Not the (digital-edition) cover I got this week, and the contents of the magazine aren't all celebratory about Poland. I've got my fingers crossed that Poles will choose wisely.
Yes. Ukraine was part of the USSR, after all (though not by choice). And neighbors over the centuries do have disputes on occasion. But Ukraine and Poland have so much to gain by standing united against Russia. So, I keep my 🤞!
If Poland is successful it must be nearly time for Russia and Germany to divide her up between themselves, again, for the third time. Or is it the fourth?
There's a remarkable resilience in the Polish national character that means they always rise again.
A general strike is non-violent and utilitarian. It seems a pragmatic, rather than “extreme,” action.
I’d reserve “extreme” for a regime abducting, trafficking & imprisoning people in foreign concentration camps—violating constitutional due process & a centuries-old habeas corpus standard.
I especially like about Poland how a bunch of “farmers” can just shut down the border with Ukraine whenever they feel like it, and the gov’t is powerless to do anything about it. That’s normal, isn’t it?
What's remarkable about it? Racists told all the Polish people to fuck off, some even asking the ones they knew "when are you going home?" because of putin's brexshit.
The far right knows the damage they will do can never be repaired by any new administration in one term. What’s more, the damage can be used to acquire new powers which help to hold on to power. It’s a win, win.
As an Argentinian, I can say that a The Economist issue celebrating success of a country is the publishing equivalent of a blow-off-top in the equity markets.
Same thing happened with Brazil.
I hope Poland is the exception.
I was in Krakow in October 2019 and loved the young vibrant city. They invested in preserving their history in many ways. I wished I could stay more than 3 days.
That's OK. 👌 You just neutralized the jinx! 😉
They actually are a heck of a hopeful story, and along with Finland, Sweden and Norway, a real bulwark and deterence toward Russia I think...
I keep reading articles about this & I am here for it! 😍🤩If ever there was a time for the sun to shine on a remarkable people & country, it is NOW! ☀️
Militarily too, they are NOT hanging around with Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Poland is exceptional.
My son migrated to Poland for the love, they married 11 years ago today and are still very happy and have 2 children. He learnt Polish early on and has fully embraced the culture, he loves it too.
Given their anti-abortion apartheid and disregard for violence against women, I find The Economist’s is a case of premature, negligent journalism, their motives suspect, and their understanding of Poland’s questionable relationship with equal rights inadequate.
When Ireland was a normal caring country Poland was going to a recession they came here worked hard and sent money home and were treated withthe respect and decency they deserved .👏👏👏👏
"Pretty good" is already very good, at least to me.
In 1980 Lech Wałesa was saying "we could be another Japan".
Poland was falling apart economically at the time. I think most of us Poles did not believe him literally then, we took up this slogan nevertheless in an act of irrational defiance.
Poland, at least, seems to understand that Putin has every intention of invading them, so I do have hope it can be avoided. Vlad is burning up his firmament, to double down on Ukraine, and the Russian people go along until they abruptly and homicidally don't, so...
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Economically Poland is rock solid, with close ties to Germany and a solid member of the EU it can only develop further, lower wages, well educated population with a solid work ethic, strong family life, and a determination to make capitalism work.
The potential of much of the EU is so overlooked. Many of the western nations are struggling, but Romania and Poland are economic miracles. The economic potential of Ukraine is massive. Estonia and Finland perhaps the best nations on earth. Austria and Germany are amazing societies
Europe is still the best place to live in the world. It has great education and provides opportunities to its people. Everyone has obtainable health care mostly free. Freedom of speech is radically protected, freedom of religion and writing is enshrined in their political systems.
I have lived in the UK and US, also spent time in almost all the EU nations. The EU provides not only great economic opportunity but a rich culture and massive diversity. It is the best place to live on earth.
nah. Poland is Resilient. Tusk proves it daily.
(the anthem...) "Poland will never die"
Been visiting Poland on+off since 1991, even more regularly since 2014.
Always Thoroughly Impressed by Poland and the Polish in general, and my polish colleagues.
Would love to work there a few months.
Both Applebaum and Sikorski supported interventions that destabilized entire regions, all under the cover of “human rights,” while covertly or overtly backing:
• Wahhabi-linked insurgents in Syria (via media spin, disinfo campaigns, and think tank networks).
• The rehabilitation of Salafi-jihadist groups as “moderate opposition.”
• The use of anti-Russian and anti-Ba’athist propaganda to prepare Western audiences for military or proxy escalation.
Yet a good number of Polish complain about the EU who made them rich and have no real friends anywhere (not the Germans, not the French, not the Ukrainians) Ungrateful people.
Applebaum’s entire career is built on dressing imperial propaganda in the language of elite liberalism. She is a complete fraud, a non-academic, a tool of interventionist wars of aggression. She works for the NED, and her entire history is consistently under the service of neoliberalism.
Poland is growing very well. It's just scary in the sense that Poland is conservative and anti-immigration, and some Right Wing people in Europe use that narrative to justify their growth.
How has Poland recovered so quickly from the authoritarian party (Law & Order I think?) rigging the courts and whatnot. Seemed like they were on a quick slide to being the next Hungary?
The short answer is, it has not - not fully anyway. And if Nawrocki wins (of which there's a 50% chance) then it may not. But the country seems to have its own momentum, the economy motoring even through Law & Justice's tenure. And the illiberal slide was never anywhere near as bad as in Hungary
The Poles are built different. They've got that never give up, dig in your heels Slavic stubbornness, & they have a long tradition of killing people who try to push them around. Also, they currently have the largest army in Europe, so Putin might want to tread carefully.
I see you met my Polish relatives. The most stubborn people on Earth. I learn as a child Never Trust Russia and I teach my children Never Trust Russia.
Interesting! I’m hosting a Polish Exchange student this summer so I’m trying to learn more! And I saw that Lech Walesa is doing a speaking tour this Fall so I can’t wait to hear that!
Largest army in 🇪🇺! Ukraine has the largest army in Europe. Europe needs them both to stave off a Russia that remains obsessed with its own imperial ambitions.
Putin can be as obsessed as he likes, he's got almost no military* left. If Biden had called his nuclear bluff & dropped a Marine expeditionary force in Kyiv this stupid shit would be over by now.
*modern equipment, i mean. His supply of warm bodies is endless.
At the cost of Western European workers living standards. Fat EU judges with their over-large pay packets decided to lower West European living standards to siphon West European wealth to East European exploitative business.
I dare say that if Putin attempts to take Poland, the valor and brave resistance exhibited by the Poles in 1939 will be incredibly increased. Putin better be really careful.
Jaysus, give it a week or 2. We have a hooligan, machete wielding, right wing property stealing fuck up in the pipeline for presidency. Think of it "quarter trump minus dowry" situation....
The optimistic view is that every country eventually has to face its own deficiencies and weaknesses, and many emerge stronger - Germany being the most extreme example. While the near future seems likely to involve a lot of pain and conflict, if good people keep pressing forward there’s hope.
Poland was never fully rebuild after WW2, in terms of a widely understood infrastructure (including "soft" infrastructure). Once the necessary investments in this base were done after 1989 (much of this with EU help), the whole economic machinery reached it's proper potential.
The Economist celebrating anyone is a dire warning that they are about to suffer horribly. It is a mouthpiece for the City of London and its interests; I remember them celebrating Brazil before Bolsonaro, EU austerity against the PIGS, Turkey at the start of Erdogan etc.
As a granddaughter of a Polish immigrant. I say as smart and capable as the people of Poland are I am not surprised. Between Germany and Russia they had a lot to recover from and endure
God I hope that's the case. I've been looking at how long it took other countries to restore democracy after authoritarianism took over. Some are hopeful, many are depressing
The three Baltic countries are also excellent examples how post-soviet countries can become. Joined EU and Nato on "day one". And they're all three solid democracies with stable economic ground.
Today I heard two separate interviews with this remarkable woman, one of which was an entire "The Rest Is Politics". She's well worth listening to if you get the chance.
A presidential election is coming up on June 1st (2nd turn of voting). I worry greatly for my fellow Poles; although the candidate of the KO party (equivalent of Democrat) got the most votes, the combined votes for all right-leaning parties exceed that of all left-leaning parties.
Optimism is appreciated. The color of the font will be judged prophetic, unfortunately imo. The failures of the Republican Hoover administration in understanding and reacting to Japanese aggression in China is more than matched by Trump’s dismal failures in both the Ukraine and Middle East.
Read some history books. Norman Davis would be a good start. They never wanted our human capital. They just want to kill our people and extract resources. Google lens this. And then read about why until today we can feel russian occupation.
Ukraine lost more people in WWII both in relative and absolute terms, than any country in Europe. It lost 40% of its population. I'm not downplaying what happened to Poland. Rather, it's a matter of being factually correct.
Yeah well Stalin was behind a lot of the starving and killing. Last time I looked Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union in the 1940’s. Not the same thing as invasion. Right?
The Holodomor was 1932-33. The Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The Nazis starved millions to death, including about 2.1m Soviet POWs; they murdered millions by shooting and gas. The Nazis were extremely prejudiced against Slavic peoples;
their original plan was to murder 30-40m of them by starvation. Hitler admitted towards the end of the war that he'd made a mistake by killing so many Ukrainians, as he cd hv used them against Stalin & for slave labor. Most Westerners to this day have no idea what the Nazis did on the eastern front.
There's no reason to be defensive, BTW. I'm fully aware of what Stalin did. I've sat through too many nights reading about his mass murder in such detail that I thought I was going to lose my mind.
Look again 😉 Those frontiers were quite "flexible". Until the division of Poland between Germany and URSS in the end of 1939, Ukraine was divided between Poland and URSS. In 1941, Germany again. New parts of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic were not recognised until the end of II World War.
So I’m a genetic genealogist. When I said “Poland”
I was referring to the people that had inhabited that area for 100s of generations even have their own language, not some arbitrary line developed by politicians.
Very relevant nuance. However, those arbitrary lines and politicians usually decide who kills who, what uniforms they wear, and who invaded and opressed who...even more than ethnicity, which is always complex, from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
In WWII itself, yes. But if you exclude the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the percentage lost was higher in Serbia. And if you include the aftermath of WWII, then it is Greece that suffered the highest % losses, with 1/7 Greeks dead during the combined WWII and Greek civil war turmoil.
And if you count parts of the Russian empire separately, every fourth or perhaps even every third died in Belarus during ww2. Ukraine is about the same proportion as Poland: 17%
Exactly. That’s why I said it matters who and how you count. For Ukraine, just as for Poland, if you exclude Holocaust victims, the % drops below that one of either Greece or Serbia. But for example, on my ancestral island in Greece, the loss was about 25%, more than 3/4 due to the Holocaust.
Umm partitioned and mass murdered by Hitler and Stalin as the West watched. Then mass murdered again and all of Poland basically partitioned by the Soviet Union. That kind of suffering.
Poland is, indeed, an example of hope in these dark times. I personally hope our Democratic politicians are talking to Polish representatives to grasp how to fight authoritarianism.
Poland’s economy has been growing since this country became member of EU. The growth has been independent of the political situation. The strongly motivated business community has done a tremendous job. At the same time the political situation has to be described as a catastrophe. People are divided
Doing a massive buildup of military and weapon systems buys isn’t what I’d call economic and political success.
I’m glad they’re doing it, but this is about survival not success.
Poland has a very very good memory about how badly they were fucked over in WW2 and then by the Russians. They will fight a war of attrition before they go back to that.
But again, I understand them, but this is all a diplomatic step backwards because too few want to call Putin a wolf.
They had to because under Trumpian 'leadership'(yea right)America is a lying bitch and can never be trusted,so NATO(stepping up) and Europe must create strength to withstand human bullshit:communism,Putin,Xi,Fatty3,Iran; Hungary and Anatolia are suspect and I would never trust those two.....
My biggest concern is this is just temporary. Canada has some very serious problems that aren't being adequately addressed, and once the anti-trump backlash wears off they, and the rest of the free world will swing right. Canada has a median income comparable to Mississippi and home prices of Cali
I was definitely wrong about California's median home price. I'm sincerely asking you to tell me where I'm wrong; this is what the data I have tells me.
Food prices and scarcity among the poor in Saskatchewan is a big enough problem that 27 indigenous people were diagnosed with scurvy last year and doctors issued a warning in Toronto to be on the lookout for sings of scurvy.
What political success? That country is run by catholic integralist half fascist. What is there to celebrate? I curse the day when they were allowed into the EU
Political success when the right wing presidential candidate, Nawrocki, was less than 2% behind the pro-democracy candidate, Trzaskowski? If the pro-democracy candidate wins, then you can call it a political success.
Comments
There's a remarkable resilience in the Polish national character that means they always rise again.
We need a General Strike here to overwhelm MAGA: https://generalstrike.us/strikecard
@generalstrikeus.bsky.social
A general strike might do it.
I’d reserve “extreme” for a regime abducting, trafficking & imprisoning people in foreign concentration camps—violating constitutional due process & a centuries-old habeas corpus standard.
I especially like about Poland how a bunch of “farmers” can just shut down the border with Ukraine whenever they feel like it, and the gov’t is powerless to do anything about it. That’s normal, isn’t it?
Same thing happened with Brazil.
I hope Poland is the exception.
They actually are a heck of a hopeful story, and along with Finland, Sweden and Norway, a real bulwark and deterence toward Russia I think...
Militarily too, they are NOT hanging around with Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Poland is exceptional.
In 1980 Lech Wałesa was saying "we could be another Japan".
Poland was falling apart economically at the time. I think most of us Poles did not believe him literally then, we took up this slogan nevertheless in an act of irrational defiance.
Its a future South Korea
He was EU Council president too.
Smart guy. Creates a smart economy.
Europe is doing great and going places.
(the anthem...) "Poland will never die"
Been visiting Poland on+off since 1991, even more regularly since 2014.
Always Thoroughly Impressed by Poland and the Polish in general, and my polish colleagues.
Would love to work there a few months.
• Wahhabi-linked insurgents in Syria (via media spin, disinfo campaigns, and think tank networks).
• The use of anti-Russian and anti-Ba’athist propaganda to prepare Western audiences for military or proxy escalation.
Poland that we can learn from in the US? Seems like it’s been on the edge of authoritarianism a bit.
It's called greed.
What's the endgame? He is gearing up to commit atrocities against Americans.
Premature as fuck
*modern equipment, i mean. His supply of warm bodies is endless.
src: https://crookedtimber.org/2012/04/30/tough-clear-headed-reform/#comment-412493
Still one of my favorite @dsquareddigest.bsky.social lines.
https://www.etui.org/topics/social-dialogue-collective-bargaining/social-legislation/the-interpretation-by-the-european-court-of-justice/ruffert-c-346-06
They know their stuff.
Said like a true Pole 🤗
And won't succeed.
Not even with Trumps help.
My goal here is historical accuracy.
I was referring to the people that had inhabited that area for 100s of generations even have their own language, not some arbitrary line developed by politicians.
Get yourself some pepper spray, Poland! You’re on the cover of The Economist!
Bomb the Kremlin!
but here we are.
I’m glad they’re doing it, but this is about survival not success.
But again, I understand them, but this is all a diplomatic step backwards because too few want to call Putin a wolf.
What happened?
Come on Poland reject the fascists like Germany, Canada, Australia and Romania did!!!
You're full of crap
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/average-cost-house-us-vs-170020934.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_income
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_median_home_price
I was definitely wrong about California's median home price. I'm sincerely asking you to tell me where I'm wrong; this is what the data I have tells me.
They gained ground and influence with the morally questionable reelected PM, whose party also gained ground.
We'll either have more political instability, which may favor them even more later, or a very damaging stability if they team up.
The former Warsaw Pact countries only contribution has been to export racism, misogyny, and lower West European workers living standards.
The only people happy are East Europeans and oligarchs.
https://www.etui.org/topics/social-dialogue-collective-bargaining/social-legislation/the-interpretation-by-the-european-court-of-justice/ruffert-c-346-06