The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by Barney  

Joined: 26 May 2008 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - O		 Last Post: 2 days ago
Threads: Total: 17 / Live: 4 / Archived: 13
Posts: Total: 1672 / Live: 487 / Archived: 1185

Displayed posts: 491 / page 16 of 17
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Barney   
31 Oct 2010
USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]

How do you know they were actually Polish?

Because they said they were Polish and told their families that they were Polish.

the Lithuanian elite spoke Polish.

So you see how an absolutist view of history obscures things.
Barney   
31 Oct 2010
USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]

Actually, what annoys me most is the way that they have such a poor grasp of history - they seem to believe that Poland always existed and that there's no way that Busha and Jaja could be from Russia - even when they were born in Russia.

Its simple Poland was a multi ethnic place. Being occupied didnt make them less Polish. Perhaps they haven't taken an absolutist view of history.

Actually, one thing that they often do (from what I can see) is ignore the bits of history that doesn't agree with what they want to hear.

Everyone does that as illustrated by your factually incorrect example.

Of course, but in their case, they have no real reason to.

Everyone creates a national narrative.
Barney   
31 Oct 2010
Life / The Polish Dream - move out from Poland as fast as possible [73]

What good does it do to have half a million psychologists graduating every year?

You can’t let the market dictate otherwise we would have three million business graduates.

subsidize for top 1 or 2% academically top students

That happens in the west; post graduate students (the top students) get grants or are sponsored by business. Is there not something similar in Poland?

Education is not the same as TV where the more you pay the more you get. Sure there is the basic package but we all want more:)
Barney   
30 Oct 2010
Life / The Polish Dream - move out from Poland as fast as possible [73]

Free movement of people is an important tenet of democracy. As Wroclaw said you would have to make them pay first; an exit tax wont work, is immoral and I suspect illegal.

Edit

They do it to Doctors in PL, they have to work x amount of hours at state hospitals.

I think something similar happens in Britain (Its free on the job training for the private sector). Doctors can also work in private practice throughout their careers, a kind of double jobbing forbidden to other occupations.
Barney   
28 Oct 2010
Life / The Polish Dream - move out from Poland as fast as possible [73]

Yes and this has in it's wierd way encouraged other young poles to move abroad after seeing their friends return with plenty of money.

They go make money then return. What should they do, be a lost generation at home?
They had the guts to make a few bob in a strange land. I would look for something else to blame rather than them.

Polish Dream ....you cant eat a dream.
Barney   
28 Oct 2010
Life / The Polish Dream - move out from Poland as fast as possible [73]

I think most who went abroad plan to return. The Polish people who I know have now bought their own homes (in Poland) after a number of years of saving, they are staying for a while longer to pay for the refurbishment.

What has happened is that they are used to good wages now and are worried that their standard of living will drop when they go home. Ireland has given them money and work experience so perhaps they will be better placed to find reasonable work.
Barney   
24 Oct 2010
News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]

So today's Lithuania is a peasant's republic, full of resentful peasants that need to be cut down a peg.

No, Lithuania is enthralled by a bunch of classic traditionalists who have managed to win the race to the gutter.
There are some enlightened Lithuanian politicians Leonidas Donskis for example who coined the term stratocide.
Here is one quote

Disrespect for concepts and language only temporarily masks disrespect for others; and this disrespect eventually bubbles to the surface.

I dont think he needs taken down a peg.

europeanvoice.com/article/2009/07/the-inflation-of-genocide/65613.aspx

I dont think Lithuania is a Peasants republic Its a poor place with an idealistic government striving for a Lithuania that never existed, a rosy place, people lap that up time and time again.

Edit

And what's wrong with that... ?

I dont want to get into that here but rest assured it has everything to do with denying the past. Why are they discriminating against their own citizens if they are not denying the past.
Barney   
24 Oct 2010
News / Polish Lithuanian Diplomatic War? At last. [533]

And to summon it all up i guess its all about Lithuania trying to tell Poland we are not your underdog anymore and we do as we want.

Its more to do with the mad government they have, a government that has outlawed the questioning of the official view of history. They along with Hungary have enacted laws that try to draw equivalence between the Nazis and Soviets in terms of genocide. The Prague declaration is attempting to impose the same crazy ideas on the rest of the EU.

Narrow minded nationalism always claims that it wants to remove strata from society however in this case the blatant discrimination against ethnic Polish people can be seen for what it is simply an attempt to remove their identity.
Barney   
22 Oct 2010
History / Poles in the Crusades to the Holy Land [75]

For the western knights the major motivation to participate was to gain favor with his senior Lord and perhaps even bring back enough treasure to get an estate of his own or one would be given to him by his Lord for his bravery.

I was looking at this stuff the other night and came across a passage that in essence said Spiritual works can be seen as equivalent to modern day health insurance given the lack of effective care at the time.

But your summary seems sound.
Barney   
20 Oct 2010
History / Poles in the Crusades to the Holy Land [75]

This topic just gets more interesting.

Yeah I had found a link to a review of The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom which looks like a good read some day....

I found a link to Leszek the White and his beer thing but Trev had posted
Barney   
20 Oct 2010
History / Poles in the Crusades to the Holy Land [75]

William Joyce (goldsmith and supposed founder of claddagh ring) who was captured by pirates and sold to Turkish

I had never heard that but its a good story.
Barney   
20 Oct 2010
History / Poles in the Crusades to the Holy Land [75]

I have never in all my years heard of anything like that... Are you sure?

They never captured any towns but kidnapped lots of people......the white slave trade.....
By turks I think he means Ottomans. It was Algerians who kidnapped an entire Irish village.

Barbary pirates in Ireland: The Sack of Baltimore, Co. Cork
Barney   
11 Oct 2010
History / How Poland views Europe [44]

In all such maps Ireland is either Pub, Drunks, Potatoes etc,
Druid is slightly more creative.

It could be worse the map could say Green, leprechaun, buckle shoes etc:)
Barney   
2 Oct 2010
History / Prophesy - Poland from sea to sea. [57]

hidding behaind satire

By its very nature you cant hide behind satire (broken people cant do satire).

I am a Gemini

You always make me smile.
Barney   
21 Jul 2010
Life / Do you collect mushrooms in your country? Poles in Poland do. [79]

I enjoyed picking pure, organic blueberries in the forest!

That is a lovely pastime, I often take my Girls Blackberry picking then they bake Muffins. Mushroom picking is not something people tend to do here and I think that there are only a few deadly poisonous varieties.
Barney   
21 Feb 2010
History / Yalta Conference and Poland [78]

the Red Army was exhausted and was there for the taking

Operation Unthinkablee
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unthinkable
Barney   
21 Jan 2010
History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]

What for?

They reinforce identity

Do you think most Americans know the Thanksgiving story is a bad joke? If so, why do they celebrate it?

I guess a lot of Americans do know and this is the point, they celebrate it as a national festival with collective amnesia.

I can criticize my wife, but I will get very upset if you do.

Exactly.
Barney   
21 Jan 2010
History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]

That has nothing to do with smartness but everything with knowledge!

Do you think most people are brainwashed?
National myths are important its how one approaches/defends them that may cause offence.
Barney   
21 Jan 2010
History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]

only the satinized, rosy variant

People who are easily imprinted like baby ducks dont make good discussion partners. I dont know anyone who always believes the first thing they are told.

Indoctrination rarely occurs, religion is a good example of failed indoctrination, most people who say they are Catholic dont take communion on a daily basis when they could, in effect, rejecting Christ.

People are smart.
Barney   
21 Jan 2010
History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]

Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them?
Myths help define a nation painting it in a good light, today it's called spin. It’s not the fact that the truth is widely known but how the majority of the people feel about a story. The Hati myths though not widely known are a fine example, what is good about them is the sympathetic light shone upon the Polish legions (refracted by known Polish history).

I would say leave the myths alone.