Which modern developments harm Poland?

You should translate those lyrics for all the people who don't understand, but it won't change my opinion. Polish people are exactly the same as people elsewhere. (Generally speaking of course.) For those who still have a lot of growing up to do: Everything's been done before, so whatever you want to call modern isn't as modern as you think.

:)

Old news, really.

Eternal truths, really.

Very difficult to translate. His texts are full of references to literature, philosophy, history, politics. Then there is also play on words, vague suggestions, but here you find it all about modern Poland and not only Poland.

Just a minor technicality.

;)

Perhaps, but chatting ovder the back-garden fence did not cause brain damage the way cellphones do....
There were people in Poland (and not only) vaunting eternit (an asbetos-based building material) as cheap, effective and readily available, and it still covers houses, sheds and outbuildingns across Poland.

Anyone who opposed it at the time would have been called outdated, backward and unprogressive and evoked snippy remarks by the gung-ho modernists such as : 'He wants to take us back to thet thatched-roof era!'

Some of today's social and technical innovations will invariably be seen for what they are only after it is too late.
Before plunging headlong into whatever is cutting edge and trendy, najpierw pomyśl -- to nic nie kosztuje!

Which we don't know.


Some of tomorrow's too. And frankly most of yesterday's. But is that a reason for spitting feathers whenever a new development comes along? One can't make an omlette without breaking eggs - perhaps you think we should have turned our backs on the industrial revolution because of the unprecedented health risks of factory work?

Are you a big eternit fan? Do you oppose thorough checking of products and practices before they are foisted on the unsuspecting public?
One can always hide one's head in the sand and pretend 'It doesn't concern me'. But, unless you live on a desert island, the way people behave influences all of society. Self-inflicted medical problems and premature deaths due to fast-food obesity, physical inactivity, substance abuse, drink-driving and other questionable practices and risky lifestyles are things every taxpayer has to pick up the bill for. The same goes for vandalism, crime, environmental deterioration, unscrupulous business practices and many other developments occurring somewhere way out there beyond one's immediate range of scrutiny.

But it would suprise no-one if Jonni again comes with some clever repartee which he obviously prefers to substrantive discourse.

Foisted by whom?


Life expectancy is steadily rising and has never been higher, which suggests you're talking rubbish as usual. I also remember you ranting on against healthy-eating not long ago.


What's new about that?


Beyond whose scrutiny?


It seems clear you prefer hysterical, reactionary and largely meaningless tabloid-style rants to plain common sense. Nothing new to us here. Stick to posting links to coprophilia sites. How any of the 'developments' you mention "harm modern Poland" is anyone's guess - and you are guessing, since you have never been there.

Change happens, it always has and always will - you can't stop it, and nobody wants to. There's always the option of moving to a desert island and ignoring the outside world.

Everything is foisted upon us by the commercialist megaforces that be -- from their corproate boardrooms, design studios, marketing departments and collaborating units come the fashions, hit songs, cleberity PR, fads, crazes, innovations and suchlike, designed primarily to extract as much moeny as possible from the pockets (and credit cards) of the public.

Gullible youth, much more likely to uncirtically accept things if cleverly packaged and touted as trendy and cutting edge, are obviously the most targetted.

Another sophomore lament for an imagined past. Where and when was it otherwise?

You mean companies?


Ah, you mean trade. Which has been around for thousands of years - in what way is that a "modern development" which "harms Poland"?


And again, why do you think that's a "modern development which harms Poland"?

It seems you are just tired of life.

No, I'm tired of scams, ploys, sucker traps, false advertising claims, celebrity claptrap, commercialist popculture and, above all, of those who divide the world into 'us, the movers and shakers' and all the rest just ripe to fleece.

Personally I just let all that pass me by. No TV, no tabloids, ignoring adverts.
So what do you like, what makes you happy to be alive?

posting on PF;)

This is not about you or me or the next guy letting these things pass or pretending not to see society's ills. I really don't recall whetehr it was Aristotle or Churchill (strange bedfellows, eh?) or Adam Smith who said evil takes over when decent men remain silent (paraphrased from memory).

Personal likes and dislikes are wholly irrelevant to our discussion. Trying to reduce things to 'but I like, fast food, punch-ups at rock cocnerts, smoking pot, football or drinking Miller Lite...' fails to address any problems. We all see what the world aorund us is like, so what can we do to make it a little bit better, gentler, kinder, more humane?

I once heard this from a Pol-Am professor who said: Little people talk about people, medium-sized people talk about things and big people talk about ideas.

And you have every right to feel tired but this things are nothing new.Just look how religions are used and were used forever.Or how kings ruled their countries.They thought that they know better and even forced ppl to do as they wanted them to live.Commercials and pop stars were always present only in different proportion.Even monkeys are vulnerable to fashion.

Of those, it seems we only have the pot in common, and even then I only use it sparingly, but what in life actually makes you happy? You frequently post lists of things you hate, but what fills your heart with joy?

Can I answer?

What made me very happy today was going to have a discussion with a school director (wasn't an interview, just a chat) and ending up spending nearly 2 and a half hours talking to them about all sorts of interesting things, as well as getting my ridiculously high demands accepted on the spot.

It's a mystery to me, but a very pleasant one.

It is immaterial and irrelevant on a disucssion forum what makes me or you or some Paddy O'Hara or Jacek Kuźmicki happy...
But since you're constantly harping, OK -- the sight not only of a three-generation family at a picnic, happily spending time together but also a teenage girl lovingly taking her old and frail gran for a stroll through the park.... the beatification of JPII... winter in the Tatra mountains... an autumn colour drive through the Michigan countryside on a sunny Indian summer day.... Wigilia and Pasterka....Learning that Poland has made some signifciant contribution to culture, science or other field.... Seeing how Poles react spontaneuosly to TV appeals for sick or handicapped children requiring costly medication or treatment abroad... Catching a keeper (fish), cleaning it at lakeside and cooking it over a campfire... Jan Pośpieszalski TV talk show... Learning that an historic old building will not be torn down to make way for some tacky discount store or shopping centre... Hearing that a major Polonian cultural project, an elegant Polish-American restaurant or other image-improving project is succeeding or that some Pol-Am has 'made it' nationally or internationally.... A win by the Tigers or Red Wings for the sake of local patriotism... A double espresso and plumcake or papal creamcake at Blikle's near the Primate's Palace in Miodowa.... Taking an out-of-state or out-of-country visitor to see Greenfield Village in Dearborn and also showing him/her the world's biggest mosque outside the Middle East...Seeing that the ex-commie SLD's ratings are not growing....

So what does it all prove? Say you prefer pączki and lemon tea, Manchester Untied and Ibiza, donating to Owsiak and going to Lutheran churches.... So what, big deal, who cares! Everybody has their set of likes and dislikes but what does that have to do with anything? See my point? Or do you still not get it?

Wow, you like something - good that you've come up with that, even though there are a few negative things in there. Probably the nicest post of yours that I've seen here, and some lovely imagery.

The next stage is to try to like some of the things which seem to send you into apoplexy, for example modern technology, cosmopolitan lifestyles and the commercial world. How do you think you could do that?

It proves me somewhat wrong. P3, when you write of yourself and in your own voice, you come alive.

Thank you for sharing.

I reckon some of you (I'm sure not all) prefer idle gossip and sundry chit-chat to any meaty, honest-to-goodness discussion of any problem. Skim the surface and go on to the next thing... everything nice, shallow and superficial like the whole popculture 'religion' many are swallowing hook, line and sinker...

I take it back.

The way you pose your questions has nothing in common with discussion. And if we or many of us are indeed beneath the lofty standards you claim to set, why post these sermons in the first place?

You will change nothing by them.

And you can learn what type of person your interlocutore is.For example:


That suggests that you prefer right wing ergo you're probably a conservative type ergo you're not really in new ideas,new style of life.