News / Multi-culti (in Poland) -- roadmap to disaster? [344]

Does anybody actually advocate multi-culturalism?

Diversity? Who gives a ****? Europe, a tiny corner of the world, has already thought up dozens and dozens of way to divide herself. Nowhere else in the world are there so many small countries, each proudly proclaiming their individuality, when in reality the differences between a German, Pole, and Englishman are really not so significant (language excluded).

Why stir up the pot? Certainly there will be intelligent and hard-working people in every immigrant group - members who will be a great asset for that country. But is that worth the additional divisions the general unrest that it will surely bring?

I say no to multi-culturalism. Immigration can be a really great thing, in small amounts. Hell, look at America - without diversity, America would be dull and exceedingly boring. There is a time to welcome minorities, but there is also a time to restrict them. It's my hope that immigrants to Europe will assimilate and this headache will go away, but if not this will be a problem that plagues the continent for decades.

News / Multi-culti (in Poland) -- roadmap to disaster? [344]


Many Poles paid dearly for the idiocy of Dmowski and his lackeys, made worse by the fact that it was not their treaty to uphold - the agreement was with Piłsudski. No doubt that it was a dastardly thing to do, but I've seen you blow this horn before; you display Poland as a conniving nation eager to screw Ukraine at any possible opportunity. That was simply not the case, and you do history an injustice in promoting that view.

It is my hope that the thousands dead in Lwów and elsewhere, and the hands of Ukrainian nationalists, have taught Poland a valuable lesson on foreign affairs. That shameful part of history would have been vastly different were it not for the National Democrats inciting Ukrainian contempt.

Life / Stereotypes about Polish people being stupid? [281]

This never happened.

My guess is that the stereotypes arose from a mixture of propaganda and real events. Most countries don't lose their sovereignty - Poland lost hers due to a number of reasons, most of which could have been averted. Poland rose up numerous times in hopeless rebellions in an attempt to regain her freedom, but each of these uprisings were doomed from the start. They may have been noble, but they were stupid.

Still, I'd say fighting is better than lying down and taking what the world gives you.

I don't think that the stereotype is very bad or damaging. From my (American) point of view, a stereotype like this is somewhat of an acknowledgement of that country. We view the British as snobby, the French as cowardly, the Germans as mean, the Polish as stupid... and all of this is done in jest and good fun. In my opinion, it should be viewed as a sort of compliment. We have no stereotype for, say, Hungarians or Slovakians. Why should we? These countries have not influenced ours significantly, nor is the general public aware of their history enough to warrant any kind of stereotype. Countries with more contact with these ones no doubt hold their own stereotypes and generalizations, positive or negative - we do not.

My point is, a negative stereotype does not necessarily equal a negative perception of that country.