Life / Want to become an expat to Poland? Consider your options before going abroad. [18]

"Polactwo" by Rafał Ziemkiewicz talks about this attitude.

A synopsis from wikipedia:
"Author tries to explain what happened with Poles after fall of communism and the toxic influence of tens of years of communism and destruction it brought to Poland. He tells about destructive force of people gathered around Adam Michnik - a thesis which he follows in Michnikowszczyzna. Zapis choroby book. He tries to describe the reasons and effects of low self-esteem of Poles as a nation, who regard themeself low in sociological studies.

According to Ziemkiewicz, the reason are processes that shaped the society through the years of partitions and communism. He says the social situation is similar to that of other post-communist countries, and also post-slavery societies."

I think (I hope) this attitude will change, but it will take time. I do see a huge difference in attitude between most young people and most people of older generations, so that's good. The complaints about this kind of attitude don't seem to hold much water if you're hanging out with a bunch of 20-30 year olds. The younger people also seem to have more pride about Poland and being Polish than many of the older people do, too, so that's promising as well.

This why I LOATHE communism/socialism - not just as political/economic system, but as a psychological and mental system that entraps an entire society into feelings of helplessness, hate, jealousy, bitterness, and victimhood - thereby leading to lack of integrity, ambition, creativity, and pursuit of excellence. And with the EU, the idea is always that *something* or *someone* else will make things better for you, when the truth is only you can pull yourself up by your own britches. And in order to do that, you first have to value yourself and have pride in your achievements and in your heritage. Communism fell in Poland in 1989, but the mentality doesn't change over night.

I don't know if not giving work to people who don't speak the language is that bad... I mean, how would they communicate with clients and with their bosses and team members if they can't speak the language? If someone wants to emigrate to another country and get a job there, the least they can do is show their host country a nominal level of respect and learn its language!

History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1080]


Wow. You really had to go there, huh? Absolutely disgusting. If that's what you think of Eastern European women, then that says far more about you, your attitudes, and the filth you've allowed into your life than it does about people who consider Poland to be a part of Eastern Europe.

History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1080]


Uh.... I'm pretty sure Nigeria IS in Africa. Where do you think it is?


How does saying eastern europe make it a different continent?? Does saying the "the Southern US" make states like Louisiana, Georgia, the Carolinas, etc a "different continent?" Does saying "the Southwest" make Texas, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, etc a "different continent?"

I understand very well that all slavic countries are not just one big blob of slavic-ness. What I am having trouble understanding is why you're conflating "not whitewashing the uniqueness out of yourself" with "every slavic country is exactly the same!" - unless you're purposefully trying to be obtuse. But to address your claim that I said all of EE is slavic, if you carefully reread what I wrote, you'll see that I said slavic culture is a LARGE part of EE, not ALL of it. Of course there are other cultures in EE that aren't slavic. And of course the different slavic countries vary widely, but they are still slavic. Just like Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France are all romance languages/cultures, but vary quite widely amongst themselves.

I also find it deeply offensive for you to refer to EE as "Eastern European bullsh1t." You act as if "eastern" is code for "crap" and "western" is code for "gold." "eastern" and "western" are merely words, and completely neutral ones at that. They mean what we want them to mean, and meanings generally change over time. So, while I appreciate the fact that you grew up in a time where eastern european had negative connotations, the fact is that those connotations were given by people living in a particular socio-economic-cultural-political reality that no longer exists today. Today, the connotations to "eastern european" are somewhat different, and they are ever-changing.

I find it sad that while I was open to the fact that others may legitimately feel that calling Poland an EE country is negative, you weren't able to see my perspective and instead simply continued to steamroll your opinions and parrot them over and over, as if hoping that if you said it long and loud enough, it would be true and you'd finally shut up all those who do not share your opinion. That's not a conversation or a discussion. That's one person trying to shut the other person up and shove his/her opinions down their throat.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder and some very strong emotions regarding Poland being EE or Slavic. I wish you well. But more than that, I wish Poland well, because it saddens me greatly to know that there are so many people in Poland who are desperately trying to turn Poland into a second-rate version of some generic "western european" country, instead being proud of their heritage and their past and building a strong, unique Poland.