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Post by valpomike on Jul 24, 2008 18:33:29 GMT 1
Last night at a meeting, lead by a man, who said, he lived in Poland for a few years, and goes back very often, and since he was in charge, he told the group, that most of the young people living in other than the big cities, in Poland, live in fear that the Russians, or someone like them, will again take over. Because of this, they will not open up to outsiders, and keep to them selfs in fear.
I told him he was nuts, and due to the fact, that he was in charge of this group, and everyone thinks he is correct, and did not want to hear my side, so I got up and left, saying, it is a shame that you want this group to think what you say, and only what you say, it the truth. I got very upset, because, I did not, and do not find with his thinking.
Please post your findings on this, so in time to come, I can show him what the real Poland thinks, and show the full group also, and if I am in error, I will stand corrected.
Ask others, and post your findings, please.
Michael Dabrowski
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Jul 25, 2008 4:30:08 GMT 1
Last night at a meeting, lead by a man, who said, he lived in Poland for a few years, and goes back very often, and since he was in charge, he told the group, that most of the young people living in other than the big cities, in Poland, live in fear that the Russians, or someone like them, will again take over. Because of this, they will not open up to outsiders, and keep to them selfs in fear. I told him he was nuts, and due to the fact, that he was in charge of this group, and everyone thinks he is correct, and did not want to hear my side, so I got up and left, saying, it is a shame that you want this group to think what you say, and only what you say, it the truth. I got very upset, because, I did not, and do not find with his thinking. Please post your findings on this, so in time to come, I can show him what the real Poland thinks... Mike, I can tell that you are very upset by this. I think we need more information from someone like Bonobo, Tufta or Loco to figure this out. Can I ask what this meeting was about and what is the background/expertise of the man in charge of it? That may help to shed some light on his comments. It is interesting that the man in question specifically referenced young, rural Polish people and not the population in general. I wonder if his comments are at all related to the proposed missile shield project between the U.S. and Poland? Poland is wary of Russia and wants US security guarantees - Patriot missiles stationed in Poland - to shore up their defenses. Bonobo brought this up in another thread: Poland Rejects U.S. Missile Defense Plan
Poland on Friday rejected a U.S. offer to boost its air defenses in return for basing a missile shield on Polish soil, but the Polish prime minister said will remain open for further talks with Washington.
"We have not reached a satisfactory result on the issue of increasing the level of Polish security," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news conference after studying the U.S. proposal.
Without citing Russia's opposition to the plan explicitly, Tusk argued that placing a missile defense facility in Poland, a Soviet satellite during the Cold War, would create new security threats.
Tusk said talks will continue. "I wouldn't talk about the end, suspension, or interruption," he said. "Negotiations, in my opinion, are continuing."
The U.S. wants to place 10 missile interceptors in northern Poland as part of a shield against a possible attack by Iran or a "rogue state." Complete details of the offer have not been made public.The insider info from the Polish government: To compensate the danger resulting from the existence of the rocket shield on Polish territory, Americans are ready to offer Poland only one mobile battery of Patriot rockets under American command, deployed for 4 months a year, while Poles demand a few batteries solely under Polish command all year round. |
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Post by tufta on Jul 25, 2008 17:17:03 GMT 1
Michael, my three cents. Poles in general do not live in fear at all. On the opposite - we are in the group of countries worldwide with highest rising optimism and subjective 'feeling of happiness' (first position here amomg EU countries, if I remember corectly). Rising happiness and optimism doesn't go with fear, that's for sure. However the guy might have been right in relation to PART (small one) of OLDER (not young) Poles living in rural areas, but some in the cities too. Especially part of those who actually remember the World War Two and Stalinism. I understand them very well, even if most representatives of this group were able to come to terms with the horrors daunting their memory. As this was unspeakable horror. Yet another problem in Poland s instrumentalization of this residual fears, especially against Germany, for the sake of short-sighted political gain (read: votes). This is a real problem as was in the recent past used by one of the leading political parties. This was on the side of emotions. Now on the side of cold-blooded politics. Poland is situated in such a position on the continent that no matter how the present intenational situaation may look, she must always look 'many moves ahead', as chess-champions do. Not out of fear, like not out of fear Americans, for instance, want to have anti-missle shield (those who want, that is). Only such thinking and acting accordingly gives us a feeling of genuine safety  |
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Post by valpomike on Jul 26, 2008 17:14:42 GMT 1
I had hoped to get more feedback, to try and make my case with this guy.
Please enter what you think also, if you have not yet.
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 3, 2008 22:33:56 GMT 1
Last night at a meeting, lead by a man, who said, he lived in Poland for a few years, and goes back very often, and since he was in charge, he told the group, that most of the young people living in other than the big cities, in Poland, live in fear that the Russians, or someone like them, will again take over. Because of this, they will not open up to outsiders, and keep to them selfs in fear. Michael Dabrowski As for the fear of Russians, I can say it is non-existent among the youth living in the Polish countryside. They have bigger problems than that. Only older generations, as Tufta said, are wary of Russians or Germans, two nationalities which made a lot of mess in Poland once.  However, if we talk about the lack of opennes and self imposed isolation, yes, I can say there is a grain of truth in it but I think it is a characteristic of all rural people from any country. They feel inferior to other compatriots, especially those who live in cities, let alone foreigners who seem creatures from the outer world. Yes, Polish rural areas are full of reserved people who have problems with being easy going because they suffer from inferiority complex. There is s derogatory term for a rural person: wieśniak (wieś=village) Calling somebody that means: You are a brutish primitive moron. Rural people, in fear of being called this, are not very forward. |
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