Poland, Committed Ally of America is Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Poland is a small east European country that is geographically between a rock and a hard place. In the meaning that it has borders with Germany and Russia. Yes, Poland is in the European Union, but old ideas of borders and identity run deep.
Where U.S. Translates as Freedom
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: December 28, 2003

WARSAW

I found the cure.

I found the cure to anti-Americanism: Come to Poland.

After two years of traveling almost exclusively to Western Europe and the
Middle East, Poland feels like a geopolitical spa. I visited here for just
three days and got two years of anti-American bruises massaged out of me. Get
this: people here actually tell you they like America — without whispering.
What has gotten into these people? Have all their subscriptions to Le Monde
Diplomatique expired? Haven't they gotten the word from Berlin and Paris? No,
they haven't. In fact, Poland is the antidote to European anti-Americanism.
Poland is to France what Advil is to a pain in the neck. Or as Michael
Mandelbaum, the Johns Hopkins foreign affairs specialist, remarked after
visiting Poland: "Poland is the most pro-American country in the world —
including the United States."

What's this all about? It starts with history and geography. There's nothing
like living between Germany and Russia — which at different times have
trampled Poland off the map — to make Poles the biggest advocates of a
permanent U.S. military presence in Europe. Said Ewa Swiderska, 25, a Warsaw
University student: "We are the small kid in school who is really happy to
have the big guy be his friend — it's a nice feeling."

Indeed, all the history and geography that Western European youth have
forgotten, having grown up in a postmodern European Union, are still central
to Polish consciousness — well after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. "We
still remember many things," said Jan Miroslaw, 22, also a Warsaw University
student. "We are more eager to cooperate with America rather than just say
`no.' [The West Europeans] just don't remember many things — like the wars.
They live too-comfortable lives."

No wonder then when young Poles think of America, they think of the
word "freedom." They think of generations of U.S. presidents railing against
their communist oppressors. There is a huge message in this bottle. In the
Arab world, because of a long history of U.S. support for Arab autocrats, who
kept their people down but their oil flowing to us, America was a synonym for
hypocrisy. In Poland, where we have consistently trumpeted freedom, America
means freedom. We need to remember that. We are what we stand for.

Poland's becoming a member of the E.U. will give the U.S. an important friend
within that body — a counterweight to those E.U. forces that would like to
use anti-Americanism as the glue to bind the expanding alliance and that
would like to see the E.U. forge its identity as the great Uncola to
America's Coca-Cola.

But as powerful as Poland's bond to America is these days, we dare not take
it for granted. Poland has some 2,400 troops in Iraq. That's the good news.
The bad news is that roughly 75 percent of Poles oppose their deployment.
Polish officials will tell you Poland sent troops to Iraq to help keep the
Americans in Europe. But the public doesn't make such connections, and most
people don't understand what their boys are doing there or what Poland is
getting out of it. (How about a few extra visas for Poles?) If the U.S. ends
up in a mess in Iraq, so will Poland. Many "old" Europeans will then laugh at
Warsaw, and that would be highly corrosive for Polish-U.S. relations.

At the same time, once Poland is fully ensconced in the E.U., its young
people will grow up in that postmodern E.U. nirvana, where anti-Americanism
is in the drinking water. Sadly, many education and public diplomacy programs
the U.S. directed at Eastern Europe after the fall of communism have been cut
or redirected to the Muslim world. Bad timing.

There is now a competition between the United States of America and the
United States of Europe for the next generation of Poles — who don't all have
their parents' emotional ties to the U.S. — "and the U.S. is losing this
competition," says a Polish foreign policy expert, Grzegorz Kostrzewa-
Zorbas. "The new generation in Poland likes American pop culture, but it has
less contact with American high culture — like education. It is so much
easier for young Poles to go to university in Germany or France."

Given Poland's geography and history, there's a limit to how far it will
drift from America. Poland will never be France. But we shouldn't assume it
will remain the Poland of 1989 forever, either, and if it doesn't, that could
have real consequences for America's standing in Europe.


That article by Thomas Friedman still holds true. I observed much change since 2003 which has significantly put Poland ahead since then but the depth of Polish identity remains though if visiting Warsaw it looks more and more like any other cosmopolitan European city.  Since the crisis in the Ukraine, Poles remain between a rock and a hard place and if you read the article found on the link just below, you will understand that illustration and or metaphor. BTW, Poles still need a visa to the US. ;-(

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/poland-close-committed-ally-america-10784

The Polish Family

The Polish Family

The family in Poland is a micro version of the nation, a homogenous social entity. What is that like? It is the social situation in which family members are of the same ethnic background, same race, same religion. There is in that a great sense of solidarity, security and continuity. This is not to say that Polish families do not suffer from conflict between each other, or hardship or neglect. However, those sufferings are more easily overcome or at best understood as part of the experience of being Polish, being human, being a residue of social interaction between members that have free will, experience emotion in a place. The results even if unbalanced, or unfair for one is reconciled in the hindsight of being Polish. This time, I don't get my way but next time I might and in this respect Polishness will remain, it will continue ... in this I rest in my identity of who I am and am not. I am Polish, as is my father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, cousin, neighbor... I am part of something much bigger, something with definite boundaries, something absolute.
In this I am eternal.
Acts 17:24-28 " The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything; because, He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being."

The Polish Mother

Mothers in  Poland © by Jagoda Urban-Klaehn, May 8, 2004 (article #191)

Mother's Day (Dzien Matki) in Poland is celebrated on the 26th of May every year. My mother never liked this day because she remembered it first from the time of the war. Germans occupants enforced its celebration in Silesia - as a Muttertag, where my mother grew up. But the first celebration of Mother's Day in Poland took place in 1923 in Krakow, but this feast was not really very popular until the WW II and the years short after the war.

Mother's Day is marked with the special celebrations in schools and kindergardens. Younger children prepare so called "laurki" for their mothers. ( laurka - is a sheet of paper decorated with flowers on which children write their wishes to their mothers). Schools often carry special ceremonies or classes to commemorate Mother's Day.

What was a life of a typical Polish mother during communism? Not easy. Polish mothers had plenty of responsibilities. Majority of women worked professionally - outside of the house. Partly due to the communistic idea that everybody has to work for the well being of the country, partly due to a fact that their husbands salary is not sufficient to secure a well being of the family. Working part-time was never very popular in Poland, so this was not an option.

Besides working outside of the home women took care of the household. They had to buy and prepare food and take care of the children. Polish family is not especially patriarchal and macho type is not that popular therefore some men, husbands and fathers do bear some responsibilities with the family and the household, but still women are usually in charge.

Eating out was not that popular in Poland since it is quite expensive and it is limited usually to the special occasion. Besides, the variety of restaurants was very limited, almost no any ethnic food was offered (except Polish food of course). Preparing food was also more troublesome than in the USA where almost ready dish can be bought in any grocery. Especially difficult was time of the economical crisis in late seventies and eighties when there was a constant deficit of food and other products on the market and food even became rationed. In that time women not only had to work and take care of the household but they have to think about how to get food to the table!

Presently Polish mothers have easier life in some aspects - abundant food is available everywhere in the stores. It is in part due to a fact that women as mothers are entitled to some social benefits because of their motherhood.

That article provides some insights as to what/who the Polish Mother is. Is she different from American mothers. Yes. Speaking as a sociologist conducting 12 years of participation / observation, I can say that they are better mothers in terms of understanding motherhood and the role it has for Polish people living in Poland. Their role as mother is taken very seriously. Why? Because, mothers impart the social reality to their infants/children. In order for Poland to be Poland, for Poles to be Polish, mother has an expected role; to impart/implant identity. Mother's in Poland consider this a life long job - motherhood.  They are constantly reminding their children who they are and are not. This is very important. How do they do it??? With words??? No, with tradition, food, words, and deep love guided by faith that her job was crucial and thus came an obvious sense of duty as a kind of national duty to wider society = all of Poland.
I learned more about being a mother in Poland than I did here in the US from my own mother. I do not dishonor my mother. I realize that she did not understand motherhood and the important role it is and the information needed to be passed (her duty) on in order for social reality to be imparted with a sense of comfort and security and identity. My mother like many other mothers in America (an immigrant country) was mixed ethnic background and she married into another family of mixed ethnic background. Her being mixed up caused her children to be mixed up and their children. What is negative about that? The art of mothering a strong sense of identity/self confidence/ belonging was lost due to conflicting information - each culture blurred through intermarriage... and richness of information was lost.  For those considering marriage, I advise as the Bible suggests Acts 17... God appointed the nations/ people in their place and they should stay there in order that they reach out to Him ...Marry someone on the same page that you are on ...in other words- if you decide to marry then marry your own kind, you can still be an American.

Poland, a Place of Tradition and Pierogi

Poland is now being caught up in the global agenda. However, there are many Poles who value Poland as a place of tradition. It is a country where most people are Christian and most people eat pierogi at Christmas and Easter and even everyday.  Not that other foods do not exist. Pizza is very popular but then Poles are sometimes referred to as the Italians of the North. Pizza, hamburgers and Sushi can be bought but when it comes to holidays in Poland, pierogi are still considered a tradition. There is a quietness in tradition. How? It is in knowing something won't change. This knowing gives a person a sense of security, a sense of belonging to a place, to other people in that place. It is a knowing of who you are and are not. It is defining your being this knowing. In that alone, one is quieted, at rest.

Wow! Bieg Rzeznik... makes you wonder if Poles are Stoics

Are Polish people Stoics? My observation is yes. Considering my ex who organizes one of the most grueling races of all time "Bieg Rzeznik", 50 miles race for best time in the Bieszczady Mountains. If interested, you can check out the race online.
Back to the question. First, what does it mean to be a Stoic. Maybe we need to look at Epicureans to better set up for Stoicism. Epicureans aim at being happy "don't worry be happy", que sera sera (sorry on the spelling) you know "what will be will be". You only live once!
 The Stoic is someone who sees/thinks the divine is in all things and because of that enormous complexity, the creator, what is divine, is unknowable. All we can do in this world is dig in and make it to the other side but even that is not for sure. So why bother. The Stoic is sure about a divine spirit in all things, therefore, it is ones duty/religion to do something... the will to do something. Even Thorstein Veblen saw that in his observations.  No matter what the challenge, just do it, you have to, the divine spark in you should not be wasted! Niki must think so, it got them to a market position that may never be toppled.
Is that a good thing? Paul spoke in Athens to people of these two schools of thought. He appealed to them both. I myself am a bit of a Stoic. God is there, no doubt and his will should be mine. Sometimes I think that I will never know what that is unless I go the distance.  Guess my Polish roots go deep like the runners of Rzeznik.

My Idea of Solidarity ...

My idea of Solidarity was formed in Poland.  It came from my experiences living in Poland for more than ten years. It may even have come from my own Polish roots. Solidarity for me means living and dying for the same blood, the same cause, the same world view, the same identity and same belief in God. This appears maybe as negative for those caught up in the contemporary love of diversity. Is there diversity in solidarity, of course. As much as needed by a group to remain 'solid', and enough to keep things alive as in moving forward in time as a group. Can a person from the outside of such a group be integrated in? That is a good question and one that friends of mine are trying to understand and even make happen.  What is essential regarding integration into a 'solid' system is compatibility upgrades. One has to know the language, the traditional way of doing things so that in moving forward this is a way to look back and understand where you came from and why the change if any. This applies to all integration. Once you are integrated, the beauty of the system of the solidarity can be seen, understood and appreciated... it can bring joy! Isn't this why people integrate? If you are not up to this kind of experience, maybe because you are in solidarity already in your own group then stay where you are and integrate someone into your group.  Solidarity!

Living and Dying For Each Other

We are Polish, we live and die for each other! I think about Poland, I think about the homogeneity. I think about a kind of kinship, a deep affection for Poles. What does it mean to be Polish? It means to be Polish, to live Polish, to speak Polish, to be understand Poles and know Polish history. If you are Polish, you know what to think, what to eat for Christmas Eve, what names day it is, and how much Pope John Paul meant to Poland. I like the sameness of Poland; not that diversity is absent but it is rather individuality expressed in being Polish. For instance, expressing your Polishness through correct us of the language, traditions, knowledge of history, song and dance, cooking, remembering ... (going to the cemetery to visit loved ones who died, and lighting a candle for anyone (in the grave) who does not have a family or friend to do it for them ). You can travel to a far from Poland and if you hear Polish, suddenly you are transported back to Poland and the person you just met is like a relative to you.
Going to Church is important (there is a Catholic church in every neighborhood; and living a Christ like life is important to Poles... not that they don't slip up or even profess that they don't believe... they do; they are living and dying for each other. That is a Christ lived life.