29 May 2011

"Warsaw Hearts New York" But Does America Heart Warsaw?

I really have never read an article before and decided to write about it until today.  Actually, the article itself I had no issues with.  It was short, informative, and accurate.  Decent reporting.  I am referring to the article by Fox News (shared by a friend) called Warsaw Hearts New York; Poles Hope for Visa Waiver to Shop Fifth Avenue.

What was called to my attention and which frankly disturbed me was the comments.  Such as:

chunkyscratch 16 hours ago
Stay in Poland...the U S has enough forigners here that dont belong and who drain the system...do it LEGALLY or stay home.Heres an idea,build your own 5th Ave.!

OK, there is just so much wrong in this statement and I am going to conclude that it stems from a lack of education and an upbringing filled with racism and NO interest in facts.  But, I'll try to tackle it with class.

First, the US was founded on "foreigners".  You, sir, are a Xenophobe.

Second, they don't all drain the system.  They keep the system going.  Again, country founded on  "foreigners".

Third, maybe there are some that do.  I won't argue that.  But most don't.  My father worked over 80 hour work weeks when I was young just to barely feed us and we never went for assistance.  I would say, perhaps the issue of the system being abused should be taken up with the crackheads, drug addicts, parents who don't care for their children, gang members and criminals.  Now, I've never met a "foreigner" who was any of those things.  Just saying.

Fourth, the Polish tourists and others coming here to visit are doing it legally.  Perhaps you have an issue with another group of "foreigners" who you feel are coming over illegally.  But what you are unaware of, is that people from Poland must take a plane to fly over to the USA and without doing it legally, they can't do that.  There's no sneaking over.  It's called the Airport.  You know, TSA and Customs and Border Protection. 

Fifth, your grammar and spelling are atrocious. 

I am going to sum this one up with "Apparently, VERY apparently, you have never travelled anywhere on a plane before and certainly never to another country.  Enjoy your trip to Walmart."  Yes, I went there.  I am very repulsed right now.







  • Then they are probably breaking the law import taxes are the reason things are more expensive in Europe and Im not sure where you are getting your rates from the pound is stronger against the dollar than the zloty and so is the euro which pretty much covers most of europe















  • I am very much aware of what VAT is as well as the fact that if you bring back goods to the  EU over a certain total value you are required not only to pay VAT but also duty on them as well and you  are required by law to declare them when you enter the country, there are strict limits on alcohol, tobacco as well as pretty much everything else, the maximum you are allowed to take in as a traveller is around $450 of goods that dont come under alcohol and tobacco allowances. Thats not exactly high end shopping.











  • I can't even tackle this one without spending all day explaining tourism, VAT, duty, global economy, a breakdown of economic growth by country, and so on.  I will just say, go get an actual education.  I see you know how to use the Internet a little bit to get some facts (hence why you had to comment twice, the second time with a bit of facts), but you still have no clue.  And, again, I notice the grammar and spelling really could use some working on.


    nasibal 16 hours ago
    It is good to have allies as long as we don't have to look for those staying here without a Visa and enjoying all the American benefits. And who is going to monitor those coming in without Visa's? Oh a new Department?

    Apparently nasibal does not grasp that there are other countries who's citizens come over to the USA all the time without Visas and there is not "Special" or "New" department monitoring them.  It's called Department of Homeland Security.

    Also, so it's good to have allies as long as they don't have to touch your precious American soil while your immigrant grandfather, great grandmother, or whoever came over here and did, right?  OK.


    I'm really surprised at some of the comments on this story.  Before you comment, please know your facts.  The Euro is destined to fail without the "Former Eastern Bloc" countries finally taking up that currency, in fact, that is a huge controversy in Europe right now.  Those who know want Poland and other countries to finally start using the Euro. 

    Also, we former Easter Bloc country citizens are not communists.  Again, know your history.  After our populations were devastated by the Nazis in WWII and also by the Soviets during their "liberation" (but it's not considered a war crime because the treaty signed by good ol' Uncle Sam and England with Russia), we were handed over as consolation prizes to the USSR to with what they pleased.  And they did exactly that.  25 years later, Poland's economy was the LEAST affected by the world economic crisis and in fact had positive growth.

    I find it shameful that while I live in the US (coming over LEGALLY, thank you very much) on my wedding day, none of my family from Poland could be here.  Not one.  Because they couldn't afford to pay for the visas and wait the long period to see if maybe MAYBE nice America would let them come to see me be married.

    Poland is the strongest support of America with Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts.  There is a lot going on mutually between the two countries which BENEFIT the USA.

    Poland and her people are NOT your issues with illegal immigrants.  Trust me.  You have an open border just south of you and are not able to monitor it and if you find someone who is here illegally from you-know-where it is discrimination.  Open your eyes.

    Since Poland is not a threat but rather an ally of the USA, there is no reason for the Visas.  Trust me, my family in Poland does NOT want to come here to live.  It's too expensive and there is nothing to do but work and come home and sit around the house or spend money.  The lifestyle over there is much easier for travel, entertainment, family, etc.  They just want to come over and pump their money into our economy by being tourists. 

    Trust me, they DON'T want to live here.  Poland has a really good thing going on right now.  So, take your racism and narrow mindedness and go yell at a tree for being a tree instead.  Or hey, I have an idea, get educated and learn who is taking advantage of your welfare programs here or who is staying illegally and get rid of them instead.  You know, the people you actually have a problem with but you can't figure out who to blame because of your racism.

    But then, why should I be surprised at some bigoted comments?  After all, I have heard it all my life.  Even from my own in-laws, who are grandchildren of immigrants and making comments about how "foreigners" are ruining this country.  No, the thing that will ruin this country will be racism and a lack of proper education and global perspective.

    If this doesn't make things clearer, I suggest listening to a country song by Brad Paisley called "American Saturday Night".  It's about as American as you can get.

    My last comment on this is that I love this country.  I mean, I live here.  So, let me share with you what the Statue of Liberty reads:

    "...Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

    Happy Memorial Day to you and may God Bless America and the other countries of the world.  Because America is the commingling of all the countries and cultures of the world.



    Writers Edit:  I found this article after writing the above and find it very interesting.  The Polish Tiger  "With its newfound economic and political clout, Poland is increasingly leaving the United States out in the cold."

    6 comments:

    LMG said...

    Americans are very clueless about Poland. I used to be too,but my husband, four children and I lived in Gdansk for nearly a year (we returned to the US last June). We were charmed by a hardworking, American loving, fascinating country. It's different over there...it is a different culture! We fell in love with Warsaw, Krakow and of course, our home on the Baltic Sea. My husband is there right now, and I can't wait to visit again. We welcome any of our treasured Polish friends to experience the American way here. We'd love to show off our country and we will support them until they are steady on their feet, just as they openly did for us. We proudly display our I <3 Gdansk sticker on the back of our minivan. The comments you refer to above are very obviously written in ignorance.

    Rima said...

    I really don't think the people who "comment" on these big news outlet websites represent what society thinks as a whole. They, for the most part, strike me as people who are just looking for a fight and are too chicken to take someone on face-to-face. It's infuriating to read their uninformed opinions, but take them with a huge grain of salt!

    Unknown said...

    there is one thing that came to my mind after going though this post. When I decided to leave Poland and go to US (in age of 25) my friends threw a "goodbye" party for me at the bar that one of them owns. My friends would play a slide show from our trip around the Europe, they created drinks called "gay babies" (I was leaving to work as a nanny for gay parents with twins), "californication", "american dream", etc. One guy came to me asking if it's me who's going to US. I said yes, and then it started. He jumped on me like I'm commiting some kind of crime. He started asking if this is really what I think about America - "american dream"?! if I really know what's going on in America and that they really don't like foreign people, and that I'll be very surprise if I think I'm gonna earn a fortune over there (in US). That time $1 was worht 2 zł. It's not a lot. It used to be 4zł or even more for $1. He asked my if I really want to leave Poland with my master degree to work as a nanny for $800 a month!!! He said that I should go to GB if I want to earn some good money AND I'll be much closer to Poland (1 hour of flight).
    He couldn't understand me saying: "I'm not going there for money!!!"
    and I'll tell you something else. He wasn't the only one shaking head with a surprise or just disagreement for my decision. People would ask: "AMERICA?", "Geeze, Why AMERICA?", "What's there that we don't have here, or in GB which is SO MUCH CLOSER?".
    You're right. People from Poland DON'T WANT to live here neither did I. You right they wish it's easier to visit here. They just want to travel. That's it. America is too far. You have to leave all you family, friends, everything knowing that you might not see them for the next few years. I haven't gone to Poland for 3 years! My parents have never held their granddaughter. This is not an AMERICAN DREAM that exist only in heads of American and people from "next door". People in Europe can read, think, and analize. They know it's not worth it to live, and to work in US. If they want earn more they simply go to GB, or Holland or Germany. They go there for a month or two for work (few times a year). They earn Euro which is 4zł per 1 Euro, and they are happy as hell, they don't need to go to US for that money anymore!!!
    I could say more, but I'll stop here. It makes me angry that kind of comments about Polish people or European in general.
    Those people who creates those nasty comments about immigrants should know that America is such a power because of IMMIGRANTS!
    Go to that list:

    http://www.windsorct.org/sagelmc/grade8/famous_immigrant_scientists.htm

    They should know that "The United States is historically an immigrant country, and the flow of immigration to the United States has included significant numbers of scientists and engineers."

    read here as well:
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704322004574477700761571592.html

    the list go on and on!

    Sorry for that long respond! And thanks for talking about such an important issue!

    many hugs

    Anonymous said...

    There are so many ignorant people out there= and being able to hide behind a computer screen just brings out the worst in them!

    Bill said...

    Seriously, people who comment on these topics with these ridiculously ignorant viewpoints have no idea about what American history and culture is and SHOULD BE about.

    Xenophobic idiots. Probably best just to not pay attention to the comments on these websites. Like @thingsicantsaymichelle said - being behind a computer screen totally empowers people to be as ignorant as they possibly can be.

    Anonymous said...

    I try not to read comments on articles because people often just anger me with their ignorance and stupidity.