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- Hacker News
- Heise.de, German IT and developer news portal, recently posted a story for German software devs about how to become an expat in Poland. What a shift in tonality for German media: From Polish handymen continuosly voting in right-wing "democracy-abandoning" parties to … somehow … doing better than Germany, economically (in terms of growth and outlook).by woodpanel
- Poland has earned this. Reputation of Poland is amazing.
And the people I've had the luck of meeting at a very early age during a student exchange lived up to that.
Poland is an indispensable pillar of the EU, and integrates countries such as UK, Italy, Germany, Greece, Austria, Romania, and many more countries in the east (I just don't want to list all of them here, because it's a slippery slope).
And Poland as a society has gone through a hard struggle to earn their very own power, stance and leverage.
- Not to remove any merit from Poland, but I think the EU deserves a bit of recognition here.by Levitz
- I spent some time in Poland three years ago and have not stopped talking about it ever since. It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip.
Had a lunch in Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression.
Over forty years of Communist rule and they were never able to pull them away from their commitment to the Catholic church. Also lots of excellent museums and large parks.
by rmason - That commitment probably won't change anytime soon but more and more people are dissatisfied of the church here - how it interferes with politics, tries to dictate what is morally right and of course covers up pedophilia cases.
During pandemic (which also happen during the right-wing coalition govt) public TVP2 channel ran breakfast TV segment where one of questions was if audience should kneel at homes during the broadcast of the Mass if they decided to "participate".
https://natemat.pl/303229,czy-klekac-przed-telewizorem-w-cza... (in Polish obv)
Still, this isn't as easy to digest as it may seem - you'd of course have to study our history to understand that connection to faith.
by pndy - While you were in Poland, did you call it "Eastern Europe" to people's faces? How did they react?by gfrecvh
- > It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip.
Just note for the other readers, don't call people in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia or Hungary Eastern Europeans unless you want to irritate them and look like pretentious tourist.
by Markoff - Did you also talk about this:
> “Throughout OECD countries, men are much more likely to die from suicide, acute alcohol abuse or a drug overdose – on average, almost 4 men for every woman. This gender gap is largest in Poland, at 8.2.”
See figure 5.8 at https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2020/03/how-s-life-2020...
What do you think might be the reason behind this?
- There’s a reason the solidarity movement arose in Poland
Remarkable culture
by simmerup - I am really happy for Poland getting rich (they deserved it!), but with little knowledge about Polish politics you just have to shack your head.
" Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression." In Poland the constitutional court isnt working very good because of the former authoritarian Orban like PiS government. In case of a next Pis government only the European courts might help in case of a freedom of speech matter.
In Germany the constitutional court does work.
"they were never able to pull them away from their commitment to the Catholic church. " They do. Poland and especially the younger generation is securalising and also becomes more open to queer people. Also you can ask catholic officials how much they are willing to do for freedom of expression of atheism ("crazy") and gay men ("perverts").
by snowpid - It would be good to have real insights into how Poland is doing well just now, but (gestures at thread) it seems to be a lot of people bringing out their pet solutions.
Is the boom related to the removal of PiS in 2023? Is it linked to Ukraine (businesses and people relocating across the border? Arms sales?)
by pjc50 - Wouldn’t „more freedom of expression“ imply less conservative?
Or what aspects of conservatism, and what aspects of freedom of expression, are you referring to here?
- Not surprising at all. Sane government that’s been focusing on what Poland needs above what anyone else demands.by dmitrygr
- - i came expecting to read something about how taking no immigrants has helped or something along those lines
- has there been any studies conducted on how 10% immigration affects a country's economic outcomes?
by vivzkestrel - But its not true! We had like massivie migration in last few years, mostly Ukrainian thoughby profstasiak
- Great news, but could we have a higher GDP per capita, please? That's the most important part, isn't it?
- I saw an interesting stat recently that the poorest USA state, Mississippi, has a larger economy and GDP than 1/3rd of all EU members.
It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy and I wonder if that's where a lot of the discontent comes from. It seems like there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole.
by petcat - The US is a great example of why GDP is a largely meaningless metric.
Yes, the States' GDP is ginormous, and yet it's basically a third-world country masquerading as a first-world one on most metrics that actually matter to people.
by troupo - Poorest is a function of per-capita income and larger economy is a function of population. You're comparing different things.by hackernud3s
- The conclusion you should draw from this is therefore "GDP is a shit metric for measuring anything and even worse as a target".by andrepd
- That example is a good reason nominal GDP has limits on what it can measure, as a drive thru Mississippi would show a poor state with small pockets of wealthby notfromhere
- I don't think you realize how absurdly overpriced everything is in the US, which inflate GDP quite a lot... I paid less to build my entire top of the line house in eastern Europe than some American spend on a garage extension and a concrete drivewayby toasty228
- > there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole
Would you give an example of when that has happened?
> It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy
The EU intentionally admitted many poorer countries, to promote freedom, security and stability in Europe in the long term. Without EU membership, they would be under pressure from Russia and others.
> discontent
What discontent do you mean? There's always something, of course.
by mmooss - 15-20% of Mississippis GDP is healthcare cost.
Gdp is not really a great measure of how well an economy works for it's inhabitants, if it was we should all spend our time breaking each others windows.
by Epa095 - I live in Switzerland and have worked in projects in Poland. It's obvious which country is wealthier.by comrade1234
- They deserve it.
I'm in the UK. The smartest developers I worked with in my ~20 year career were all Polish.
The hardest-working and most skilled tradespeople that worked on my houses were Polish.
by cbeach - How much money did they get from EU in last 5 years? Combine that with a lot of ukrainian migrants that actually work and open businesses you get thisby lapkaaaa
- > How much money did they get from EU in last 5 years?
A lot. About 1 percentage point of Polish GDP in 2025.
They also had a lot of government spending, with the 2025 budget deficit being 7% of GDP.
Minimum wage was raised with ~10% in January 2025.
There is an irony in people attributing it to conservatism/rightwing politics rather than pretty much the exact opposite. Spain is another example of economic growth in the EU.
by dinfinity - Good investment.by gfrecvh
- They're probably focusing on people who work rather than trying to tax people who work and innovate to pay for people who don't work or innovate. Strangely, focusing on economics is good for economiesby imdsm