Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture"

I've noticed, no one ever apologizes here, except plastic Polacks I guess.

Ah, Havok, I like you posts to be honest, you have a good sense of humour and you're a bit mad (like the rest of us) but you seem to have a little chip on your shoulder when it comes to Poland. Hell if that was my only fault, I'd be happy :)

I base my opinion on reports from average Polish people

also, i would like to add that 50% of Polish registered votters did not vote, how else wold you interpret this fact?


well, because you seem to ignore the facts and just rant about something irrelevant, I'm not sure how else can I reason with you? Would you listen if I made the Giant Jesus speak up and tell you the same thing?


nah, I don't, some people here are just annoying, that's all

Are there many average Polish people in Texas?





I live here not you.


You're into projecting, how's that workin out for ya?
So cut to the chase, when and why did you leave Poland or are you of Polish extraction?

Let me ask you a question too, SeanBM.

Why do you speak English here and admire American culture while still living in Poland?

Bill Hicks, really? This made me laugh at loud when i saw it in your profile.

He's got a cool message though, I'll give you that.


You my friend are truly an envious person and a hypocrite. and you're a silly poser!

Go ahead and start another thread in Polish and see if i care.

You cherish everything about the US, cloths, the music, and the culture while living in your homeland, but then you log in to PF day after day and call Polish-Americans plastic. LMAO

You're so pathetic kid...


I'll keep you guessing.

Where is my response bitter or condescending?? Isn't writing "we carry Poland in our hearts, unlike the Poles in the country" not condescending? I wonder...


No, saying that one has to be a lawyer to make a change and defining lawyers as "helping the poor and unhappy" is naive.


I'm a garden designer :) But that's completely irrelevant, even a cleaner can make a difference, as long and she's working to the best of her abilities.


I hope not. But I'd be well over 30 by the time I'd finish, and closer to 40 by the time I was allowed to work on my own. I've already received my education - don't need or want to study any more. I also find law studies incredibly boring.


Funny. Give me examples of me being rude or vicious. And that's not me who's close-minded here :D

You assume way too much, I am not Polish.

Huh? Transparency Int'l says corruption in Poland is dropping every year, with a particularly big jump in 2009. Poland's position on the worldwide corruption list: 2007 - 61, 2008 - 58, 2009 - 49 (higher position= less corruption).

transparency.org

In European terms, it's still bad though. Not exactly sharing reputable company around those rankings.

It's doing better than all its neighbors except Germany, and is perceived as being less corrupt than Italy. Top 20% of nations globally is not sharing reputable company? What kind of candyland do you come?

Sounds like damning with faint praise to me.


LOL now that's really damning with faint praise!


Nestling alongside countries like Costa Rica, Cape Verde, Lithuania - no, I would not call that reputable.

Look, I'm not criticising but let's not get carried away that corruption levels in Poland are low enough not to be concerned about if doing business.

Top 20% globally certainly isn't terrible, but still.

Hold on there, Bubba, I think you need a remedial class in basic statistics. You're comparing two separate lists, created by two separate organizations (Forbes and World Bank) using different algorithms. That's a big no-no, you know. This is Poland's position on the same list in 2008 & 2009:

World Bank's Doing Business: 2011 - 73, 2010 - 70 (up 3 places)
Forbes' Best Countries for Business: 2008 - 33, 2009 - 35 (down 2 places)

doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/poland

forbes.com/lists/2008/6/biz_bizcountries08_Best-Countries-for-Business_Rank_2.html

forbes.com/lists/2010/6/best-countries-10_Best-Countries-for-Business_Rank_2.html

Yes, because god knows it's just payoffs and protection rackets in those countries. Or wait, I meant old people and retirement clubs..

Anyway, I run my main business in one of those uber-corrupt neighboring countries. Have done for almost 7 years now. I don't notice much of a difference between running a company there and in Germany other than the cost of doing business in Germany is a bit higher. Auditing is the same, accounting is the same, permits are pretty much the same. I'm not sure that anyone competent would shy away from doing business in any EU member country now a days...

Well I never said that but I would have reservations, yes.

What do you consider disreputable about the business climate in these countries (and Poland for that matter)?

Well, could be mere bias on my part, and perhaps a little unfair, but 20 years in a commercial environment and advice from those more experienced than I am has led me to believe there are likely to be problems re for example, credit and/or attempts to bypass regulations if dealing with:

Central/South America
Former Eastern bloc countries
Africa generally
Italy
Greece

Others too obviously but they have tended to be irrelevant, business wise, as far as we are concerned.

What problems with credit? If anything, credit is easier to access here than in Western countries. What do you mean by attempts to bypass regulations? The perception seems to be based on business practices of the 90s instead of the situation on the ground today.

You forgot to add Central and Southwest Asia and the Middle East to your list...

Among its Central Euro pals Poland is doing quite well: Hungary - 46, Poland - 49, Czech Republic - 52, Slovakia - 56 (lower number=better). I wouldn't call the above bunch "disreputable".

I meant credit in the sense that we won't get paid!


Difficult to give actual examples without being too specific but I'm talking about being asked to post or predate documents, being asked to classify products so they will attract less customs attention, things like that.

Actually Convex, I think we are talking about slightly different things anyway: you about doing business in these countries, me about doing business with these countries.

You're talking about doing business with me...that makes it even more interesting :)

Contract law is easy to enforce over here in the wild East. Like I said, the perception seems to be that Poland (and the east in general) is still like it was in the 90s. You can see that in the "corruption perception index" :)

Yes, fair enough. And I did mention unfair bias too.

But the examples I mentioned I have experienced myself - recently.

You're right. I'm sorry. I slapped together two unrelated statistics from my previous thread about business.
All I can tell you at this point is that I learn and adapt. I want to be like them real Polish people, you see?

Everyone seems to be doing this on PF and no one says anything. It’s about time someone started verifying all the fax here. Why did you have to start with me though?

Heck, even the Swiss try that game!

You should see the lengths that the Swiss go to in order not to pay customs duty.

But anyway, dodging a few taxes doesn't mean much. I don't do it, but if it's Poles doing the dodging, well, their call.

On the other hand, nothing is worse than "Polacks" who come to Poland to work cash-in-hand in language schools. Not only do they patronise people, but they evade tax too - and live here illegally!

The worst thing is having Russkies coming to Poland and distorting their identity.

Do you know many? I don't.

Look in the mirror LOL

I just looked at my passport, says "British Citizen".

Odd. The place of birth is also in Scotland.

Very strange.

What's also odd and very strange is how somebody who claims to be a "British Citizen" and "from Scotland" is so sensitive about anything said about the Russians.

So - why hasn't one Polack commented on the list of Polacks that I provided?

This must surely be as offensive as it gets, no?

/Polock-Johnnys.gif - POLOCK!

Or is it just like others, choosing to be "selectively" offended by things?

I dunno. Maybe they only want to comment on Russkies? ;)