Nature or nurture: What makes Poles Poles?
A key question that I will return to again and again in this blog is Nature or Nurture. Genetic or environmental factors. Are Poles the way they are because of their history – or is Polish history the way it is because of the Poles? Although Poland became a nation state in the tenth century, its history has been one of triumphs and reversals, expansion, contraction, disappearance and rebirth, continual wars fought with many neighbours to the west, north, east (and to a more limited degree) south. It has been a history of alliances and betrayals, glories and national tragedies. The question I pose is to what degree can the downturns of Polish history be laid at the hands of negative character traits visible in Poles today – an inability to form a common front in face of threat, continual wrangling about trivial issues while greater dangers grow unchecked, the partitioning of a father’s land (or kingdom) among his many sons (or princes), the arrogance of a small rich elite indifferent to nation’s plight or the poverty of the masses.
Why have so many come to England after the UK labour market was opened on 1 May 2004? The scale of the migration is staggering. In the 34 years between 1880 and 1914, some 300,000 Jews fled the Pogroms in Russia, migrating to western Europe and the USA, shaping the cultures of their host countries for decades to come. Here, we’re talking of two to three times that number of Poles migrating to just one country in just three years. Why so many? They appear seduced by the British way of life. When will they return to Poland? Will they ever return? Will they assimilate with the Brits? If they return, will they bring with them British ideals – fair play, reasonableness, a gentleman’s word and his bond? Or will they bring with them a new set of bling values acquired from chavs in the UK? Will they demand higher standards of governance from the Polish state? Better laws?
At the heart of it, are Poles like Brits or different? If they are different, what are the causes of the difference? History or genetics? Watch this space, post your opinions.
1 comment:
Hi, I've just stumbled across this post now; a little late, it seems!
The Poles in my opinion have to a large extent been victim's to history. Including the 20 years since communism fell Poland has been free and unoccupied for a total of something like 40 years since 1795.
They had an incredibly bad turn of luck after WW2, when the Allies effectively chose Poland's fate without consulting them. When the Soviet Union turned down an offer for their inclusion in the Marshall Plan, Poland was essentially left to 50 years of communist stagnency, backwardness and corruption, from which they are still recovering. A Pole on average makes about a third of what a British worker makes. It's simply this, and a relaxation of migrant and labour laws that lead so many Poles to leave for the UK.
So I think the peculiarities of the Polish character can largely be accounted for by their unfortunate history, which in turn was mostly a result of an unfortunate geography.
All the best from Wroclaw,
Karl
Post a Comment