I completely misjudged Londynskimonolog: youtu.be/S8RYZwQwHdQ?si=AcfGe1q6sAJN6SFf
I think I just lumped him in with the others because I was annoyed. He's alright as far as I'm concerned. Little bit of faith in Poles restored, thank you Pan.
That little grifter Urbanwlondynie can absolutely go and f*ck himself though.
One think outsiders often don't get is that the strongest criticism they can make about Poland pales into insignificance compared to the criticism from Poles themselves.
But... it's a game just for the home team. If you're a foreigner it's best if you just nood and go 'hmmm'
@mafketis I feel like Poles' criticism of Poland is often very circumstances-based and shallow. It's the economy, or it's the current government, or maybe it extends to the 'pathologies' of the working class (which the others, especially the intelligentsia, get to be very judgemental about) and so on. But they're very po-faced about the ultimate nobility, beauty and superiority they imagine of themselves and their society. "We're very educated, we're very hard-working, our food and culture are beautiful, we never had any colonies, we're very moral and Christian, we're incredibly polite, we don't drop litter, we are always the brave and perfect martyrs, the Christ of the nations."
On the other hand, we Brits really don't take ourselves very seriously. We know our weather is sh*t. We have no delusions that our food is the best in the world. We know we drink a hell of a lot and our tourists are a menace. Our own colony, the USA (or colonies if you include Canada and Aus), has managed to eclipse us utterly. Our empire is gone. We live cheek to jowl with the descendants of the peoples we colonised and enslaved - which, to anyone with a conscience and a brain, kind of invalidates any sense of national moral highground. All we really have left is our sense of humour - and our ability to take the p*ss out of ourselves.
Poles don't really have that, I don't think. They're propelled ever forward by their self-righteousness, their national martyr complex, and their belief in the superiority of their morality and their culture, because of their 'national struggle' and their hardcore Catholicism. They take themselves very seriously and criticise themselves only on a very superficial basis.
Dissimilar histories? I detect a sense that we should be ashamed of ours and Poles should be proud of theirs, and that they have a unique history of victimhood, which is what I constantly hear from Poles. "We never had any colonies". "We were invaded so much".
You forget that before becoming a naval, trading and later industrial powerhouse, Britain was largely bullied by every other surrounding power - the Vikings, the Norman French, and the Romans (further afield) too. All the sh*t Poles whine about - we were invaded and oppressed so much - happened to us, just further in the past. They aren't special.
Who has a 'similar history', when it really comes down to it? Or who has a significantly different one, when you think about it on a long-term basis?
Btw I really hate it when Poles say "we never had any colonies" like that makes them both morally superior and also means they don't have to take any moral responsibility for the refugees from the global south currently coming to Europe - as if they didn't also join in with America's middle eastern wars that completely destabilised the region. I always say, "well, we didn't lock jews in barns and burn them alive or steal their homes then they were in the camps and then threaten/kill the few survivors when they came back to reclaim their rightful belongings". They REALLY don't f*cking like that, as you can well imagine.
I tend to think the self critiscism is more private and time of reflection is done privately. British however don't mind doing it publicly and having little distance to themselves. Just a different approach
@Mr Grunwald Or, for the French, Spanish and PARTICULARLY Italians (who are completely allergic to national critical reflection and anything that isn't self-aggrandising), just not f*cking done at all.
@Mr Grunwald You're German btw right? I have to hand it to you volk, you're the only ones in Europe who have actually taken the bull by the horns, stared reality directly in the face as a people, and taken responsibility with suitable contrition. If only the Italians and Japanese would finally do the same re. WW2 - they're still acting like they're basically spotless or it was "just the regime of the time". The Japs are particularly horrible for this - they've still not shown any kind of shame for what they did to the Chinese and Koreans, to name just a few, the absolute c*nts. Poles, btw, who hold historical grudges with white knuckles, really do not give a sh*t about any of that, though, or the fact that these countries were shoulder to shoulder with the enemy that occupied their country and destroyed their capital - maybe they just love pizza and sushi too much? Meanwhile, "waaaah, betrayal at Jalta!!!"
@Miloslaw Lol you pr*ck, I spelled it that way because it's the way Polaks do. Purposeful pisstake? "You betray us at the Jalta and gift whole Poland to Stalin!". You plastic c*nt, you really don't know that Poles write it with the J because that's how you'd write it - J instead of Y - if you were saying it po Polsku? Crazy that I understand your country of ancestry better than you do, you Polystyrene Polak.
@Miloslaw You absolute dupek, I spelled it 'wrong' on purpose because I was spelling it the way Polish dupeks (actual Polish dupeks, not plastic ones who grew up in Peterborough or whatever) do when they make that same stupid accusation.
You are very, very plastic if you didn't recognise the Polish spelling of "Jałta". Duzo lolzy mordo.
You are literally too stupid to make it worth my while responding to you, because you don't even understand half the insults I graciously grant your half-literate arse. I show my hatred of you much more than any hated of Poles because you're the stupidest person on this board and I can't believe you think you can start sh*t with me.
Btw who's a "British arsehole"? Where were you born and where do you live right now? Rather be a 'British arsehole' than some dick with a -ski name and an identify crisis who thinks he's Big Mickey Polack despite not having even lived in the country as long as I have.
Would you like some Polish lessons btw? I'm sure they can be arranged, so you can reconnect with your 'proud heritage'.
and I can't believe you think you can start sh*t with me.
That's because you are an idiot and don't know me Whoresore.
despite not having even lived in the country as long as I have.
Yeah? And why do you live there? Because you were a failure in Britain! Only retirees move from Britain to Poland, except for total losers! You moved there because you had to and hate Poland and Poles.Live with it!
You are literally too stupid to make it worth my while responding to you,
Or is it because you are too scared of me Whoresore? Go and treat your vaginal disease before you post again and stop sleeping with drunken, infected tramps off the street!
If I hang about here and pass a B2 Polish exam (which I think you'll never do despite your 'proud heritage', given that you're obviously stupid as a pile of rocks and can't even speak one language well) I can live and work wherever I like in the EU, eventually retiring somewhere sunny.
Meanwhile, you're resigned to a pebbledashed semi in some godawful town - half a Pole, half a Brit, less than either, only chatting sh*t.
Drunken, infected tramps off the street? Nope, your matko, siostra and babcia were too busy tonight. Go and Google Translate those Polish words if you need to btw Pan Plastic.
And once again: if I'm a loser for being in your country of ancestry, what does that make your poor ancestors for ending up in mine without two pennies to rub together? Was your dad/granddad a loser? Sounds a lot like it to me. Sounds like you come from an entire family of losers. Are you the biggest one?
Lol "only retirees" btw. Looks like you've never met any of the "Dave and Magdas" who moved here during the last five/ten or so years, after all the Dino cashiers Magdalena went to school with convinced her that "Breetain is feeneeshed, everyone comes back to Polska" and she bullied Dave into uprooting the family and coming back, only to realise that life in small, grey town of Shitholeowo makes Slough look like Manhattan and San Francisco put together. Feel very sorry for those folks, lol.
I recommend reading my profile, check out Wikipedia about battle of Grunwald in 1410 and my surname originated from somewhere in Pommerania. But no, I am not German
Your not the first nor the last probably to make that mistake *sigh*
@Paulina It's not really a case of 'picking' places, or at least it wasn't for me. It's often a combination of existing connections and relationships, circumstances, and so on. And like I said, I used to like it a lot here - still do on a good day. I sure as f*ck don't like EVERYTHING about it though.
Re. Living and working throughout the EU: thing called 'Brexit' happened. Bye bye freedom of movement. Without being a citizen, I only have the right to live and work here, where I have residency, because I was here before doomsday happened. But, cliched long-term gameplan for a Brit (and increasing numbers of Poles, actually) I would love to retire by the sea somewhere with a nice climate, and for a decade or two in between, live and work in some cool European cities. So, stay in Poland, try and make my peace with the annoying parts (which I am, believe it or not, really trying to work on) and then get the passport, hop somewhere else...
@Paulina It's not that. I'm not going to give my entire life story to strangers on the internet, sorry. Relationships can also include friends, btw. I am not classic British guy who met Polish girl in UK and moved back with her though, as I've said many times. Nothing wrong with that but it's not my story.
@mafketis Some things I DO like, for everyone who thinks I'm just a hater:
- Kielecki mayo. The best. THIS is one thing I don't begrudge them having in our supermarkets, I completely get it. - The Warsaw craft beer scene (until it got expensive...) - Most trips across the city taking less than an hour - How new and shiny the metro is compared to ramshackle, packed old 100+-year-old tube. - Golonka. Even if it's so incredibly fatty. - Certain Polish TV serials (even if they tend to feature the same 5 or so actors all the time) - All the Vietnamese people here and omnipresent access to great Vietnamese food - Spectacular views in the mountains even if you have to half-kill yourself to see many of them. - How people you actually know (not randoms making spiteful comments on YouTube videos) are mostly actually really sweet and nice. - Spring onion crisps (not just in the form of Pringles) - The summers when it's not pissing it down with thunderstorms
