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I'd generally agree, but my follow up question would be: which western country isn't?
by denvrede 2mo ago
I'd generally agree, but my follow up question would be: which western country isn't?
- greenavocado 2mo agoPoland, but its on borrowed time due to the extreme fertility crisis.
- eigenspace 2mo agoLol, what on earth makes you single out Poland as the single western country not in decay right now?
- dyauspitr 2mo agoIt doesn’t have immigrants so the right wing tries extra hard to paint it as rosy.
- eigenspace 2mo agoDing Ding Ding
- maratc 2mo agoThere are about 1.5 million immigrants from Ukraine alone.
- eigenspace 2mo agoThe 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 2mo agoLook up a map of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth
- eigenspace 2mo agoSo 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 2mo agoWhite immigrants. Don’t act naive.
- greenavocado 2mo agoWhere is the lie?
- dyauspitr 2mo agoIt’s not that rosy? Especially compared to literally every country in Western Europe.
- sam_lowry_ 2mo agoIts economy has been growing for 30 years non-stop, to the point that it is now compared to Singapore.
- jijijijij 2mo agoIn context of the article, the economic performance is hardly relevant. The authoritarian forces are still strong in Poland, their institutional damage persistent.
- snowpid 2mo agoIm 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 2mo agoYeah, 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.
- flossly 2mo agoIs 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.
- BSDobelix 2mo ago>How are Japan and Korea holing out? https://japandaily.jp/why-japanese-elders-choose-prison-over-isolation/ https://japandaily.jp/why-japanese-elders-choose-prison-over... https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/1-in-3-south-koreans-live-alone-in-super-aged-era https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/1-in-3-south-kor...
- greenavocado 2mo ago[flagged]
- master-lincoln 2mo agoPlease provide evidence. Also westerners from which point of view?
- greenavocado 2mo agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE
- snovymgodym 2mo agoYeah, it's pretty important if you are interested in the continued existence of your society
- woodpanel 2mo agoMost popular boys name, per place: - Warsaw: Nikodem - Oslo: Mohammad - Berlin and Brandenburg: Mohammed - England as a whole: Muhammad Mind you that the names top these lists in spite of usually being present in there in multiple spelling versions. E.g. if all different spelling versions of Muhammad were combined it would top the Dutch statistics as well.
- lo_zamoyski 2mo agoThe 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...
- dgellow 2mo agoThat impacts the whole developed world, it’s not a polish issue
- skinfaxi 2mo agoThat it sucks elsewhere means we can't decry this instance?
- flossly 2mo agoDenmark? 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).
- petcat 2mo agoDenmark is the architect of Chat Control. Even the extreme version that requires all E2E communications be accessible to the government. Denmark is not just decayed, it is completely rotten.
- rvz 2mo agoSome people still don't have a clue that it is the almost the entirety of EU member countries in Europe that are rotten and are not doing particularly well. The only country in Europe that is the exception is Norway which is not part of the EU.
- Oarch 2mo agoI wasn't expecting to find Hamlet in these comments...
- radiator 2mo ago> Denmark is not just decayed, it is completely rotten I don't know about the truthness of this claim, but you are definitely getting the upvote for the humour.
- omnimus 2mo agoControversial proposals like Chat control are often pushed by hard lobby through the current eu presidency state because of their possition. It is likely that if Denmark wasn't heading eu at the time they would have little to do with Chat control. Also likely they were one of the more resilient countries to propose this.
- cucumber3732842 2mo ago>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) Yeah, a lot of the western countries that aren't wealthy enough to afford the luxury of indulging in absurd farcical politics and policies over the past 40yr are doing pretty decent.
- tremon 2mo agoWhy 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.
- xienze 2mo ago> things were always better in the olden days, people don't make 'em like they used to. Just because successive generations make the same observations about <X> doesn't mean that <X> hasn't actually been steadily declining, you know.
- Gander5739 2mo agohttps://xkcd.com/1227/ https://xkcd.com/1227/
- xienze 2mo agoSo are you just repeating the parent's flawed argument? Maybe you should see what that comic looks like extrapolated out to 2026: "yo on god writing be dead, frfr no cap <100 emoji> <fire emoji>"
- Gander5739 2mo agoHow far back do we take it? In pre-historic times, did people crawl accross the ground to better enjoy it? There's little correlation between people complaining about something being better in the good old days, and it actualli being better. Not for no reason is "rose-tinted glasses" an expression.
- inigyou 2mo agoWho said there was one?
- arjie 2mo agoPoland 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.
- snowpid 2mo agoThe US is more in decay than Germany. Currently it becomes more and more a broken democracy. Cope is strong here.
- rightbyte 2mo ago> Poland is now in the Western sphere of influence and it is not in decay. Polands fertility rate in 2025 was 1.1. It is some sort of dystopia allready for people.