Losing our Polishness

In order to define Polishness we frequently refer to our traditions, habits, holidays, etc., but also to our history that wasnt a bed of roses - wars, partitions, numerous uprisings, fight for independence. In the light of our history it seems that as a nation we desperately wanted to regain our country fighting for our freedom for so many years, fighting for our Polishness. However, the contemporary Pole does not know the history of Poland, in fact we dont want to remember it and thats why we constantly make the same mistakes and foreign countries perfectly take advantage of this and manipulate us. What is more, there seems to be little emphasis on transmitting history to the young generations. In the past, the motherland was far more important, people were more devoted to Poland and tried to maintain the national values, nowadays however we appear to be less attached to our country, we no longer seem to have the sense of unity and the need for it. Instead of nurturing our culture, our heritage we want to be trendy and worldly and therefore we follow the global trends and submit to foreign influences. In the contemporary world, in the times of globalization, we seem to be destroying Poland ourselves at our own request closing down factories, companies or selling them to overseas companies. After World War II we became a homogenous country but in the 21st century due to open borders (entry to UE) different ethnic groups have come thus bringing with them various traditions, values, cuisines etc., which we eagerly embrace forgetting our own. The truth is that we constantly accept all that comes from abroad - a perfect example to illustrate this are supermarkets: Carrefour, Intermarche, Tesco, Lidl, Biedronka, etc., whose number is increasing rapidly every year, in this way, unfortunately, most of the profit produced by them does not go to our national budget but where the supermarkets come from- abroad. Virtually, we are flooded by various overseas brands thus disabling small local shops and factories to exist, let alone develop; our Polish companies are forced to compete with the foreign ones. But why is it so? Maybe our Polish mentality is to blame which has been formed over so many years by our rough history.

Due to the Communism lasting since 1945 to 1989 Poles learned to underestimate Polish goods, for they were of poor quality and there was a huge demand for the products coming from the West. This tendency still exists in the minds of Polish people we frequently regard foreign brands as better than Polish. Thus, we refuse to support the Polish producers. Poles seem to have no faith in democracy, because a great number of them do not participate actively in politics, only about 50% of citizens uses the right to vote in the elections. Poland seems to adore all the things which are foreign, especially from the United States, we have started to celebrate such American holidays as Halloween, St. Valentines Day. In fact, people seem to choose holidays that are more attractive to them and reject those which have a real value. What is more, religion is inextricably bound up with the Polish tradition, in the past we were more religious country but nowadays people less and less go to church or truly celebrate religious holidays, we only pay attention to the nice facet of these holidays disregarding their spiritual value which should constitute the core of them. A great number of people just enjoy the fact that they have a day off. Generally, over the years it has become explicit that we repeatedly follow the foreign trends which pervade more and more aspects of our lives. This admiration for western countries, especially the USA results from our national complex, we tend to think that foreign things and ideas are better and what is Polish is bad, everything is better than Polish and living elsewhere is better than in Poland, as a nation we have this tendency to complain about everything. The situation would only be acceptable if there were for example more local companies that Polish people rely on and if they were more faithful to our Polish cultural heritage. However, Poland seems to be exaggerating by mindless copying too many things, ideas and accepting new habits and traditions. In this way we forget about our national identity, our traditions, customs which should be cultivated and passed on from generation to generation.

1. Do you agree with our point of view that we are losing our Polishness? Can you think of any counterargument to these statements? 2. How can we awaken our sense of unity and patriotism? 3. What can happen with our country if we continue to reject our Polishness?