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denvrede | on: Germany set to restrict its Freedom of Information Act
I'd generally agree, but my follow up question would be: which western country isn't?
arjie | parent | next
Poland is now in the Western sphere of influence and it is not in decay. A weak case can be made for Ireland but it’s harder to extract effects of tax haven status. But Poland certainly. Going to be a higher income populace than the UK soon at this rate.

The US is unusual as a federation. Some parts decline, others rise. I think it’s resilient. And every time something goes wrong, America pulls out a magic new technology. We will see if R&D will carry the day again.

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flossly | parent | next
Denmark?

The Swiss?

Norway?

And I was in Serbia lately, and while it was not as developed as NW-EU, nobody there described it as decaying (and many said they experiences decay when living in western nations over the past 2 decades).

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fransje26 | root | parent | next
> And I was in Serbia lately [..]

With OP postulating that it is to enable corruption, and a sub-reply affirming that it is therefore the trait of a country in decay, bringing in Serbia as a counter-example is hilarious.

Serbia ranks 116th in the corruption perception index, Germany 10th. (Lower is better)

master-lincoln | root | parent
yeah, but decaying means something gets worse. Maybe corruption is getting less in Serbia despite still being bad?
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tremon | parent | next
Why limit yourself to western countries? In fact, why limit it to countries at all? Isn't it the most popular trope of all time to decry the state of today and romanticise yesterday? People have "not been wanting to work anymore" for at least 150 years, things were always better in the olden days, people don't make 'em like they used to, etm.

There's very little value in a statement like yours. It's a truism that has never been correct.

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skinfaxi | parent | next
That it sucks elsewhere means we can't decry this instance?
greenavocado | parent | next
Poland, but its on borrowed time due to the extreme fertility crisis.
flossly | root | parent | next
Is fertility so important?

Maybe the other western countries are equally infertile, but just allowed many immigrants in (which counts are population expansion) that also have more children on average.

How are Japan and Korea holing out? They are further down the infertility down-spiral.

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greenavocado | root | parent
> Is fertility so important?

Westerners have been the biggest victims of propaganda in the history of the world.

master-lincoln | root | parent
Please provide evidence. Also westerners from which point of view?
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eigenspace | root | parent | next
Lol, what on earth makes you single out Poland as the single western country not in decay right now?
sam_lowry_ | root | parent | next
Its economy has been growing for 30 years non-stop, to the point that it is now compared to Singapore.
jijijijij | root | parent | next
In context of the article, the economic performance is hardly relevant. The authoritarian forces are still strong in Poland, their institutional damage persistent.
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inigyou | root | parent
Economic growth is not the kind that's being referred to. I think Germany is also economically growing? It doesn't matter, they are still decaying in most ways.
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dyauspitr | root | parent
It doesn’t have immigrants so the right wing tries extra hard to paint it as rosy.
maratc | root | parent | next
There are about 1.5 million immigrants from Ukraine alone.
eigenspace | root | parent | next
The Americans who fetishize Poland do it because of their concept of it being 'racially pure' while having a growing economy. They don't particularly care about Ukrainians because Americans don't recognize any racial or ethnic difference between Ukrainians and Poles.
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dgellow | root | parent | next
That impacts the whole developed world, it’s not a polish issue
lo_zamoyski | root | parent
The very consumerism that has made it materially wealthy has fucked up its citizens' priorities. Indeed, because the wealth differential over the last 30 years is as steep as it is - and because people are generally petty - it actually creates a perverse incentive to prioritize wealth accumulation over family life just to "keep up". You don't want the Joneses to outdo you. You don't want to seem shabbier.

So, maybe rapid growth combined with consumerist impulses is a deadly combination for a society. If only rapid growth were combined with healthy and wise priorities...

inigyou | parent
Who said there was one?