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Is Poland a poor country?


slavia
16 Feb 2012 #1
What do you think?
Wulkan - | 3,203
16 Feb 2012 #2
yes it is, people die there from starvation like in some asian or african countries...
milky 13 | 1,657
16 Feb 2012 #3
Yes, Poland in the context of the EU is extremely poor.
JonnyM 11 | 2,615
16 Feb 2012 #4
@Wulkan
Not quite as bad as that, but when an expat charity started providing meals in village schools in Zachodniopomorski before EU accession, their biggest problems were (apart from being condemned from local pulpits for being secular) that the thin soup was too rich for some of the children to keep down and they were smuggling home the slices of bread they were given, at the behest of their parents.

There are still several million people in Poland in receipt of EU Food Aid.
mfdknvkl
16 Feb 2012 #5
for some reason there are 21 million people of Polish descent living abroad.Yes, in Europe we are a poor country..poorer than you think.There are many great,smart , educated people in this country but they have little impact on economy because we are governed by a bunch of losers who will ruin all your dreams and ideas and who are always so proud to announce that the unemoployment rate decreased(only because another million of people had to move abroad in search of better life).i believe we deserve higher standard of living.
peterweg 37 | 2,311
16 Feb 2012 #6
Yes, Poland in the context of the EU is extremely poor.

Lower income, but not extremely so. The number of people below the poverty line has fallen from 13 to 5million in six years.

In terms of PPS (taking cost of living into account), Poland is half the EU average

averagesalarysurvey.com/article/average-salary-in-eu/26025059.aspx

Poland is increasing rapidly and most of western Europe is falling.
a.k.
16 Feb 2012 #7
Define "poor"
milky 13 | 1,657
16 Feb 2012 #8
I hate this cliche nonsense define normal bla bla bla

who are always so proud to announce that the unemoployment rate decreased(only because another million of people had to move abroad in search of better life)

Exactly. It's patronizing and insulting, but! serves a purpose for those trying to hold on to power, and those trying to swindle people into investments of the various types.
JonnyM 11 | 2,615
16 Feb 2012 #9
those trying to swindle people into investments of the various types.

The poor have enough to worry about making ends meet, never mind investments.
pip 10 | 1,659
16 Feb 2012 #10
sort of. the spread between the rich and poor is quite large. There is not a lot of "middle class" compared to the western standard. More and more Poles are becoming "middle class" but it is relatively new- it is a good thing.

Plus- there are 44 million people living here and quite well spread throughout the country- so those that live around Lublin or Bialystock- who may not be poor there- would be poor as compared to those of the same income that live in Warsaw or Wroclaw based on the standard of living in those regions.
Lyzko
16 Feb 2012 #11
Generally, a country's GDP/GNP will provide a pretty sure indicator of their wealth. Polish products in the States tend still to be much cheaper than those, say, from France, Germany, Scandinavia or Britain (those select goods which continue to be actually manufactured there rather than ChinaLOL!!), therefore a sign that Poland lags behind the rest of Northern Europe.

Some countries though, especially those which adopted the Euro, not surprisingly price competitively with the resr of the market, and hence are more expensive compared with in former times. They are also a lot "wealthier" in both GDP as well as respective individual incomes of their citizens:-)
a.k.
16 Feb 2012 #12
I hate this cliche nonsense define normal bla bla bla

Some may say that one is poor if one can't afford a new car, some that poor is someone who is starving. That's why we need definition.
grubas 12 | 1,384
16 Feb 2012 #13
Polish products in the States tend still to be much cheaper than those, say, from France, Germany, Scandinavia or Britain

What Polish products you talking about?The only Polish products I managed to find were:chocolate priced at thr same level as American chocolate,sardines in a can priced as other sardines in a can from I don't know where,beer priced at the level of the rest of imported beers,vodka on par or more expensive than most of imported vodka brands.So what other Polish products did you find?
Madrala
16 Feb 2012 #14
Hugo Boss brand cloths manufactured in Poland are as expensive as the rest of them. Lyzko is talking bollocks as usual.
pip 10 | 1,659
16 Feb 2012 #15
So what other Polish products did you find?

fruits and vegetables, meats, cheese and dairy, breads. of course I am talking about whole foods and not hamburger helper. Even French or German products manufactured in Poland such as Danone and Dr. Oeker are cheaper in Poland.
grubas 12 | 1,384
16 Feb 2012 #16
What are you talking about?Fruits and veggies here come from Florida and California and Danone stuff is US made.
Oh,I also found Bahlsen HIT cookies Made in Poland and the price was on par with comparable US made cookies.
pawian 221 | 24,014
16 Feb 2012 #17
Is Poland a poor country?

Yes, we are. Most Poles, when they buy a new car or mobile phone or whatever, they use those items for a few years, instead of exchanging for newer better models every year or so. I have been driving my mini van for 5 years now and am not going to replace it with anything new. I am too poor. I used my reliable Nokia phone for 6 years before exchanging it for another model.

Poland is increasing rapidly

Yes. That is why I hope in 10 or 15 years I will be able to buy a new car every year.
Varsovian 91 | 634
16 Feb 2012 #18
The villages are experiencing depopulation, which means some old people especially simply get left behind and can't manage the farm. In some areas (like my wife's home village for example) you get vulnerable people without electricity. Benefits aren't great and if you can't work the farm through mental or physical infirmity - or alcohol abuse - it's really tough. Girls don't want to marry farmers, so sex also acts as a motivator - and when the young men don't stay round to run the place it quickly deteriorates - roofs fall in on the barn for example. That's poverty. Not the sort of poverty you see in Croydon, S. London, which is a poverty of expectations.
OP slavia
16 Feb 2012 #19
and when the young men don't stay round to run the place it quickly deteriorates - roofs fall in on the barn for example.

Men want to do more ambitious things than taking care of a farm. Besides not efficient and proftiable farms have to die, that's evolution.
grubas 12 | 1,384
16 Feb 2012 #20
Most Poles, when they buy a new car or mobile phone or whatever, they use those items for a few years, instead of exchanging for newer better models every year or so.

And why would you want to do that?Dude,it is bad for enviroment.

I have been driving my mini van for 5 years now and am not going to replace it with anything new. I am too poor.

I can buy at least 3 brand new cars at any given moment and I am driving 25 y/o Jaguar and my next car will be also "historic".I am too cheap.

That is why I hope in 10 or 15 years I will be able to buy a new car every year.

Do you think that average Joe in the US can buy a new car every year?(I am talking cash not payments)
Lyzko
16 Feb 2012 #21
What products, Grubas??! Try books, all types of (paper-) written matter, chocolate e.g. Wedel etc.., sausage, beer etc... Products, just like the English word suggests:-) All are twice as INexpensive as the comensurate items from any of the other countries in Europe I've mentioned.
Varsovian 91 | 634
16 Feb 2012 #22
Slavia - running a farm can be a very ambitious thing indeed, involving lots of high level thinking, financial ability and physical skill. I presume you eat - so you should be thankful for farmers! My point is that people can get left behind and forgotten, and can suffer poverty away from any publicity, or in your case, sympathy. Change has always happened, and it's always tough - but you shouldn't be heartless.
grubas 12 | 1,384
16 Feb 2012 #23
Try books,

So you are telling me that Americans read Polish books?Get the **** out of here.

chocolate e.g. Wedel

I already said that Polish chocolate in the US does not cost any less than US made.

sausage,

Sausage?Where did you find Made in Poland sausage in the US?

beer

Polish beer is at the same price as the rest of imported beer.

All are twice as INexpensive as the comensurate items from any of the other countries in Europe I've mentioned.

Where,post links you a hole!Nothing new,you don't know ****.
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
16 Feb 2012 #24
Poland is increasing rapidly and most of western Europe is falling.

Poland average salary 11.660 it's definitely improving. Bulgaria 3,550 ? how did they let them into the EU?
Lyzko
16 Feb 2012 #25
I'm an American who reads Polish books (as you, I've no doubt practice English reading ENGLISH books, right?), furthermore, Polish imports are available in mass quantities from Polish stores throughout Greenpoint, Bklyn. and Maspeth, Queens etc..

Methinks thou art playing the Devil's Advocate, once again:-))
Ironside 53 | 12,363
16 Feb 2012 #26
Yes

Bureaucrats getting payed form overtax people do not count pawian.

Yes, I think Poland is generally poor due to bad management !
valpomike 11 | 195
16 Feb 2012 #27
Poland is doing better now, than in the past, and getting better each day. Soon they will lead the world.

Mike
a.k.
16 Feb 2012 #28
I'm an American who reads Polish books

So what that they are cheaper? It just shows no one would buy it if they was more expensive... seems that Polish literature is not very popular.

Greenpoint, Bklyn. and Maspeth, Queens

I hardly can imagine a sausage imported from Poland. How much chemistry there must be inside it? ;)
Peter Cracow
16 Feb 2012 #29
Is Poland a poor country?

We need to know what is your definition of poverty to answer it.
kondzior 11 | 1,046
16 Feb 2012 #30
It definitely is. And it is geting worse day by day.


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