News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]

Slovenia has for sure, although the Yugoslav system wasn't that planned compared to the Soviet one.

Estonia too, I think. They still have some issues, but they're the most successful of them all.

I think the critical thing is that the DDR had the West German problem. If you're a DDR doctor and you have the right to live and work in West Gernany for a huge amount of cash by your standards, why stay?

That's why the Economic and Social Union was needed, but politically, the mistake was in getting rid of East Gernany as a whole. Had it joined the Federal Republic as a kind of autonomous Republic with the seat in East Berlin, perhaps some of the difficulties would have been avoided, such as the stuffing of East German companies with Western managers.

News / Coal-Powered Poland Refuses to "Go Green". EU Ain't Happy. [304]


A simple locally administered one, too.

A good start would be to ban new furnaces in new houses. After that, 100% subsidy to coal users to get them onto gas, and I don't see any harm in building decent gas networks so that you can be connected to mains gas.

Volia, you don't have to pay more, but you're encouraged to move away from coal.

News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]


Yup, totally agreed. It's very clear from primary sources that the GDR population would never have accepted the dramatic cuts needed just to survive in 90-91, and the East German military leadership had no intention of enforcing them. Even if the SED holds on, they're finished by January as the debt crisis forces them to let people leave just to get some more foreign currency into the country. The Soviet refusal to buy goods is the end for the SED, no matter what.

It's probable in an alternate timeline that West Germany pays the interest owed in 1990 to avoid East German bankruptcy, but it's very clear that economic unification / West German control of the economy happens by the end of 1990 regardless.

While I'm adamant that swift political unification was a mistake, there was no alternative to economic / social union in 1990 regardless of the government. East Germans were really only going to stay if they could keep their living standards, and a fully independent East Germany couldn't offer that.

News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]


And it reflects in their actual level of support. As soon as people start actually working, they realise that they prefer the welfare safety net as opposed to Konfederacja's confused politics where they advocate heavy state intervention alongside free markets.

News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]


I don't think it's possible. The V4 don't really have the shared history that the Scandinavian countries had, nor do they have the same issue with historical grievances that the V4 have with each other. For instance, the Czechs don't trust the Poles because of 1938/1968, the Slovaks regard the Hungarians as having major issues with the Treaty of Trianon, the Slovaks themselves are much more orientated towards Austria than Poland/Hungary, the Hungarians are busy doing dodgy deals with Russia, etc etc.

One thing that I find remarkable about the V4 is just how poor their cross-border relations are on a local level. There's almost no substantial cooperation between municipalities such as Kudowa-Zdrój and Nachod, and even public transport between the two is pretty dire. Yet look at Zgorzelec/Gorlitz, where they cooperate in a genuinely meaningful way.

From my own experience, it's *much* easier to create partnerships with Germans than it is with anyone in the V4. For that reason, I'd much rather see Poland integrate strongly with Germany rather than wasting time on smaller countries ruled by petty grudges and historical vendettas.

For me, what offered some real promise was the Weimar Triangle, and it's a great pity that PiS alienated the other two to such an extent that it's more or less dead.

Life / - Conservative Radio talk shows in Poland - [60]


Indeed, it must be confusing for our American friends to learn that conservatives here are the biggest supporters of welfare measures.


TokFM is very much liberal, I'd say. Polskie Radio is conservative (the ruining of Trójka with political crap is one of the worst things PiS have done). RMF leans towards the left too. Radio Maryja is on the hard right...what else?

Work / Self-employed American living in Poland? Is it possible? [54]


Yup, there's a lot of data sharing between the US and EU in this respect. He'll also have to pay taxes in order to get a residence permit, as they'll want to see proof that he's legally self-employed in PL.

He'll have to get health insurance to apply for a residence permit as well.

News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]


At tremendous cost to them. Switzerland in particular has been obliged to accept all sorts of EU directives without having much of a say, all to retain free access to EU markets. If the Swiss with their economic power couldn't negotiate something better, Poland has no chance.

The EU countries have made it very clear that access to EU markets comes at a price. Poland is welcome to try and sell to the Eurasian Union, but they haven't been buying much for the last 30 years and they're not going to start now.


Remember, these people believe that Poland was an economic powerhouse prior to 2004. They have no real understanding of the fact that if Poland leaves the EU, so do European companies, just as they're leaving the UK. That leaves...what, exactly?

Of course, dear Spike will be along soon to tell us that actually, Polish state-owned companies were a great success before 2004, and that the heavy economic interventions were nothing but pure right wing economics.

Work / Self-employed American living in Poland? Is it possible? [54]


Forgive my ignorance, but if you're on Medicaid in the US, you can't be earning much more than $2000 USD a month, or just over 7,600PLN. Over a year, it's 91200PLN, but income tax will reduce that to around 74,000PLN, or 6150PLN per month. Then you'll have mandatory social insurance fees of 500PLN a month, plus accountancy costs - let's say 700PLN in total. That leaves you with 5450PLN/month in hand.

An apartment that size in Kraków will cost you at least 2500PLN in a remote suburb with poor transport links, plus utilities - you'll be lucky to have change from 3000PLN/month. That means you'll have 2450PLN/month to cover all your other costs, such as transport, entertainment, food, etc. It's not going to be easy, and it puts you barely into the territory of the upper working class.

Work / Self-employed American living in Poland? Is it possible? [54]


Don't forget about taxes in Poland. From what you say, you're on Medicaid, which means your income is what, no more than around $2000 a month?

From that, you'll need to deduct taxes in Poland, so roughly speaking, you can expect to lose around 30% to self employment and social insurance taxes. That gives you a total of $1400 a month to live on, or about 5350PLN.

By Kraków standards, that's barely above the average wage. Housing alone will take up at least 30-35% of that, if not more, and that's for a very basic apartment.

You certainly won't be living a nice lifestyle on 3300PLN/month, and as health insurance that provides a decent amount of cover will set you back at least 400 a month, that leaves you with 2900, or not even 750PLN a week to live on.

Poland is not as cheap as you think it is, and Joker is right when he says that you shouldn't have high expectations about how well you'll live here. It certainly won't be a comfortable middle class lifestyle - for that, you'll need to be earning much more.

Furthermore, have you taken into account currency fluctuations? If the PLN strengthens by 20% against the dollar, you'll be living on 20% less each month.

Genealogy / Seeking Czarniecki family members and ancestors from Lublin, also Margiewicz, Danilowicz and Andrulewicz [77]

Except your family isn't from the Galicia area, so why are you trying to use records of Jewish people from a completely different region to prove your point?

Apologise.

Genealogy / Seeking Czarniecki family members and ancestors from Lublin, also Margiewicz, Danilowicz and Andrulewicz [77]

Years and years. She was upsetting family members with her theory, and she even made videos about PF members that didn't agree with her.

Kaprys has said nothing anti-Semetic, but it's the standard response of Nicki whenever anyone tells her that she isn't Jewish.

History / Churchill and Poland [120]


The idea was to use the German Army and go for Moscow, but the numbers simply weren't there.

All historical evidence shows that both the Americans and Soviets were satisfied with the post-war division of Europe into two blocs, and Britain was nothing but a mere by-stander.


None. The only pressure could have come from the Americans telling the Soviets to either leave or get nuked.

History / Churchill and Poland [120]

The UK was skint, it had just gone through another war at tremendous personal sacrifice, and yet Churchill was still willing to go for Moscow.

What else could you expect from him and the UK as a whole? I think the UK being willing to go to war over Poland was enough of a sacrifice, especially when you consider how much the UK lost because of it.


Isn't it factually correct for that time period? We say Nazi Germany today, but wasn't it officially the German Reich?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 2 [1680]


It's Ostrów Tumski, but I don't know the name of the street. It's next to that ghastly new hotel they built recently, where the architecture has nothing in common with the rest of the area.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


What is scary for politicians are the agricultural funds. If the EU links payments to the rule of law (let's say in a simple form - comply with ECJ judgements or payments get stopped) - then Poland and Hungary will have serious problems. Neither government can risk/afford lengthy delays to payments, and neither of them have the means to replace those payments.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 2 [1680]


Is it his house in Vilnius, which is now a museum?


Isn't this partially because Lithuanians were really a small minority within the Grand Duchy?

Life / "The Poland question?" Is antisemitism growing? [21]

I know one of them. He's the most disgusting example of a left winger - racist as hell, hugely anti-semitic, violent - he threatened to bottle me on several occasions, he only stopped when someone told him that I was friends with a motorbike gang member - then the coward backed off. I found out through a mutual acquaintance that he'd been going around saying that I'd threatened him with the gang, just so he could save face when he stopped making the threats. I don't even know the gang, only that a friend is a member.

He even does things such as break into people's houses when they're on holiday because 'shelter is a human right'.

And to top it all off? Daddy is an oil executive in Doha.

News / Scandals, conflicts, tensions, arguments - real life examples from Poland [492]


Largely based on outsourcing and EU membership. It's not really a miracle at all, just the result of neoliberalism (putting jobs in cheaper countries) and the EU providing a legal structure for those companies to operate in, as well as the EU pumping in fiscal transfers. Remove all three, and the V4 take a nosedive.

News / PiS candidates are losing positions in EU Parliament. Will they keep power in Poland? [358]


I don't think they have to agree on a single candidate, only that they should agree to support each other's candidate in the second round. They did a wonderful job of not attacking each other during this campaign, instead, they focused largely on their own campaigns (with the exception of Schetyna being a useless clown as always) - and it paid off.

What has to genuinely worry PiS is the electoral numbers: PiS got 8.1m votes to the Senate, but the opposition bloc got 7.9m. Add in the numbers for the independents (around 120,000) and you've got an almost dead heat. Konfederacja voters stayed away from voting for PiS, so the situation is very difficult for Duda indeed.


I think PiS really have put themselves into a corner with all these handouts.

News / PiS candidates are losing positions in EU Parliament. Will they keep power in Poland? [358]


Agreed. I think Kaczyński knew it during his victory speech, his body language showed that he was deeply unhappy with the result, and his language made it clear that they expected much more. They were in grave danger of not getting the majority, they lost 5 seats compared to what they entered the election with, and the Senate Pact showed that KO/PSL/Lewica can win by not attacking each other while focusing on their own respective programmes. There's also the issue of the Presidential election to worry about, as Kidawa-Błońska is genuinely likable. I saw one poll today that puts them on a dead heat - not a good place to be for an incumbent who has a reputation for signing everything put in front of him.

It's also going to be much harder for them during this Sejm with both the left and the right lining up to attack them. PiS failed to deal with the issue of junk contracts, something Lewica can hammer them on, while the obscene level of ZUS payments/Act 447 will give Konfederacja a platform for attacking them as well.

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]

I think this is the day when we pull Poland back from the brink. Your Sejm, our Senate, indeed.

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]

Final results from the Sejm:

PiS: 43.59 percent - 235 seats
KO: 27.4 percent - 134 seats
Left: 12.56 percent - 49 seats
PSL: 8.55 percent - 30 seats
Konfederacja: 6,81 percent - 11 seats

PiS lost 5 seats compared to what they started the election with, and even with Konfederacja, they don't have enough seats to overturn the Presidential veto. Any hope they have of changing the Constitution has also gone. For all the boasting about how they were going to win 50%+ of the vote, they fell well short, and losing the Senate to the opposition means no more "let's change the law in the middle of the night" games.

And most importantly, Klaudia Jachira won a seat.

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]


I love the mental disconnect that the Polonia have. They lost the Senate, Kidawa-Błońska thrashed Kaczyński in Warsaw, Budka beat Morawiecki in Katowice, and they lost people like Piotrowicz who were so prominent during the last 4 years. They've also lost at least 4 seats compared to what they went into the election with.

It's not a stunning victory at all, it's rather an embarrassment given that they had unlimited resources compared to the opposition.


Amazing that you actually promote private business being controlled by politicians.

By the way, those 'massive investments'...whatever happened to that ship in Szczecin that was allegedly being built? Or what about those apartments? Or electric cars?

Pawian, about education... I believe that if we work together, we can change things ;)

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]


I imagine a certain..."friend of PF" that lives there (not far away from the Kaczyński villa, in fact) must be seething. I need to check TVP's internet presence to see what he has to say...

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]


Most predictions have them losing seats, it's just a question of how many. 236 is the number floated around, which is a de facto loss of 4 seats.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that this result is quite unfavourable for PiS, as it's estimated that Ziobro's mob have taken 30 seats and Gowin's lot another 11. While they run together, this will almost certainly result in Gowin demanding more.

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]


Not quite. The Senate can also open up proceedings to the public, while scrutinising legislation in depth and in detail. With the Senate in opposition hands, it means they can invite whoever they want to talk to them. The Senate will be opened up to the people, which de facto means addressing the nation.

Furthermore, the Senate can also propose legislation, and if PiS throw out Senate-originated legislation without reason, it will hurt them electorally.

Let's also not forget that Kaczyński was destroyed by Kidawa-Błońska in Warsaw. Even Duda's father lost, LOL.

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]

It's official: PiS have lost the Senate.

PiS: 48
KO: 43
PSL: 3
SLD: 2
Independents: 4

3 out of the 4 independents are aligned to the opposition, meaning PiS have decisively lost.

Sejm is being calculated, but the projections are coming in between 229-236 for PiS.


Aww. Poor baby lost the Senate :)

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]


Yup, this election wasn't about anything other than electoral sausage.

News / Poland Parliamentary Elections 2019 [93]


What, who said anything about that?

I mean, you can't hold them accountable for promises made by a previous government, right?