Life / How much money to comfortably retire in Poland (a married couple)? [57]


Labour costs are skyrocketing combined with less and less people to work. Poland is also getting wealthier, which isn't helping.

When do you want to retire here?

Life / How much money to comfortably retire in Poland (a married couple)? [57]


Costs are already increasing dramatically. Food costs have skyrocketed this year, and electricity prices are about to go up by 50% or even more next year.

By the time you retire, 12k PLN may not be that much at all. You'll also have to consider that you'll have Polish tax liabilities, which are really painful on pensions.

Language / Game - guess Polish idioms/sayings in direct English translation [1756]

I still can't find a good translation for "zawiść". Envy is the dictionary translation, but it seems stronger in Polish somehow :/

(speaking of which: youtube.com/watch?v=MmQqpEy96r4 - I learnt so many strange expressions from Dzień Swira! Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it - it's Polish comedy at its finest IMO)

History / Why do Polish people hate to be called Eastern European? [120]


Ah yes, we know all about the profits that Russians bring to Poland.

The same nationalists have huge problems with the USA and the West in general, despite them bringing significant profits and wealth to Poland.


Very successfully.

emerging-europe.com/business/hungary-offers-russian-bank-diplomatic-status-complete-with-immunity/

I mean, this is a deal of a lifetime!

History / Poland, Ukraine population loss in 20-th century [15]


Largely because of the way that Poland was heading in the late 1930's. Pilsudski was dead, and the Składkowski.government was turning more and more hostile towards minorities. You had educated Poles demanding (and getting) restrictions against Jews, you had Ukrainian schools/groups/organisations getting closed down, and most of all, you had personality cults building up around people in the government. There were also reasons for neighbouring countries to fuel conflict in Poland, and I think it would all have ended up in conflict. The Polish majority would never have understood life in mixed areas, and I think things would have just exploded at some point.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


All 28 of them in accordance with the rules set in the Treaty of Lisbon, which was ratified by all 28 members.


Yes, he was. Poland agreed to appoint the President of the European Council according to QMV.

History / Poland, Ukraine population loss in 20-th century [15]

Yes, I think so. The Romanovs were weak regardless of WW1, and with people such as Dostoevsky having great influence over the Russian people, I think it was a matter of time. The only thing is that I'm not sure the Bolsheviks win, or even rise without WW1.

History / Heritage of partitions still present in Poland [107]


Yes, it just didn't make any sense. They failed to understand where the strength of Austria-Hungary came from, and it's quite possible with modernity that the Polish population would have started to lose their identity anyway as they began to travel. Trying to suppress it was never going to work, and they should have looked at the example from Serbia to see that it was never going to work.

History / Heritage of partitions still present in Poland [107]

That still strikes me as being a very strange move. The Poles in their area weren't particularly restless or troublesome, and diminishing the role of the Church would have been more than enough, especially if they kept investing in areas with Poles.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

The President of the European Council is appointed according to the rules of the Treaty of Lisbon, which states that the person is appointed by qualified majority by the European Council. Therefore yes, he was appointed according to the rules of the treaty that Poland ratified. Rules are rules, and 27-1 is clearly a qualified majority.

consilium.europa.eu/en/european-council/president/role/


Member states.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


You do realise that the EU is run by people who are appointed by member states, right?

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

Yes, if it wasn't for the EU keeping up the pressure, PiS would have gone much, much further.

History / Heritage of partitions still present in Poland [107]

Probably the Prussian one. Germanisation would have gone out of fashion once a new generation had grown up solely in Germany, and Poles would have become a significant electoral bloc, similar to the role that they play today in Lithuania.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]


Typical nationalist fantasies, really. They like to think that they can have the EU and all the benefits, while still being free to do whatever they want domestically.

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]

Not really. Creativity isn't encouraged from an early age in Poland, individualism simply isn't true, stubbornness is seen in many other countries too, contrariness is a general European trait, there's little respect for family values here (cough cough Marta Kaczyńska cough) and as for heroism, we all know how the Polish leadership ran away in 1939. There are just as many heroes in other countries.

History / Poland, Ukraine population loss in 20-th century [15]

It's quite remarkable to see how many "intelligent" people actually just repeat what politicians say.

An interesting question would be to ask what would Poland look like today if WW2 didn't happen? I've said it before, but I reckon civil war would have broken out by the 1950's at the latest, and there would possibly be a couple of decades of political instability before some sort of power-sharing agreement was put into place with the three largest nationalities having mandatory representation in government.

News / Years of Poland in the EU - assessment of pros and cons [1199]

What's that? The smell of a party trying desperately to get 5%?

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]


Because it insults, provokes and baits Polish people?


He hasn't spent any time in Poland at all, apart from the fantasies in his head. He makes up stories about being in Poland after trying to google something about the country, coming up with such comments like "the bar on the first floor of the Warsaw Marriott", which simply doesn't exist.

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]


I think the problem is that there's no will to enforce punishments on members of the clergy that have done wrong. For instance, priests subject to bans with working with children have continued to do so, and no-one has stopped them from doing it. Then you've got situations such as the government publishing a list of paedophiles and strangely excluding priests from it.

Life / Child abuse in Poland [64]

It's particularly disturbing when families believe priests over members of their own family.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Same goes for most people living in the continental climate regions. Probably explains why the cuisine is broadly similar.

Life / Child abuse in Poland [64]


It's also disruptive nonsense. It should be done in the evening, rather than during the school day.

Life / Child abuse in Poland [64]

And it's stuff like this that's mindblowing. How could this be tolerated?

My impression is that this is just the beginning. How much has been covered up, and what's going to happen when we start looking at what happened in the PRL? And more importantly, how many priests are still working closely with children despite having such things?

Life / The climate for gardening in Poland [340]

I think it's not even that, but rather the Polish palate seems to prefer quite bitter beers. I'm also not impressed, especially when you consider the quality of even the cheapest supermarket beers in the Czech Republic or Germany compared to Polish beers.

Life / The climate for gardening in Poland [340]


Yes, the area around Zielona Góra and Wrocław is really starting to become interesting. A wine snob friend reckons that there are some wines worth trying, though there are still problems with consistency.

adoriavineyards.com/en/ - I've tried this stuff and it was very, very good.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


I admire your skill in cooking, but...bluuurrgh not for me.

History / Modern myths and legends about communist past in Poland [250]

Not only. You can hear the same nonsense come from younger people, especially nationalists who promote very similar economic ideologies. For some young people today, a system that provides everything for them is appealing. They have no idea that the work was often dangerous and harmful to people's health.

News / Poland GDP growth surprises on upside [35]


What utter insecure garbage. German pensioners drive luxury cars, Polish pensioners face ever-lengthening queues in bankrupt hospitals.

History / Modern myths and legends about communist past in Poland [250]

Yes, I always say that Poles are rather economically illiterate as a result of such a system.

I know a remarkable lady who started a business in 1991, and she said that people were absolutely shocked when she explained that in her factory, there were no perks and no alcohol - but that salaries would be paid fairly while being dependent on the productivity of the factory and on their ability to sell the products to Western Europe. People just couldn't understand that the factory had to work economically, and that she fired a hell of a lot of people for smelling of booze on the factory floor.

History / Modern myths and legends about communist past in Poland [250]


Pretty much, or at least be known and trusted to them. There are examples where someone enjoyed a privileged position in society despite not having formal Party membership, though it's almost certain that they would have betrayed others to get to that point.

The big problem was that loyalty and patronage was more important than knowledge.

Going back to myths - the whole economic system could be regarded as a bit of a myth. People are nostalgic for the days of factories with full employment.