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greenavocado | on: Germany set to restrict its Freedom of Information Act
Poland, but its on borrowed time due to the extreme fertility crisis.
flossly | 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.

snovymgodym | root | parent | next
Yeah, it's pretty important if you are interested in the continued existence of your society
greenavocado | root | parent
> Is fertility so important?

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

eigenspace | 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.
snowpid | root | parent
Im really happy for Poland for its growing economy. (though it has the same challenges as Germany roughly speaking)

But You can't just deny the political problems. Propably some Americans do it - to cope with Trump who is worser than any PiS president. Poland has the EU as democratic layer but US with Trump doesnt have it.

jijijijij | root | parent
Yeah, I am rooting for Poland, but it's simply not a shining example of democratic integrity.

> Poland has the EU as democratic layer but US with Trump doesnt have it.

I mean, let's see. The US thought checks and balances would hold, but they didn't, and the EU didn't prevent Hungary and Poland to slip into authoritarian dynamics to begin with. It's not exactly the legal body drawing the latter two back to change, but economic benefits. And Germany also suffers the same untested myth of "checks and balances", which really assumes some political decency. And no legal construct considered bazillionaire tech bros playing god with our dopamine receptors.

We all shouldn't take democracy for granted. I hope we all start to see the real enemy of the people and find agreement on what's actually important right now. Luckily, causal relations are becoming evident for everyone to see in this critical time. Now people need to start seeing.

I really hope Europe's citizens find unity, a shared identity and a renewed lust for democracy. Quite frankly, here in this libertarian club the EU regulations are not particularly popular, but for me the EU laws are mostly positive and I am a huge fan of the whole thing.

greenavocado | root | parent
Of what use is democratic integrity if the body politic is disintegrating in most so-called democracies?
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.
sva_ | root | parent | next
> I think Germany is also economically growing?

Barely, and it was in a recession 2023-2024.

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.
greenavocado | root | parent
Look up a map of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth
eigenspace | root | parent
So you are confirming that I'm right in my assertion that the reason you aren't bothered by the Ukrainian refugees in Poland is that you don't see them diluting the racial purity of Poland?
dyauspitr | root | parent
White immigrants. Don’t act naive.
greenavocado | root | parent
Where is the lie?
dyauspitr | root | parent
It’s not that rosy? Especially compared to literally every country in Western Europe.
dgellow | parent | next
That impacts the whole developed world, it’s not a polish issue
lo_zamoyski | 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...