The weather here is so goofy. The forecast says that today will be chilly, but no rain or snow. Then I’ll get notification on my phone that snow will start in the next hour. So far, there hasn’t been any rain or snow today but it’s fairly chilly and a bit windy outside.
We took a short walk over to the local big drugstore to pick up some toothpicks and a few things to bring back to the states. It wasn’t very busy on the streets, people don’t seem to come out until the afternoon on the weekends. It’s a little bit easier to get around because the ice is melting. It’s easier to chip it off of the sidewalks and there are some clear paths around town now. But the odds that the entire distance between wherever you want to go and wherever you happen to be will be ice-free are still pretty slim.
There were a couple of interesting signs and graffiti that we ran across. The one sign looks like it’s for a skate park or something, but it’s really a warning that there is a steep trench. The graffiti is a combination of some moron white supremacist and someone who very much disagrees with them.
Poland is a bit weird when it comes to immigrants. They don’t have nearly as many as other countries in Europe, largely because they have simply refused to take them. So you don’t see very many obvious immigrants – very few people with a little more melanin than average. There are some whose families settled here under the communist era – the Warsaw pact countries brought in people from Vietnam and some of the African countries to attend university and some of them stayed long-term. But as far as the refugees from Syria, Palestine, etc. – they aren’t here.
That doesn’t mean that Poland is entirely unwilling to accept immigrants of any sort. There is a HUGE number of Ukrainian refugees here, due to the invasion of their country by Putin a few years ago. For the most part, they are able to blend in and assimilate fairly quickly. Polish and Ukrainian are close enough language-wise that it’s not too difficult to pick up the language. They share a common enemy, and much of the food is similar. But with such a huge number coming over and the time that is passing, there is some resentment – especially of men of an age where they could be staying home to defend their country, but for whatever reason did not.
There is much debate about how much immigrants contribute to the country vs. how much they take in services, just as in the US. And similar to the US, the data seems to show that they contribute more than they take. They work, they pay taxes, they spend their money in local stores, and are less likely to commit crimes. Still, there is a sizable chunk of the population that hates the idea of anyone who isn’t 100% Polish living here, no matter how much they contribute to the country.
There is a lot of romanticizing the idea of Poland (like Russia) being some great paradise of white people, with everyone else knowing their place and letting the white Christian men run things, as is their due. This is largely due to Poland refusing to take refugees, specifically non-white, non-Christian refugees. One thing that is crazy to me is that Poles have emigrated in large numbers in the past, and the Polish diaspora is very large. They consider themselves to be model immigrants, but view others as being “the bad ones.”
With Poland joining the EU in 2004, large numbers of *mostly* young Poles moved to other countries in the EU – many to Ireland and the UK. It was noticeable enough that people in those countries started to grumble about the Poles coming in and “stealing our jobs” and “using our benefits” and “filling our schools.” When I was in London in 2018, there were instances of vandalism against the Polish community. We saw the Polish community center with broken windows and flyers on cars that said “Polish vermin out.” The supporters of Brexit sold the idea that leaving the EU would fix the “Polish problem” and everything would go back the way it was, perfect and free of those horrible people.
After Brexit, many Poles left the UK and returned to Poland, or settled in other EU countries. Surprisingly, things have not gotten better in the UK. Today, Poland’s economy is doing quite well, while the UK has been dealing with unemployment and inflation. It also didn’t fix the immigration problem, and the money that was magically going to appear to support the national health system didn’t.
As humans, it seems like no matter what the society is, tribalism rears its ugly head. The Poles go to the UK and are seen as invaders, stealing jobs and resources. The Ukrainians come to Poland and are seen as invaders, stealing jobs and resources. Mexicans come to the US and are seen as invaders, stealing jobs and resources. Despite data showing that immigrants are a net benefit to most societies, the same types of people use the same tired arguments again and again: All of our nation’s problems can be blamed on THOSE people, and if we only get rid of THOSE people, our problems will also be gone! Then once we get rid of THOSE people and the problems still exist, rather than admitting that perhaps our premise was wrong in the first place, it’s time to look for a new group to take the role of THOSE people.
As the saying goes, it’s a long list – and you’re on it somewhere. You may not be the top of the list, but eventually it will be your turn to be one of “THOSE PEOPLE.” It’s the whole point of the Niemoller poem. You may not be a trade unionist, a socialist, a communist. You may not even like those people. But understand that once those people are gone and it’s time for your turn to be singled out, who will speak up for you?
Anyway, on a lighter note – I have noticed a few very interesting things having to do with Poland’s lack of immigrants. They do have kebab places everywhere, but no Turks to run them. A bit suspicious, no? Everyone knows that if you go to a taco place and the kitchen staff are all Irish and the customers are all white suburban families, that probably isn’t the best taco place in town.
The other thing that they’re missing is brow threading places. I had no problem at all finding one in France and London, but they simply don’t exist here. Not a single one. I don’t want to go into the fancy place and get the wax, I want the hole in the wall with the Bollywood music playing on the TV and 3-4 chairs lined up in front of mirrors. I want the place where I just write my name on a piece of white notebook paper and they use the basic white thread to do their job. Poland doesn’t know what they’re missing!