Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]


Yes. The amount of trouble caused by this is incredible.

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [396]

In a hurry, replying quickly


Yes, that was interesting. However, I've never found anything to suggest that this was anything other than a symbolic act, as it didn't carry any legal significance at all.

I would be very interested to know if any of the decrees by the Government-in-Exile were transposed into Polish law after 1989.

The modern day Polish state has done absolutely nothing to counteract the Communist era legislation, and has routinely endorsed it by prosecuting people under those laws. They've gone after Jaruzelski and friends by prosecuting them under the 1952 Constitution, not under 1935 or 1921. The name of the State might have changed and the Constitution might have changed, but to all practical extents, the PRL is recognised as the legitimate Polish government at that time.


But are you sure that it didn't have the authority? The presence of Mikołajczyk as Deputy Prime Minister after resigning as the Prime Minister of the Government-in-Exile certainly gave a great deal of legitimacy to the parliament at the time, along with Prime Minister Morawski.

And the final question : if it wasn't a legitimate regime, why does the modern day Polish state recognise it?


Would you agree then that the 1935 Constitution and Government-in-Exile were therefore illegitimate too?

Real Estate / Astounded by the poor value of residential property here in Wroclaw [92]


Really?

I'd love to see how you could afford a place of your own in London without subletting.

Real Estate / Best and worst months of the year to find a flat to rent in Poland? [39]


I think it's a reflection of the almost total lack of professionalism in the property market, to be honest.

Real Estate / Poland online property ownership checker (government website) [19]


Good question. If you're buying a property, then they should give you the number without any problems, because a reluctance to do so suggests that they're up to no good.

It's worth bearing in mind that some properties don't have a KW number, but you can apply for one. As far as I know, you need the KW number to sell anyway.

For your own property, it might be on the akt notarialny, or you can get it from the Urzad Miasta for a small fee. For someone else's property, it might be possible to get if you have a valid reason to have it. I certainly obtained several in the past by merely paying the right fee and writing a letter.

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [396]


All of it, as it was adopted illegally and more or less abolished democracy in Poland. If you're interested in this, there are some news articles online written at the time that more or less say it straight that Poland had become a dictatorship with the 1935 constitution.

I'm not convinced that the Government-in-Exile was neccessarily the legitimate representative, as it completely failed to hold any elections and itself split at one point. It's a shame, as had they been more effective at creating a parallel Polish state abroad, they might have been more of an opposition rather than an irrelevance.


I thought there were no Polish representatives at Yalta?

Language / POLISH 18 - 30 years old know MUCH BETTER ENGLISH language than their own native language! [102]


Does he not live in America?

Real Estate / Best and worst months of the year to find a flat to rent in Poland? [39]


Doesn't surprise me. The price of it is just totally out of touch with reality. No-one with money would live in Gdynia, they would be in Sopot. Gdynia is an awful place to live, there's nothing happening there and it's absolutely boring. Good place to work, but terrible place to live.

Real Estate / Best and worst months of the year to find a flat to rent in Poland? [39]

At least with Sopot, you'd be able to rent it out in summer easily enough. I know some people working for Sony there on really good money, but all of them live in Sopot because of how bad Gdynia is. It's the same with Gdansk, there are some nice enough areas, but most of it is just horrible.

Amazing how people buy property without doing their homework though, a ten minute drive around Gdynia would tell you that there's nothing happening there in terms of entertainment.

UK, Ireland / Benefit cuts for Poles in The UK? [143]


Absolutely. The country was relying on house prices rising to keep control of consumer debt, which was simply not going to work in the long run.

I think several monsters have just gone completely out of control - the NHS, the benefit system, etc.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2873]


I don't recall any Americans liberating Poland in World War 2. In fact, I distinctly recall the American President selling out Poland at Yalta.

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]


It does work in some ways that you simply don't see. It removes the risk for businesses of exchange rates.

Quite a lot of Polish businesses got burnt badly with the crash in the value of the PLN in recent times. I know one German investor who lost around 200k EUR in one year because of this.

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]

And when some of the leading economists in Poland with no connection to PiS say wait, what do you do then?

It's pretty obvious to anyone with the faintest grasp of economics that Polish accession to the Euro will be considerably trickier than Slovakia, Cyprus, Malta, etc.

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]


Oh dear. Your grasp of economics is amusing, because if you knew the first thing about Icelandic economics, you'd know that you're completely and totally wrong.

studiotendra.com/2012/12/29/what-is-actually-going-on-in-iceland

Iceland is in a terrible mess and with no real way out of it. The government requires businesses to deposit their foreign exchange into the bank and imposes harsh capital controls relating to the flow of money. The ISK exchange rate is around 40% less outside of Iceland than in Iceland, and the way that debt works in Iceland is effectively strangling the people. The consequences have been very, very severe and there's no sign of anything getting better soon. I mean, as a supposed right winger, you should be supporting the free market, yet you're holding up Iceland as a good example despite the severe restrictions on business.


Argentina is also in economic trouble. The mere existence of the blue dollar should tell you a thing or two. Again, the people are in trouble as it is very, very difficult to get USD or other currencies there and the peso is extremely unstable.


Works well for governments, but not for ordinary people. Again, if you knew the first thing about these countries, you'd know that loans are normally linked to stable foreign currencies and so defaulting doesn't change anything for the ordinary people.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]

Do you know anything about Ukrainian economics?

The "Russian" east is the wealthy part. Western Ukraine is crushingly poor, and the language issue also complicates things. In Kyiv, despite being majority Ukrainian, the language of the streets is Russian, not Ukrainian. Western Ukraine is also home to the most nationalistic elements, so that would also hinder growth. Dividing Ukraine is simply a non starter for so many reasons.

Also worth pointing out that many ethnic Russians do not associate themselves with Russia.

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]


The country is not "ok". In fact, as I keep pointing out, Iceland is still in severe trouble with debts. In fact, the whole Icelandic system is still in a complete mess, and worse still, their entire banking industry has been sold abroad for not very much money.


Not quite. Many Greeks quite happily did things without a receipt or quite happily got paid cash in hand. They're now getting punished for their own collective greed, nothing less.

Love / Are Polish girls open to foreigners? [78]

Your rants about EU passports are amusing, but sadly way off target. Family members of EU citizens have the right to live/work anywhere in the EU.

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]


Oh dear. If you call happiness the current situation where they have severe debts to the now-foreign banks and no prospect of actually paying off these debts, then your grasp of economics is even shakier than I thought.

It is interesting that you seem to think that not having money and being unemployed is a source of happiness however. Personal experience?

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]


On paper.

The reality is that the second they abandon currency controls and let their economy function normally, they will be straight back into recession and in even more trouble. You spout so much stuff about "leftists", yet you support that most Communist of ideas, the currency control. Remember, they're also growing after a tremendous crash, which is quite normal in economics. It doesn't mean anything and the country is still saddled with a huge amount of debts that the ordinary people can't afford.


Except they didn't. It's another myth that they went after the bankers. And now their entire banking system is in the hands of foreigners, while ordinary Icelanders are stuck with ISK loans that are linked to foreign currencies, ensuring that they have no escape from them.


I think that is why it has to make sense for everyone before entry. Now is not the time, as it just doesn't make sense to abandon the flexibility of the Zloty in these times. It makes sense for Latvia to join in 2014 because their currency is already pegged to the Euro, but the Zloty isn't. Also, in these troubled times, it makes absolutely no sense to spend money trying to peg (and defend) the Zloty against currency speculators.

Life / Polish pretense - what's the deal? [72]


Does that happen frequently to you?

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]


What are you talking about?

The people of Iceland still have their currency-index linked loans in ISK, and these are the ones that are strangling the Icelandic people. But then again, you've proven beyond all doubt that you haven't got a clue about what's actually going on in Iceland.

History / Battle of Vienna - history movie about Poland / Commemoration [36]


Not necessarily, as many of the best schools offer full academic scholarships. I know someone who got one to Eton, for instance.

Love / Marrying a Polish divorcee - no church wedding? [19]


As far as I'm aware, they're not supposed to refuse baptism to a new born child.

Food / "Poland - it's the new Provence of food" [56]


Isn't that stuffed laced with vegeta and hence MSG?

Work / 4,000 zl in Piła as a teacher - enough to live? [14]


You're not accounting for social insurance deductions.


Income tax is, yes. But ZUS payments will also take up some of that, to give him an effective tax rate of around 35%.

Law / Zloty climbs as ratings agency upgrades Poland [34]


You can negotiate with any amount over 100GBP. Anything over 500GBP and you can expect them to move quite a bit on the rate.

Work / 4,000 zl in Piła as a teacher - enough to live? [14]


On the other hand, there's absolutely nothing to do in Pila.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


Did you?

What was it?

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


In Europe, there are two papers that matter in the eyes of prospective employers of first level teachers. The CELTA and the Trinity TESOL. If you don't have them and the school is in an area where you're spoiled for choice, like most major cities in Europe, then the CV can go straight in the bin. What's the point in taking a chance on someone who did a Mickey Mouse course when you can have someone with a certificate that means something for the same price?


If you have the resume that proves it, why did you head to Berlin, a city with massive debts, rapidly rising rents and no real business culture except what the federal Government has? Start ups are start ups, they don't have money to waste on business English classes, they need every cent they have.

Why don't you just tell the truth and admit that you went to Berlin because it's fashionable and you'd read about it in some fashion magazine back home?

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


Ukraine, or even medium sized towns in Slovakia will be more than hungry enough for native speakers. I can't imagine there are many native speakers in places like Kosice or Nitra, yet these places support quite a lot of life. Even places such as Olomouc or Ostrava in the Czech Republic could be an option.