Poland - Third World Country??

Oh no, how awful!

One of the few joys for me in Poland, is to be able to watch the UEFA cup and Champions League matches. Last night I watched a thrilling game, between Getafe and Bayern Munich. At full time, the result stood at 1-1 so it was necessary to play a further 30 minutes of extra time. This was also played at a fast and furious pace with both sides scoring a further 2 goals each. At the end of extra time, both teams had to take part in a penalty shoot out to decide who progressed to the next round. This was when those P***ks at "N Channel" decided to cease transmission. On calling their helpline, I was informed that it was nothing to do with them and that I should contact "their" supplier?....Now this is an example of a third world country with a third world attitude to customers. As far as I am concerned, "N channel" is in "breech" of their contract with me and can whistle for their subscription.

Avalon, you clearly lost your mind!
offending Poles and some Polish TV, while you don't know the rules of the UEFA Cup :)
THERE WAS NO PENALTY SHOOT OUT!
first leg result 1-1 (in Munich)
second leg 1-1 (in Getafe), hence the extra time, which ended with 3-3, and Bayern advances to the next stage thanks to away goals (they scored 3 in Spain, while Getafe only 1 in Germany)

Stunning post, well at least you yourself have just proven that immunity to the football mania is not the surest path to wisdom!!! ;)

Krzysztof...I must apologise. You are correct. I was so tired last night that at the end of the match, I left the room for a few seconds and came back to a blank screen. I thought N Channel had cut the game as they did previously a few weeks ago when they never showed the extra time. I have no wish to offend Polish people but the TV service provided here is not very good. N Channel sold me an extra 3 film channels on the basis that I could change the language used from Polish to English. I now have 3 film channels that I can listen to in Polish and Czech? I speak neither language.

it's more than a third world believe me i lived enough and i was just studing the culture in poland is like you are in the 1800 century, so if you missed living in 1800 century there is a place too see that it's poland. very very starnge country and people mentality...look at this

thenews.pl/national/artykul110790_one_in_four_masters_thesis_plagiaris ed.html
(audio option) you judge and let me know

1800 century? Like in the year 180000??? I don't think we're that advanced, but thank
you for the compliment :-)

Unless you meant the 18th century, then I guess you're right too - the number of master's
and doctoral theses, that are being plagiarised, is exactly as high as in the 18th century.

LOL

Sometimes in a nice way. The C18 wasn't so bad...

Here in the third world, I only have a 120mb fiber connection to my house. I long for the days when I can move west and take part in the broadband revolution that completely bypassed Poland.

Lol..... you poor underprivileged thing;)

As an aside is there a second world?

A fair few Poles contributed to the idea that Poland is a poor country which negatively engendered a mindset amongst the masses but to call them a third world country is just a misnomer. Poland's GDP shot up as a result of substantial inward investment and would fare well on most performance indicators (PIs). 3rd world countries are often characterised by high unemployment. The FDR was an exception (1st world but high unemployment) but the social unrest lay mainly in the former East Germany (good old commies, LOL) Poland's is currently at 11.4% I think. GUS puts it right around there.

If we are to use the following as a yardstick then we can actually disprove the allegation that Poland is backward:

nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world.htm

1) Political rights and civil liberties - Well, Kaczyński has certainly over-exercised his right of free speech to hack at gays ;) Personally, I feel at liberty to do many things and living here isn't overly impositional. Polish EU lawyers will not have too many problems incorporating EU Human Rights Law into the corpus here (Constitution etc)

2) GNI as a benchmark. Hmm, Poland's GDP saw a rapid increase and was relatively unscathed by the crisis when seen as a whole. The situation just gets rosier.

3) Human Development. Although many lust after money, others stay true to themselves and further the scientific and IT sectors here. They have the great minds of tomorrow budding now and, with the help of EU programs, will come to fruition. The ones that work in science often get paid peanuts, the same as in the UK generally, but do it for the love of the discipline. Poles tend to rest on their laurels less than British people and are generally less complacent. Limited stunted development here.

4) Poverty? Short comment. Most countries have pockets of poverty. Scotland certainly has its fair share of poorer areas which are on the breadline. It's not really too much on show in Poland. I dare say if I ventured out into the desolate countryside, then yes, I'd see it. That's one noticeable difference. Scottish farmers tend to be much richer than their Polish counterparts. However, the Poles are well beyond primogeniture and subsistence farming as practised in Africa. The Poles have ways and means to mask poverty ;) ;)

5) Press Freedom? OK, look at Russia. It's not a 3rd world country but Putin really clamped down on freedom of press as we know it. Kasparov maintains that he operates a police state there with only himself and his closest advisors controlling the content of the media. Poland has no such issues. The press are governed by codes and conventions, generally pertaining to ethical concerns. I don't see Poland lagging behind here at all.

I think we can safely say that Poland is far from a 3rd world country. I wonder if Johnnie Cochrane or Barry Scheck could present a cogent case to the contrary, probably not.

I believe the second world used to be the Communist block. So it looks like the Third World has moved to the second position now, unless you take into consideration Cuba and North Korea.

No, it is fourth world!

That's just a dig, nothing more. Chess is one sign of human development and Russia has always been at the top of the pile with Ukraine just behind. Poland usually hovers around 14th spot.

Yes its called "developing countries" however developing countries is a wide term that can mean poor dwindling economies like Ukraine or Belarus or buzzing ones only a decade behind the West, like Poland.

And no Poland is not third world, its on the highest step of the "developing country" ladder, not yet a first world country but not that far away, the civilisational level is the same, the freedoms and liberties are the same but the standard of living is somewhat lower.

And Sean Russia definitely is a third world country.

1. Lack of liberties and severely limited free speech (you're allowed to excersize it only on personal level and even then not always, going official or public see's you canned).

2. Severely underdeveloped economy and infrastructure, barring pockets of relative wealth that are a few larger cities Russia is a desert, the countryside lacks even paved roads, rail network is severely underdeveloped and the economy growth itself is basing purely on fossiles export.

Russia has virtually no private sector to speak of and parts of the economy remain centrally planned.

3. Complete disregard to human rights, assasinations of opposition, abuse by Police and corruption to match Africas are a civilisational standard widely accepted and practised.

So yes Sean Russia is third world, its an extremely poor backwards country with pockets of wealth (though not civilisation) i dont know where do you come from with your arguments, probably from the same basket that made you call Putin, a murderer and a tyrant - a decent man.

Well, I wasn't on Uranus ;) ;) I figured that 16,000+ posts was way too much so I have to throttle back and be more selective when I post.

As for the thread, well, I've commented above. Third world is ludicrous and is designed just to stir the hornets' nest.

I was merely stating that Russia is not 4th world, if such a thing exists.

nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world_countries.htm

Russia is lumped in with Poland as a 2nd world country but don't worry Sok, very wealthy Saudi Arabia is classed as a 3rd world country so don't get your frillies in a twist. I know you love economic indicators.

I'm not worried i know what a wide term that is, Russia is comparable to Turkey, a huge country in which there are regions that can be called 2nd world (like Moscow) but everywhere else its povertyland.

First thing you notice when you're in Russia is the lower standard of pretty much everything and a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge difference between major cities and the rest of the country, in Poland not so much.

Besides countries are classed not only by their economies.

at least Poland doesn't look like a 3rd world country. :)

in my country you feel like you're in Africa. :(

DIRTY MONEY.


POLAND HAS GOT HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT.


SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT..... TAX EVASION.... SMUGGLING ETC.


NOT THAT FAR.... " I THINK ".

That's a serious overstatement.

Poland is a third world country because we sell keyboards with a broken caps lock :))))

Dirty money? What, from legit foreign firms with valid business concerns? Ever heard of the CIA setting up money laundering accounts in NYC? Now that's dirty business. You could say the same about many countries, adopting your logic.

High unemployment, oh really? 11.4% is really not that high when layoffs are commonplace.

And the Brits never escape to France to evade tax payments? Tax evasion is rife in Poland? Prove it! Smuggling? Prove it!

For the reasons I outlined above, Poland is securely above the line of 2nd/3rd world.

EXPLAIN THEN, HOW PEOPLE ON SO SAY LOW INCOMES, LIVE THE HIGH LIFE.
AND STILL HAVE THE NERVE TO WHINGE HOW HARD DONE THEY ARE.

WEED OUT THE CORRUPTION, IT STILL EXISTS BUT IS WELL MASKED.

I'll let the resident Poles answer that one. There is an element of black magic in that one for me too, I'll be honest. Hard done by is more for the Polish psyche thread ;) ;)

Please explain to me how Saudi Arabia is a 3rd world country while being considerably richer than Poland. See above for the answer.

And while we are on the subject, don,t tell me people do not pay back-handers for planning permission, electric connection, etc, etc, etc.


For your pleasure, if you prefer lower case....... comedian.

Most Poles would openly admit and realise that. However, paying for priveleges is not an exclusively Polish phenomenon.

in today's paper: "In Poland differences in salary levels between executives and workers are similiar to what they are in Romania, Ukraine, Turkey, India, Egypt, and Panama. In the EU only Romania has worse disparity in income levels and salary, etc. according to latest Hay Group report..."

Not the point. By openly admitting this fact, shows how open to corruption the Poles are.

Sometimes they do sometimes they dont, corruption is a problem but its not a reality collapsing issue.

this doesn't mean we are a third world country and definitely does not reply to the question if you were to compare PL and Ethiopia, would you find it similar. If you would, than I reckon that this is because you've never been to a 3rd world country.