money in the countryside for the first time where many people now have their first cars and computers
Quite correct. We can very well observe this, both on the roads and on Internet fora.
@Ironside: it is highly unlikely that we will ever agree on most political matters. People can simply observe what's going on in Poland, and draw their own conclusions (depending on the level of their education, upbringing, and common sense), so I don't want to dwell on these topics too much.
The question of culture, however, is an extremely interesting one, and I think the misunderstanding here stems from the nature of culture itself, as well as from the definition of the term.
We have to remember that Poland, in terms of culture, is probably the most fascinating country in the world. Being a unique combination of Latin civilization with strong Slavic elements (with dominance of the former), having assimilated and creatively developed elements of multitudinous cultures and traditions (as varied as Swedish, Dutch, Tatar, Jewish, Scottish, German, Lithuanian and many others), Polish culture is extremely rich and awe-inspiring. It is, therefore, obviously, hardly possible for anyone who really understood it and made a deep study of it, to be interested in, or inspired by, culture of any other country. In this, I believe, we can agree.
We must not, however, forget that culture is not only the most fascinating poetry of the 20th century (in the opinion of Иосиф Бродский, for example), one of the most beautiful and most difficult languages in the world (mowa polska, "groźniejsza niż burza, i od słowików miększa"), or the purest form of Catholicism (untouched by the neo-marxist, liberal nonsense flowing in streams from Vatican these days). These elements, although undoubtedly vital, do
not exhaust the definition of culture.
Culture also has its
material aspect (things like technology, economy, infrastructure etc.) and in this regard, I think, German culture has a lot to offer; this part of material culture is quite attractive to Poles (look at Poznań, and Wielkopolska in general, for example - Prussian influences there were very positive in some aspects and they strengthened and enriched our culture).
