Yes, that's called a strike, which usually is not resorted to lightly anywhere in the world.

(BTW, not only in rural areas--that article is old.  In today's paper they show an emergency room in a city of 200,000 where only 9,000 inhabitants are covered by regular medical care.)

J.

I did notice, but would need to research it further before opening my mouth and hijacking this thread.

Poland was in a very bad economic shape after WWI, in 1918, when it regained its independence, but so were other countries.  Then, the big crisis of the early 1930s hit, but it also hit others (although in Poland, it lasted 2 years longer).  I do not need to describe Poland's conditions in 1945, but other countries were also affected.**

Bref, although Western Europe was ahead of Poland before WWII, I am not so sure the distance was that of 40+ years.  It only makes sense to assume that if others were working hard on their GDP for 40+ years after WWII and Poland was prevented from doing so for ideological reasons, the distance can only be far greater now than it would have been otherwise. (Currently, Polish GDP is 40% of the West European average.)

No one has ever said anywhere that GDP is the measure of happiness on the earth.*  It only directly translates into your everyday comfort.  Yes, we all know that everyday life is not the only life man should lead in this world as he has greater tasks to accomplish.  Those can be discussed at length while waiting in lines, which is what under communism people would do for hours every day, year after year, decade after decade.

As to what a "totalitarian regime" is, I believe the literature is more than abundant.  You have not even missed all your chances of experiencing it for yourself.  A short trip to North Korea should do. You could also try living in Cuba to get an idea.  If I hijack these threads, it is because I see too many analogies with Poland's past there.

Jacek

------

*It so happens that the countries with the highest GDP per capita in Europe are the ones where I would not like to live, but that may as well have to do with other factors such as language, etc.

P.S. It turns out (http://eaces.gelso.unitn.it/Eaces/work/Papers/ECONOMIC%20ASSESSMENT.pdf) that in 1938-39, Poland's GDP per capita was 53% relative to the EU average, versus 38% now.  A difference, quand même, which could mean a dozen years fewer of catching up.  Specifically, right before WWII, Poland's GDP was higher than that of Spain and Portugal which now beat Poland by 2:1.

Although the source quoted puts the average convergence time needed to reach the EU low-income levels at 22-24 years, I am not sure that is adjusted for the fact that in 22-24 years the current EU low-income members will have advanced themselves, which is why I prefer to believe in the 40+ yrs. scenario, although I would be certainly pleasantly surprised to die surrounded by Greek opulence, not to mention their climate, although that has been equally noticeably warming up in Poland.

P.P.S.

** In fact, GDP per capita dropped in many Western countries, as measured against the EU average, between 1939 and 1989, but that drop has been particularly dramatic in EU candidate countries.  More interestingly, Table 2 in the abovementioned link shows that countries such as Czechoslovakia or Hungary (N/A for Poland) managed to maintain their position throughout the years preceding WWII, i.e., between 1918-1939, before plummeting afterwards.

In all fairness, we should factor in the WWII losses which in the case of Poland, I am reading in one source, amounted to 13 times the annual GDP and were the biggest in Europe: "Just before the outbreak of World War II, Poland’s GDP was rising, unemployment rates were falling, and a significant shift from agriculture to modern industry had been achieved. Such progress was in a large portion assigned to the business undertakings by well-educated and economically astute young entrepreneurs turning historical disadvantages of country division into the fastest progressing economy of Europe.... World War II brought destruction, misery and despair, putting a halt to any business activities of Polish firms. ....38 percent of the national economy of Poland was destroyed. Poland lost over six-and-a-half million of its citizens and was left with over 600,000 invalids. Poland lost 14,000 production enterprises, 1 million farms, and 40 percent of all its buildings. According to international experts estimated material losses totalled 16.9 billion dollars according to prices in 1939." (Internet)

There is no such thing and never has been.  Have you not read Main Currents of Marxism by Leszek Kołakowski to start?  Movies like The Ring or Matrix are also exciting (I suppose), provided we remember they describe imaginary worlds.

I hope you are not referring to the collective ownership of the means of production, are you, Scott?  Personally, I am happy with the computer I own at home (despite being constantly challenged by my son) and would never be interested in co-owning the one which belongs to my employer.

countries of Western Europe did indeed operate police states—from Algeria to Sri Lanka. Those countries got rich off colonialism.

Scott, I think there persists a basic misunderstanding in your comments.  I have never questioned statements like the one above.  The fact, however, that the West is not a paradise does not really mean that the communism is, or even that the communism is any better.  In my first-hand criticism of the latter I have always tried to be very careful about indicating where specifically I saw in practice a better alternative.  I think the only exceptions I have ever made concerned just the sectors of health care and universities, because I have extensively used both in the US, in Western Europe and in Poland.  The fact that the US has excellent graduate programs does not really mean that the US is the earthly paradise, though.  When protesting against depriving people of freedom of speech, religion, or press in countries like China or Cuba, I have never said that the West is a shining example of freedom in this respect.  Since we have talked about the latter, I do not see why I should not shed some light also on other areas of the world, especially considering the gross ignorance of what used to be the life behind the Iron Curtain.

Please carefully re-read one of my recent posts where I said that I resent prisoners arguing with one another over who of them is more or less free, or which of the two colors, black or red, is better.  It is you who still believe that there is a clear-cut answer to that dilemma.  I do not believe in any answers, except for those I find myself.

Jacek

"Those can be discussed at length while waiting in lines, which is what under communism people would do for hours every day, year after year, decade after decade."

Dear Jacek,

The reason I started this thread was to denounce yet again the violation of human rights and living conditions of the Cuban people under a communist regime.  In my opinion, you are doing the same thing by discussing the situation in Poland. Therefore, I don't consider you've hijacked the thread, on the contrary, you've enriched it. Thank you.

Regards,

Not too many.  I will try to dig up recent polls which show that there has been an overall improvement in social sentiments since 1989.

Meanwhile:

Poverty, one of the most important social problems in contemporary Poland, is often perceived, especially by public opinion, as a totally new phenomenon, a derivative of the transformation period and a direct result of the 1989-1990 changes towards the market economy.

There are many reasons for this. Firstly, there was an "ideological embargo," as Roman Kraczla later put it (1992:151), on the issues of poverty and social inequality during the period of the People’s Republic. Data concerning the then existing poverty (euphemistically described as "indigence"1), and research studies made in the 1970s or 1980s2 were never published. Poorly funded and facing many obstacles, research carried out under so-called "real existing socialism" contributed to an image of Poland as a country devoid of such social problems as poverty, social inequality, and marginalisation of the under-privileged. In a self-verifying political system, poverty could exist neither in theory nor in practice, although an exception was made, for poverty connected with social pathology. The People’s Republic is today considered to have been a country where poverty did not exist, and not only by the supporters of the old regime. The same view is espoused by those who, in the face of the difficulties of contemporary life, take refuge in nostalgia and idealisation of the past.

Secondly, unlike today’s poverty, that of Communist Poland was invisible, a fact which has direct implications for its present perception and analysis. The aims of the Communist order, when it was introduced after World War II, included putting an end to social injustice, removing inequalities in society, and promoting upward mobility among the lower classes. As a Polish historian, Janusz Żarnowski, writes about those times, "….the rule was that differentiations [...] should ideally be a matter of degree only, so that neither extreme poverty, nor extreme riches should be possible. Reality differed from theory, and in practice, the divisions were significant. Nevertheless, the above policy achieved some results: destitution was invisible, in spite of the fact that actual poverty was widespread..." [author’s unofficial translation from Polish] (Żarnowski 1992:241). The then state policy of full employment (or rather hidden unemployment), an egalitarian wage policy, and state subventions for the prices of foodstuffs, energy and rents, made the problem of poverty less visible, but could not make it entirely disappear.

Present-day poverty on the other hand can be seen everywhere."

Read on: http://www.iwm.at/publ-spp/soco69pp.pdf

The following graph is 2 yrs. old, but it shows a stable "psychologcal comfort" of Poles since shortly before the beginning of the transformation:

The accompanying comment is, unfortunately, in Polish, for Malgorzata only:

"Długofalowa analiza "bilansu emocjonalnego" Polaków pozwala stwierdzić, że mimo wszystko obecne odczucia nie są najgorsze. W porównaniu z pierwszą połową lat dziewięćdziesiątych, a także końcem lat osiemdziesiątych średnie odsetki (z ostatnich trzech lat) deklarowanych uczuć pozytywnych są wyższe. Jeśli chodzi o samopoczucie Polaków, najgorszy był rok 1991 - wówczas w największym stopniu czuliśmy się zniechęceni, znużeni i nieszczęśliwi, najczęściej towarzyszyły nam odczucia depresyjne, relatywnie często byliśmy zdenerwowani, rozdrażnieni bądź wściekli, najczęściej w całym analizowanym okresie mieliśmy poczucie lekceważenia przez władzę. Natomiast najrzadziej (poza uczuciem dumy z własnych osiągnięć) doznawaliśmy odczuć o charakterze pozytywnym.

Dziesięć lat później odsetek osób zadowolonych z tego, że coś im się w życiu udało, był jednym z najwyższych w całym analizowanym okresie, podobnie jak odsetek respondentów mających powody do zaciekawienia, szczególnego czymś zainteresowania lub podekscytowania. W 2001 roku (podobnie jak w drugiej połowie lat dziewięćdziesiątych i na początku następnej dekady) najmniej Polaków w analizowanym czternastoleciu deklarowało, że było rozdrażnionych lub zdenerwowanych, relatywnie mało było także znużonych lub zniechęconych. Można zatem powiedzieć, że ostatnie lata, mimo wielu trudności, są dla Polaków ciekawe i w większym stopniu niż pierwsza połowa minionej dekady stwarzają możliwości osiągania indywidualnego sukcesu."

My economic situation is neither good nor bad said 45% of Poles a year ago, bad--31% and good--24%.  You can see how that has been evolving since 1987 here: http://www.cbos.com.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2003/K_010_03.PDF, diagram 4 (=Rys. 4, the colors being, respectively, blue, red and green). 

Finally, the most recent data from last October: 

Very satisfied with the transformation are 17% of Poles (vs. 7% a year earlier), dissatisfied 20% (vs. 28% a year earlier). Altogether, 3 out of 4 are either rather or very satisfied.  The 20% corresponds to, or even exceeds, the electorate of the ruling post-communists and I would not say that means "many."

Polacy zadowoleni z transformacji- i to bardzo (2003-10-17)

Ponad trzy czwarte ankietowanych w sierpniu przez OBOP twierdzi, że są "raczej zadowoleni" lub "bardzo zadowoleni". W czerwcu 1992 r., tylko 7 proc. odpowiedziało, że są "bardzo zadowoleni". Dziś twierdzi tak 17 proc., a liczba niezadowolonych spadła z 28 proc. w 1992 r. do 20 w 2003 r. (Gazeta Wyborcza)

Stats obviously depend on the study. "Diagnoza społeczna 2003" (Janusz Czpiński, Tomasz Panek) showed for 1996, 2000 and 2003 respectively:

• (rather) negative impact of reforms on the lives of 51.8%, 65.4%, 68% of those polled
• (rather) positive on 27.1%, 22.4%, 19.4%

Originally written by Jacek Krankowski on January 6, 2004 3:52 PM in Post #23490 Data concerning the then existing poverty (euphemistically described as "indigence"1), and research studies made in the 1970s or 1980 were never published. Poorly funded and facing many obstacles, research carried out under so-called "real existing socialism" contributed to an image of Poland as a country devoid of such social problems as poverty, social inequality, and marginalisation of the under-privileged. ...

P.S.  Thanks, Jacek. I think I have figured it  out myself. I just went into a shock, initially  and did not read the rest.  I think the most imporatnt problem almost  everywhere is housing,  healthcare  and schools.  They take the largest percentage of people's  saleries.  

Liliana,

the lower of the two compared prices are today's prices (so 1kg of ham = PLN 20), the higher ones are the communist ppp prices, where ppp is easily possible because nominally pensions in 1969 were the same as in 2007, i.e., approx. 1,200 zlotys. (Of course, the 1,200 zlotys of 1969 were equal to, I dunno, 20 dollars while now PLN 1,200 = $390.)

Jacek