IS POLAND INFLUENTIAL?

I think most Poles want to be like others in western nations. Sad but true. Who looks to Poland for influence??
Discuss.

Bollocks.I would rather want Poland to be like Japan or South Korea than like Spain,UK or Italy.As for being being influential Poland simply does not have the land mass nor population large enough to be a major player in World's politics like US or China or India.Poland is in World's 3rd "division" and that's OK.I don't think many people in Poland worry about Poland being influential or not.I certainly don't.In my opinion Poland needs to mind her own bussines,get richer and richer,get some nukes and don't worry about being influential.

Niech na całym świecie wojna byle Polska wieś spokojna.

what do you mean by 3rd division?

I mean usually we look at countries if they are 1st world, 2nd world, or 3rd world.
Poland used to be 2nd world because of communism but is transfering to 1st world.

I used football analogy.Using boxing analogy I would put Poland in middleweight division.I didn't mean 3rd world.

open your mind pal - 3rd tier country? - any better?

Yeah,this is exactly what I meant (Landmass and population wise).I probably shouldn't have use that analogy because in US there is only MLS and no divisions or leagues like in Europe.My bad.

Grubas I agree with most of what you say.

Poland should try to be more like Japan or South Korea than Spain, UK or Italy.

Poland should just try to do its best and not go out of its way to please every country or ethnic group around it.
The last time it did that and allowed just about every Tom Dick and Harry ethnic group into it, those groups became fifth columns in Poland and worked with Poland's enemies to destroy Poland (1795-1917).

Poles as individuals and as a nation should have goals, strive for them, try to do their best and don't sweat the rest. As long as Poland learns from its past mistakes and the mistakes of other countries, works hard and most importantly.....increases its population, the influence part will take care of itself.

I agree.

And also the nuke part lol.

This is the ranking of countries by their wealths and Europe countries have been ranked as 1st world due to their wealths. But, if you look at their debts per GDP, 19 of 20 top countries with big debts per Gdp are Western Europe countries which means that Europe countries have been wealthy by debts. Hence, these countries have been feeling the economic crisis most. Reality was that Western Europe countries were not really wealthy, hence, they were not 1st world countries. Western Europe is between 2nd and 3rd world in reality. Poland is better than them and 2nd world. Weapon power of countries isn't important anymore either as they can't make any big wars anymore due to globalization that made the world smaller and it is difficult to tell ordinary people why mass wars are necessary. Poland can be influential only if it is taken as example, with its real sector which doesn't show/overrate itself speculatively like Western Europe have been doing.

6 million dollar question !! ....... and I don,t think they,ll ever learn.

Your survey shows that 80 percent of Poles are happy with their lives. It also highlights that while they are generally happy with their careers or their level of education they are at the same time increasingly dissatisfied with their personal relations regarding family, friends and their sex lives.

gospodarka.gazeta.pl/gospodarka/1,54641,10007514,Individualist_Poles_happy_with_their_careers__dissatisfied.html

Some good and true points in this article.

The enlightened among the nations look indeed to Poland for its geopolitical as well as its historical, i.e. cultural, stature! Some years ago, the Consul General of Poland gave a lecture here at the Consulate Headquarters in New York City, which I and some Polish acquaintances were priviledged to attend. Adamowski's talk was entitled "Polsko! Dokąd idziesz?" (Polonia, quo vadis?), and he too bemoaned the decline in his country's once highly-held rank in Europe.

One of many reasons which he gave was that Poland, he concluded, was a nation bursting with ideas, but somehow, at the end of the day, they failed to coalesce into a positive or productive whole. Odd, as I was listening, I was struck by a similar TV interview with the that time president of Brazil, Ignacio Lula, who seemed to be saying the exact same thing, only in a different language-:)

Adamowski concluded that the scourge of anti-semitism must be liften forever from the Polish landscape if she is ever to reclaim her status among Europe's and the world's member nations! He stressed proactive and practical teamwork instead of theoretical diatribes about the rest of Poland's neighbors had allegedly done to her throughout history. He further castigated his fellow countrymen for their, in his words "wstydliwy" self-pity and eternal whining.

Politically speaking, these words sounded a lot like those of Lolel Wojtyła.

Poland is actually influential to countries like Belarus or Ukraine.

Because today counrties such as Ukraine and Belarus depend on Poland, in stark contrast to during Soviet times.

Interesting to read this:

".... only 12% of Poles believed that the crash was in some way engineered or was the result of a conspiracy to assassinate the late president.... . ...... This was an absolute shock for me and showed that Poles are a much more rational and level-headed people than many may think."

and this

"..... (80%) .. they believe everybody's salary should be at a similar level. It is in this respect that Poles are very egalitarian..... "

What do they keep talking about these nukes?

Maybe because it is a good idea?