News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [493]

@jon357
You do realize it is getting easier to get weapons in Poland, don't you? I go to the range regularly and more and more people are bringing their own weapons. Some days there are wait times. If you think civilians should not be trained how to use weapons, then you will likely be one of the first dead if something happens. Don't want to protect yourself or your family that's on you, but you shouldn't try to limit anyone else protecting themselves or their family if the Orcs come to Poland. If you don't believe that is a real possibility, then you are not very intelligent.

Oh and just for arguments sake, two shootings in Krakow just last week. One road rage incident, one in a pub less than three blocks from the police station on rynek. Both instances were Poles.

News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [493]

@johnny reb
I don't see food shortages happening here. Too much agriculture here, and a lot of history in keeping products as local as possible. If Poland develops a serious handgun or rifle, people will buy that first. Lots of pride in everything they do here.

But if it is his forum it explains some things, and the woke agenda is like a bad lingering fart in Poland. It isn't staying or making a real impact. Thankfully.

News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [493]

@pawian
Funny, I don't remember mentioning you. Interesting though how you think you needed to respond.

News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [493]

I find it very interesting that some people posting here celebrating the Polish purchase and manufacturing of arms and ammunition are the same people preaching about gun control in other instances. A bit hypocritical IMO. While I also am very pleased about the Polish commitment to defense, I think every Pole should embrace at least basic training with firearms in todays world. Not a comment about hunting or anything other than Poles being able to defend themselves. Those who think the risk is minimal or not real need to wake up.

Life / What are utility costs for a small business [11]

@Lulzkiller
In Krakow location is the key. High traffic and full-time residents are critical. If you do not speak Polish you need to get someone who does. While nearly everyone speaks some English, many are not confident with using it, and some will refuse, not out of rudeness, but simply out of lack of confidence. Areas outside of Rynek each have their own feel, and some are loaded with expats that would help, but some are all students or short term rentals and that can be very hard.

Life / What are utility costs for a small business [11]

@Lulzkiller
There is a middle eastern market in Hala Targowa that is doing alright so far. I know there is an Asian store in Kazimierz and a Korean store just outside of Rynek. Both are doing fairly well when I have gone by them.

Life / What are utility costs for a small business [11]

@Lulzkiller
Tourists are not generally grocery shopping, they are dining out. Your rent is cheap enough though, so depending on location you might do alright. A lot will depend on the street you are on, the foot traffic, and if there are full time residents that can shop with you in the area. If you rely on tourists for a majority of business you will be very disappointed. Tourism in Krakow is down 75% since pre pandemic numbers.

Life / What are utility costs for a small business [11]

@Cargo pants
Utilities should be around 1500 to 2000 a month including everything. Thats winter cost with heat. In summer should be lower unless using air-conditioning. I have 150 sq meter restaurant in Krakow, most expensive month including trash removal was about 7000 this year.

News / Mr President Joe Biden comes to Poland again [177]

@Joker
Lets be honest here and not try to color facts because we do not like one side or the other.

Afghanistan - Trump planned the exit, and Biden extended the time or it would have been even worse
Open Borders - Goes back fifty years with immigration problems
Fentanyl - Problem started under Bush
Child indoctrination - A real American problem started under Obama nd has been extremely accelerated under Biden. Bad for America and bad for the world.

Wokeism - See above
Bipartisan Baloney - See Clinton impeachment and special counsel
Kowtowing to China - See the last ten presidents
Giving in to Iran - no such thing
Destroying Our Energy Independence - myth
10% for the big guy.- Tmakes no sense
Most Non transparent admin - Nixon

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Paulina
Left wing has nothing to do with anti-cleric agenda and everything to do with the woke agenda. Congratulations to them and their one child, perhaps two more will make an impact? Romantic? Any couple not talking about having children and the conditions of which they want in a relationship to facilitate that are going to have a disastrous relationship. Its called having real conversations at a mature level. People with left wing view in Poland are growing and that is directly in proportion with population decline. Spend any time in any big city in Poland and you will see thousands of childless women past childbearing age who are successful in their careers, going out with the girls on Saturday night. Congratulations on their unfulfilled and empty homes, they sure can go shopping for all those designer clothes that will keep them company at night. They dont need a man. Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Lenka
My wife specifically said, when dating and as a condition of marriage that I had to allow her to stay home and raise the kids as long as she wanted and at least until they were all in preschool. If I could not afford, or was not willing to do this, she would not have married me. Many women say these things, only the woke people want to ignore the growing number of women saying exactly these things.

Dismissive attitude? Maybe, but I am not concerned with anyone else's perception of my attitude. Your assumption about women in relationships is completely not in line with the facts. Women within the far left are not in marriages or relationships that could result in children. They are alone because they make that choice. They don't need a man to make them happy. And they replace the man with a vibrator, not in addition to.

I see you though. You are on the fence on these issues. You want to think the best of the woke society, but you know everything they are doing is not right. I tried to accept them with their fvcked up views too, but they have gone too far. The left and the far left point of view is directly impacting population decline, and the longer it goes on the worse it will become.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Lenka
Well then you never met my wife or any of her friends who were adamant about staying home until the children were in pre-school if not longer. There is a growing group of people that fit this demographic. I never said it was the majority group, only that it is a growing group that realize societal values are going into the toilet.

The birth rates are directly impacted by leftists raising the few children they do have. They are brought up with different values and many continue on not only as leftist but become extremists. Women, as feminists are less attractive to strong men. This is just a fact. Our attitude is simply that if you want to do it all on your own and think you can, then go right ahead and do it, but do it alone. And you see more and more of these women single, childless, and over 40 now wishing they may have done things differently.

No kids, and no husband, but hey how is that career and vibrator at night treating you? You can always become a lesbian though and celebrate your freedom to be one. Or maybe you prefer to chop off your breasts and try being a man? Maybe identifying as a giraffe is more your style? Or perhaps you are unsure if you are a gay lion or a heterosexual piranha? The leftist position is not only contributing to birthrate decline it is embarrassing to the human race. Granted it is not all about Poland, but every day the influence of the US grows in Poland, and nearly every problem Poland has now socially has come from the US. The only difference is that the US has no population decline because of immigration, Poland does not.

These are real demographics. People don't want to talk about these things because they are uncomfortable, and challenge the political narrative being brought by special interest groups and extremists. The political narrative and policies of the extreme left are fvcking insane to any rational thinking human being.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Lenka
If you think those opinions are not imported from the US then it is not acknowledging the obvious.

It all has to do with the same leftist woke movement. They are all connected. If you want equal rights for women, how can you ignore the other people? Leftist ideology is all tied together. Why do you think men skew more to the right? It's not because any man gaf about what gays do in the privacy of their own home, or that women have the right to vote or that other basic truths in life just exist. It is because what the left asks most people to do defies the natural order of things. So what do you think would happen if men suddenly said to women, "you're right, we are going to make the following changes.....But you have to give up all the other un-natural arguments and discussion points trans, lgbtq and other items that offend the right." How many women or leftists will go for that? My guess is close to zero because they all have tied themselves together with all the un-natural causes.

These are just my opinions and observations, and I could be wrong. Then again, there are a lot more people that think this way and that makes the left uncomfortable. More and more men and women daily are tired of these discussions and find the agenda of the leftists simply unnatural. When social media influencers, women, start saying that feminists and leftists have gone too far, then you have people starting to talk honestly. When a man, who simply wants to work, protect, support and take care of his family is called a misogynist, the world has reached a very unsafe place. All of these opinions and discussions have a direct impact on birth rates because people form opinions and ideas based upon the information they have, and then they act on those ideas. Like not having children because they cant have "their life" if they do. Birth rate decline is less about actually child bearing and more about how we raise the children that are actually born.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Lenka
I am not disputing the poll numbers at all. Polls are what they are, a small section targeted to illicit a response, sometimes targeted to get the response the pollster is looking for. That said, it could be completely accurate.

What I love about Polish women in general is that they are well educated. It is refreshing to have intelligent conversations with women here when most are open to actually discussing things and are not hardened into a position on any subject. Most recently though, there has been an adoption of extreme views by many people and those views are taken largely from what is happening in the US. And in case people didn't notice, the US could erupt into a civil war over what's going on and almost did last January.

When a man or woman makes a sexually charged joke in the workplace, it is sexual harassment. But when an adult teacher is telling 6 yr olds about trans, gay and other lifestyles in the classroom it is called education? Do we see how completely fvcked up the standards are? Just because some people want something does not make it the right thing or make it ok. What about the woman who identified as "blind" who dumped chemicals in her eyes to make it happen? Or the man who chopped his arm off because he "identified" as disabled? Or people now identifying as children when they are adults? My point being is that when you open pandora's box, you can't put all the bull$hit back in.

The idea that men and women are equal does not hold water either way. Women will never physically dominate men, and men will never be as emotionally or mentally adept at handling raising children. Sure, there are outlier cases. So, when you take this issue of declining population and try tying it with discussion about work, equal pay, rights for men and women, you get a big mess. The feminist wants and way of life wanted by the extremists will never come to pass because they are un-natural. Just like acceptance of 50 yr old men identifying as 6 yr olds and attending kindergarten will never come to pass. The sooner people wake up and realize that what is best for humanity, and population sustainability is the natural direction of XX and XY roles, the sooner the world will return to balance.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Paulina
I am not ignoring anything other than the insane far left agenda. Fair for everyone in anything does not exist. The idea of a utopian world with equal rights, and everything else being equal is called socialism. Socialism has been proven to not work. Since the beginning of time, there have always been men and women who were better than others at certain tasks. Those people became leaders because of their natural ability. This will never change. There is a very large section, one that is growing, of women who want to return to more traditional roles and values systems. There is nothing wrong with that. Traditional roles and values lead to population growth in the past and would likely do the same today.

PiS had a good basic idea with 500+ when it comes to declining birth rate, but it wasn't enough. The PiS anti small business economic policies should have changed to promote small business growth and rewarded new fathers on the job as well. If you want more children, by definition, you want more and stronger family units. Creating an environment for all of this requires strong economic policy to support family and population growth. Maybe give families reduced tax rates while children are still living at home? Maybe combine some of what @GefreiterKania suggested with a reward for women who stay at home raising the children? Or some combination of ideas?

One thing is for sure though. Men and women are not equal competitors. As much as the left wants to even the playing field, they cannot do it when women do not match men when it comes to physical labor. Without men doing the heavy lifting, society crumbles. If women stop teaching and things like this, we end up with a dumber society, but society remains and grows. If you have ever been to a ghost town, a modern one, they all have one thing in common. When men stop taking care of the city or village, it only takes a few months before things start to fail, and in a few years, nature reclaims what remains. Nature in the end will always win, and it will in this discussion as well.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Paulina
No Paulina, you will not fight against me because I ignore all the leftist feminist and other extreme movements. Real men just don't gaf about the issues that women want to make up, artificially inflate and complain about. Have your jobs, have your movements, and do whatever you want. There is a very large portion of women who are tired of the agenda driven movement. They want to be women and have a man who not only takes care of them and protects them, but respects them. They want what comes naturally to most people. The role reversal experiment fails, and will continue to fail for so many reasons. But when women start being drafted, or conscripted, or forced to fight for their country like men are, you can sign me up for all the feminist $hit you want. Unitil then, the only right a man has that a woman does not is the right to die protecting them and everyone else. But you know, birthrates and all that stuff have nothing to do with what men want or whats best for any civilization.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Paulina
Women are most times better equipped. I stated the reasoning for this view being the environment in which they are raised. But you now bring the population decline argument full circle. I will explain.

All the talk about competing with men, is at the very center of population decline. Women not wanting, or delaying childbirth is really the issue. A society cannot survive without children being born. So, you want a career? Ok. There is a price for everyone to pay. The price is not just that womans to bear. Society bears the cost in its reduction.

On to the alimony. In the US, most states do not have alimony, they have what is called Child Support. Child support is a mathematic formula used to calculate how much of a man or womans income goes to pay for raising a child in the event of whichever is given physical custody. This formula is just that, only a mathematic formula. So, if a parent is very successful making say $50 thousand USD per month, the parent having custody is given roughly $15 thousand per month for child support. Someone still needs to tell me how it is possible to spend that kind of money raising a child. The wife will get the house if she gets the child or children. People with money, have either paid off the house, or it is such a big house, that a single parent would never need the space. The woman will also get the car, half of retirement, and half of everything else unless there is a prenup or she has her own money. When the child is of school age, and the parent is working again, not only do the payments continue, but they get raised every two years upon court review, regardless of how much the custodial parent is making. In the US with this formula and system, divorce is profitable for the custodial parent. Before you say $50 K per month income is extreme, in the US that kind of money for a successful person is really not uncommon.

You bring up the point of the person having to ask another for money in the relationship. If a person doesn't get that stuff sorted out prior to starting a relationship, then it is their own fault, whether it is a man or woman it doesn't matter.

Of course, women want to work. Of course, they have passions and want to pursue things. The problem is that in life, you cannot have everything. If you want one thing you have to sacrifice something else. You cannot have it all, man or woman, you simply cannot have your cake and eat it.

As for WW2 working comments, I will only say women filled the manufacturing roles for men. Nearly every building or infrastructure project was completely stopped when women could not fill those roles. There is nothing wrong with a woman not being able to do something as well as a man, nothing wrong with a man not being able to do something as well as a woman and that is the problem with feminism. They do not want to admit that men and women both have things they are better at. XX and XY, it is simple. Traditional roles moved society forward for centuries. When you try to fix what has worked, you usually just fvck things up, and that applies to everything.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@jon357
No Jon violent crime studies are specialized. They are only one year in most cases. And clearly you do not read what others post. You just defend your uneducated position with more babble that's already been covered. You do not address the facts of violent crimes that are universal regardless of country. Your opinion, not based in fact, is all that matters, much like the radical left in the US. This is divisive, and not constructive. Not even wasting more time responding to this, it is not conversation, it is simply steadfast protection of opinion.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Paulina
I said in most cases. Most cases is not definitive. Really the feminist bull$hit is irritating. Can't you and others have a normal discussion without trying to twist statements to fit your own agenda? And then people wonder why there is no compromise between right and left.

How do you profit from having kids? Please tell me in what world that it takes a child support payment of more than 3K USD per month to raise a kid when there is no house payment and no car payment while the mother also works. Explain that to me and how that is fair or just. I have three children, and never has it ever cost 3K per month to raise any of them. Yet, the courts take a percentage of a mans pay regardless of how much he makes, and that is fair or just?

What is usually in the best interest is not always in the best interest. Stop reading what you want to understand and read what is actually written.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@jon357
Who are you? You are no legal authority to make that opinion. If it takes 6 months its neither effective or appropriate. What if a person who wanted one for protection and was waiting for 5 months, a woman, was then stabbed to death by her ex boyfriend before getting her permit. Most violent crimes are crimes of passion. Most victims are not random. I went to law school. I studied both prosecutorial procedure, and defense procedure. I had a full year of education on violent crime defense, prosecution, and investigation. You want to talk like an authority and all you are is an opinionated activist. And you probably wonder why people tell you to FO all the time.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Lenka
There is no definitive answer to that question. Unfortunately, the way the laws are written, antiquated in my opinion, they are written to lean toward the mother. It is what it is. Nothing is fair, especially to children. The children unfortunately are used as pawns by each side.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Lenka
If a green light from a local police chief is a problem, then that should only realistically take place in major metropolitan areas. If I am in Sanok for instance it should be a same day procedure if everything else is in order. Warsaw or Krakow or another large city it would likely take more time, and that is reasonable.

The self-protection one doesn't make sense to me. If you are in danger, chances are you would already be a victim of some kind of crime by the time you got to the application process. So I might agree with changing that part. Proof, is subjective. What I see as danger, someone else may not, what someone else see's as danger I may see as a nothingburger. Only if there are standards set for proofs can there be a process like that. Admittedly I do not know if there are standards or not. Frankly anyone using that reason is only attracting unwanted attention to themselves anyway.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Lenka
Change in which requirement then? As for the bank accounts, I have opened three here and there is always a delay of a day or two. It is just another example of slow and tedious restrictions that everyone has to deal with needlessly. Delays for anything are simply needless especially with how much more tech savvy Europe is when it comes to banking and security.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Lenka
Women in most cases should get primary custody, I would agree. However, the father should get the kids at least two weekends a month and every other holiday. The woman should not be able to keep the father from seeing the kids. And the woman should not be able to profit from simply having kids. Some women though should never get custody, and yet the laws around the world are written with the presumption that living with the mother will be the best situation.

Life / Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]

@Lenka
Another feminist swipe at what science says is fact. It is a fact that women/girls are raised differently than men/boys. The whole environment in which they are raised, socialized, and schooled is different. Maybe women should stand up to pi$$ now? Men and women are different, and no socially constructed idea is going to change that. XX and XY is all there is and they are different. Women are not as equipped as men for manual labor, that is a fact. Or there are millions of female construction workers hiding on the worksites around the world. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging those differences and then working around them.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Lenka
It's called modernizing. You don't think that streamlining the process is change? Wouldn't it be nice if you could open a bank account in Poland without having to wait a few days? It's called modernizing. Maybe being able to drive away in a new car after you pay for it instead of waiting for someone in some office to process paperwork who might be on holiday or call in sick? Maybe the appearance of change is in fact change.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@jon357
Your definition and my definition of "significant" are different. Any time 25% of people are not happy, that is a large enough group to recognize and try to keep satisfied.

You asked me a general question about legislation and I answered it. You did not ask me about this particular legislation.

Not once have I called for lowering standards of gun ownership. Streamlining the process is not weakening the process. Just like streamlining the car purchasing process is needed. Buy a car in the US or Canada and you drive away with new plates, registration and insurance in less than two hours if financed, less than an hour if paid in cash. Try buying a gun in US or Canada and have a criminal record and you will be denied in less than 15 minutes in 99% of the cases. This can be the same way in Poland through the new ETIAS starting up this year. The whole EU on the same background check network makes this possible and simply smart. Dont get through ETIAS and no need to continue the process, simple. Get through it and you move on to the psyche portion. Get that done, go file the documents and get your license. Shouldn't take more than a few weeks that way. Doesn't weaken the laws on the books at all, and it may make them stronger.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@jon357
Legislation, good legislation, should reflect a consideration of all sides. Good legislation is recognizing that the majority is never perfect in its decision making regardless of which side has the majority. Majority decisions are not always the right way to address a problem.

Maybe PiS would stay in power a little longer if they allowed for some civil agreements between same sex couples to be recognized legally for instance. Maybe acknowledging teachers are underpaid, and meeting them in the middle for a pay raise would make PiS look a lot better and be seen as good legislation? Maybe the opposition acknowledging that 500+ is a program that cant be taken away or reduced now that its in place is a good thing? All kinds of scenarios that can acknowledge the other sides opinion or position and create legislation that is acceptable for everyone.

The whole winner take all position is bull$hit baby politics. It is what gets countries in trouble, like the US, like Poland. And make no mistake Poland is in trouble for a lot of reasons that you and I would likely agree on. Eliminating this issue, with improved action planning is smart politics because it will not get in the way of negotiating other issues. The control freaks on both sides need to wake TF up.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Lenka
While you can't see it making a difference, it at least acknowledges the other sides concerns and gives them something even if it is only a small thing. I have never said to relax gun laws concerning the qualifications for ownership. I think the timelines for processing potential owners are simply insane. Those alone discourage ownership, could encourage illegal purchases, and inhibit people who want to pursue shooting sports, hunting or self-defense training from pursuing those. Making the process easier, and timelier is better for everyone on both sides. Gun ownership is allowed in Poland, anyone meeting the criteria can make the purchase and application. What I suggest is not only reasonable, but really quite overdue. If a criminal wants a gun in Poland he will get a gun, it is the same everywhere. With the age of 3D printers, and spare parts on the internet anyone can make their own gun in a few clicks. A better system will keep that from happening more often.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

@Lenka
I think it looks the same as it does today with the exception that it should be accelerated. 6 months or longer is simply not acceptable in today's technologically advanced world. The fact that it takes a week or more after buying a new car to get license plates and take delivery of the car is also laughable. I am not saying that any of the requirements should change at all. In fact I would propose that when things move more quickly that every firearm purchase be required to also purchase a biometric gun safe for that weapon. Firearm ownership should not be so restricted that people cannot get them in a reasonable time period. A person could even have the option of paying for an accelerated permit as an option. This would not only satisfy those that want to own a weapon, but would probably create more jobs to sort through applications and more income for licensing. There are reasonable solutions to be found on both sides. There is no one sided winner in a gun control argument, only agreements that do not give either side everything and allow both sides to think they got something out of the deal.