MiG 29 (on the ground of course), etc. I have a ton of pictures from this and it was one of my best memories as a child. Anyway, he lives with his family in a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in the bloki. He is a very intelligent individual and invented a revolutionary kidney dialysis machine for which he was awarded quite a bit of money as many of the hospitals in Poland and around the world use it. However, after purchasing this condo in the bloki and supporting his childrens' education he has little left. He is of course happy though but his salary as a major does not allow him much luxuries in life. He has an 'average' car and a clean cozy condo but is by no means living in luxury or wealth. My uncle has a magister degree and his children have gone to colleges in Poland.
Rich Class #1 - My grandparents from my fathers side are very wealthy but they do not display their wealth at all. They began amassing wealth during communism as they ran a meat business and of course meat was rationed out. They were able to sell their meat for foreign currency or trade it for items that were rare at the time in Poland like Japanese stereo equipment, Levis jeans, records from the US, etc. They now own a deli/convenience store, metal fabrication shop, a stall in the bazaar (targ) where they sell meat, a hair salon, and several residential properties. Although they do not really display their wealth and live in a pretty average home in Oborniki Slaskie (outside of Wroclaw), they are able to afford quality foreign items that would be too expensive for an average Pole. For example, they are able to afford to travel to the US and Western Europe whereas most Poles will stick to trips to Ukraine and the Black sea, the Balkans, Egypt, Morocco, and other countries that aren't as expensive. They own a turbo diesel Honda CRV (which is a small suv), an older Mercedes 300TD station wagon and also a Mercedes Vito which is basically like a cross between a minivan and a cargo van. The Honda SUV would be considered a luxury item for most Poles. They would be able to afford a million plus dollar home and the newest Mercedes or Bmw but they like to keep a bit lower profile. My grandma still wears her clothes from the 70s and even pantyhose that has holes in it because quite frankly she doesn't care and is more focused on running the businesses. She is more the brains behind the operation. They do not have any formal education but are very very business savvy.
Rich Class #2 - My uncle owns a large hotel in Tychy called Hotel Piramida. It is I believe 9 stories and is shaped like a glass pyramid. This family is definitely in the 1% of Poland. They have a variety of foreign cars like a Land Rover Range Rover and a Porsche Carrerra as a summer car. The uncle was able to afford to send his children to London for a better education. They are able to afford just about anything whereas for an average Pole sending their kids to a private school in London would be a thought that doesn't even occur. My uncle is not educated but his children are.
So there's the whole gambit. I have more examples but you get the point. Like in every society, there is rich and poor. In Poland the inequality is very high when compared to the Nordic Countries or even some of the Baltic Countries. Poland is kind of that middle ground where the people tend to make lower income than say like in England, Germany, and Sweden but are more equal and make more of an average income than say those in Ukraine, Albania, or Russia. We are classified by the CIA as an 'upper middle' income country. Here is a small chart of average GDP per capita - I personally think this is rather high but then of course a person like my uncle who owns a hotel probably makes as much as like 100 people like my poor great aunt.
data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
dolnoslask what city are you from? I am from Wroclaw and have family in Oborniki Slaskie, Trzemnica, Prusice, and Walbrzych.
So true. This was much more prevalent in post-communist Poland. There was of course materialism in communist Poland as wanting to have nice things, envying your neighbors new car, etc. is just human. The people were a bit more equal though than they are now so the materialism wasn't as prevalent. Ah I remember the trouble my dad would go through to get AC DC and Black Sabbath Records, VCRs, Levis Jeans, etc. He was a jeweler in communist Poland and my grandparents (his parents) ran a meat business which they still do. By communist standards they were pretty damn well off and had a lot of foreign currency, especially German, hidden away. I remember when I had my first Holy Communion they gave me $1,000 USD as a present. This was a lot of money at the time in the US let alone in Poland. People were shocked that a young kid could be given so much money as a gift.
The class distinction and inequality is crazy in Poland and I would argue that is just as bad, if not possibly worse than in the US. (Yes there is more extreme wealthy people in the US but at least the poor here have access to things like welfare, food stamps, CHIP, rent assistance, etc. In Poland, the welfare is tiny I believe its like 80 or 100 or 120 Eu a month or something like that. I remember reading an article about 'the only Brit' in Poland on welfare.)
Anyway, I'll use my family as a specific example from both mom and dad's side. They run the whole gambit of poor village dwellers to millionaires. Some are very well educated and others are simply extremely cunning and street smart.
Lower class - Agricultural family in a small village - My great aunt from my moms side lives on a farm outside of Walbrzych. She lives on a large pig farm. Although she does have electricity, she did not have indoor plumbing until the late 80s/early 90s. She is poor but since her and her husband run a farm and have a lot of land they are able to eat a lot of the food that they grow and the animals they raise. However, obtaining even a 10 year old car would unrealistic as would taking a vacation outside the country or being able to retire without working and continuing to run the farm. They own a Maluch which her husband actually won in some raffle or something. No formal education.
Middle class - family in a suburb/small town outside of Wroclaw - My cousins live on a farm in Prusice (outside of Wroclaw) and my uncle works for Dolpasz which I believe is a fertilizer company. They are I'd say middle to upper middle class. They have a large multigenerational home, a decent bit of land with a small amount of ducks, chickens, rabbits, goat, geese, etc. They have an older car and most of their belongings are rather old as well. However, they are a very happy family and they do not have to worry where their next meal will come from. They have enough to survive on but they are unable to afford say like a BMW 3-series or a new 60' Samsung. They are able to afford taking local vacations in Poland but a vacation to like Paris or London would be a bit of out their reach unless they saved for it for a long time. The parents are not educated but all the children have graduated college and are working in entry level post-college jobs.
Middle Class #2 - Major in the military - My uncle is a Major in the land forces. When I was a child he took me to his base and I got to ride in a BMP, shoot the ak-47s, sit in a MiG 29 (on the ground of course), etc. I have a ton of pictures from this and it was one of my best memories as a child. Anyway, he lives with his family in a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in the bloki. He is a very intelligent individual and invented a revolutionary kidney dialysis machine for which he was awarded quite a bit of money as many of the hospitals in Poland and around the world use it. However, after purchasing this condo in the bloki and supporting his childrens' education he has little left. He is of course happy though but his salary as a major does not allow him much luxuries in life. He has an 'average' car and a clean cozy condo but is by no means living in luxury or wealth. My uncle has a magister degree and his children have gone to colleges in Poland.
Rich Class #1 - My grandparents from my fathers side are very wealthy but they do not display their wealth at all. They began amassing wealth during communism as they ran a meat business and of course meat was rationed out. They were able to sell their meat for foreign currency or trade it for items that were rare at the time in Poland like Japanese stereo equipment, Levis jeans, records from the US, etc. They now own a deli/convenience store, metal fabrication shop, a stall in the bazaar (targ) where they sell meat, a hair salon, and several residential properties. Although they do not really display their wealth and live in a pretty average home in Oborniki Slaskie (outside of Wroclaw), they are able to afford quality foreign items that would be too expensive for an average Pole. For example, they are able to afford to travel to the US and Western Europe whereas most Poles will stick to trips to Ukraine and the Black sea, the Balkans, Egypt, Morocco, and other countries that aren't as expensive. They own a turbo diesel Honda CRV (which is a small suv), an older Mercedes 300TD station wagon and also a Mercedes Vito which is basically like a cross between a minivan and a cargo van. The Honda SUV would be considered a luxury item for most Poles. They would be able to afford a million plus dollar home and the newest Mercedes or Bmw but they like to keep a bit lower profile. My grandma still wears her clothes from the 70s and even pantyhose that has holes in it because quite frankly she doesn't care and is more focused on running the businesses. She is more the brains behind the operation. They do not have any formal education but are very very business savvy.
Rich Class #2 - My uncle owns a large hotel in Tychy called Hotel Piramida. It is I believe 9 stories and is shaped like a glass pyramid. This family is definitely in the 1% of Poland. They have a variety of foreign cars like a Land Rover Range Rover and a Porsche Carrerra as a summer car. The uncle was able to afford to send his children to London for a better education. They are able to afford just about anything whereas for an average Pole sending their kids to a private school in London would be a thought that doesn't even occur. My uncle is not educated but his children are.
So there's the whole gambit. I have more examples but you get the point. Like in every society, there is rich and poor. In Poland the inequality is very high when compared to the Nordic Countries or even some of the Baltic Countries. Poland is kind of that middle ground where the people tend to make lower income than say like in England, Germany, and Sweden but are more equal and make more of an average income than say those in Ukraine, Albania, or Russia. We are classified by the CIA as an 'upper middle' income country. Here is a small chart of average GDP per capita - I personally think this is rather high but then of course a person like my uncle who owns a hotel probably makes as much as like 100 people like my poor great aunt.
data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
dolnoslask what city are you from? I am from Wroclaw and have family in Oborniki Slaskie, Trzemnica, Prusice, and Walbrzych.