Why the UK's Downfall is Making Poland Insanely Rich

Chapters

00:00 - 03:40 Why the UK's Downfall is Making Poland Insanely Rich
03:40 - 06:25 How did Poland transform from Communism
06:25 - 08:30 The UK's Ticking Time Bomb
08:30 - 11:50 Britains Brexit Disaster
11:50 - 15:58 Can Poland Keep it Up

[Mark-hjfp]

I am Slovak citizen, but I live in the UK for 5 years. I see the country is not in a good condition, almost everything is in decline, only immigration, crime and poverty is growing. I can't really imagine to raise the family here. I hope I will be able to move to Poland or Czechia in a next few years. Salaries are maybe still not on that level as it is in the UK, but these countries are more family friendly, safer, cleaner and I feel I can fit better there with my background and mentality than as it is in the UK. England is still good country in a certain way, but problems are growing and it is hard and too expensive to live a decent life here. Poles deserves what they have, they had difficult history and were hit hardly by Nazis and Russians, but I believe they will be most succesful Slavic and Eastern European country and will show their full potencial in the future. But I wish they will stay down to earth and humble.

[OmerE.C]

Actually, every country seems to be a beneficiary of UK's economic fall

[BreadBox]

Lots of USA tech companies are setting up shop in Poland due to high English speaking ability, high education and low cost of wages relative to the USA.

[ed]

I am from Poland and I do not know if Poland is a rich country today. But the difference between 1983 (the time of my childhood), when there was only vinegar on the shelves in stores, and 2024 is certainly unbelievable. We now have good roads, good services, good public transport, not perfect but still good medical care, theaters, concerts, safety on the streets, stores full of everything, etc. It is really hard to believe that once I stood in line at the store for two days to buy meat, which was rationed on ration cards anyway. It is impossible to describe.

[ChuckNorrizzed]

Life comes full circle. UK is now being colonized by their former colonies. 😂

[krisss]

I like that no one from Poland comments on those "Poland success story" clips, but instead it's more like, "Are we on Germany's level yet? No? Then shut up and let me eat my pierogi."

[Kevin-zznc]

A LOT of Polish have two degrees and fluency in several languages. They're not all labourers and carpenters....

[franciscoamaral]

I’m Portuguese and I think Poland puts my country to shame. When they joined the EU they weren’t forgetful of their hardships or their troubled past and quickly rolled up the sleeves to make the most of the European funds they were getting. In my country, corruption settled in when the cash cow arrived (in the early 90’s) and now we live predominantly of tourism, because big industrial entrepreneurship is almost like a mirage. Goes to show that great leadership is everything!

[mryeast]

As an Italian, living in the UK, who has family in Poland. I can tell you, that the UK is finished. It is still a great country in some aspects, our welfare system is still one of the best (which actually creates other issues but anyway) and Natural disasters are few and far between, but, apart from that, nothing saves it. Having visited my family in Poland, the economic increase it is witnessing is unprecedented, in such a short space of time to grow so much is unheard of. Poland is clean, developed, hard working and safe. It has not subscribed to the Open Borders Policy of letting everyone and anyone in, and it has focused on attracting back its expats and reversing the brain drain it suffered in the early 2000’s. That’s one key difference between Poland and the UK. Their government cares about their people. The other key difference is that the people care about the country. Polish people are very Proud and Patriotic due to the horrors that have happened in their country throughout history, which means that resilience, pride and work ethic is engrained into Polish People. Higher work ethic = higher productivity and also means that Poles are incentivised to better their own country. Instead the British mindset is a pessimistic, negative, narcissistic mind set of “everything’s shite” “I’m leaving” and if you show any ounce of patriotism you are considered “right wing”. This emphasises that British people have lost hope and don’t care to improve the state of things here as there is a shared mindset that we are too far gone. Also, the focus by Educative bodies and the Government on culture wars rather than important issues, has steered policy away from improving the economy and has also stigmatised and alienated sections of society on all sides, meaning that the UK now has deep rooted social issues. What started as a anti-racist/decolonisation rhetoric that meant well, has actually led to those very problems becoming worse as the British people and political parties look for a scapegoat for their own problems. Britain’s biggest issue, in my opinion, is distraction politics. As mentioned before, one of the main narratives in British Society and Politica at the moment is Anti Immigration. Though it is true that the Open Borders Policy has deepened social and economic divide, it is not the whole story. The government is actually to blame for the wider picture. However, as all political parties do, Anti-Immigration has become a very big scapegoat in this country for our real issues. As a result, policy focuses on pointless, petty culture wars and the real focus of the issues becomes lost. However, the British people are also to blame. I have never seen a population more zombie-like and stagnant as the British. I think this is a deep rooted cultural thing as the British “stiff upper lip” is certainly true. You just get on with it here. People complain and moan constantly but don’t do anything about here. Most other countries by now would have had a revolution, justifiably so. However, in Britain there is a lack of organisation on a local level from pressure groups and activist groups and more importantly, there is a lack of unity amongst the population which has been purposely inflicted by political parties to keep people divided so that we don’t unite to fight one common enemy. It is text book authoritarianism and divide and conquer. Ironic that the British Government are now using their own Colonisation tactics on their own people. I think British people lack unity, hope and Optimism and therefore a mass fight back has not been able to come to fruition. In recent times, we have seen more protests from different sectors of society but they are still very much based on bi-partisan issues and often actually miss the real point and focus. This coupled with the fact that the UK government has now become akin to Russia or China’s in silencing narratives and groups that they don’t like, means that any sort of uprising from the population has become almost impossible. The UK is in trouble and though all of Western Europe is in rough seas at the moment, as someone who is well travelled and has first hand experience of Italy, Britain and Polands economy, trust me when I say the UK is the worst of them all. Economically, Socially and Politically this country is too far gone unless the British People manage to overcome all these hurdles somehow and force a change (and no, voting for a different political party to the one that shafted you previously is not going to work, just like it didn’t the last time, im talking about a complete overhaul of the system and a revolution) but unfortunately, I truly and sadly believe the British people and British Society does not have it in them to do this. It is a country that is beautiful, has so much potential and great people, being spoilt by a select few, who have everyone wrapped round their little fingers. Personally, get out now whilst you still can because honestly would not surprise me if the British Government make leaving the country illegal at some point wih the way they are acting at the moment. Oh also before I forget, regulation is also one of Britain’s downfalls. It is perhaps one of the most over regulated countries on earth. Regulation at a basic level is good, increases safety and decreases exploitation, but when it becomes excessive like here in the UK you suppress economic growth, by presenting too many obstacles for new buisnesses thus creating an unnatractive buisness environment and you slow the whole economy down. Over regulation means more hurdles, more paperwork, more oversight which ultimately reduces productivity and is responsible for half the reason as to why every service in the UK from NHS waiting lists to driving tests is backlogged at the moment. Deregulate slightly, and you will find the economy frees itself up and becomes more fluid, and cash flow then follows. Think of it like a circuit, the economy moves quicker which means the cash flows quicker through the circuit which means you get more money passing through. It is simple economics really and this comes from someone who has never studied economics, you don’t need to be a genius to figure this stuff out which leads me to truly believe that the governments of this country have an external agenda they are adhearing to. Not to mention the way that the UK has one of the most rigid social class structures in the world. Though the Uk is not officially feudalist, underneath it still very much operates as a feudalist system, with a large class divide and little to no social mobility. The reason for this? Well let’s take the NHS For example. There is currently a lack of skilled workers in the NHS. One reason? Well since Brexit the Uk has come a less attractive destination for skilled foreign doctors who upon we which we relied on for a lot of our skilled labour prior to brexit. The other reason? Well for starters if you have to rely on foreign labour to fill positions in the British Job market then that means as a government you haven’t done enough to train and attract British workers to that field. In the case of the NHS, Nurses in particular are overworked and underpaid, thus deattracting people from the role. Secondly, to become a nurse it takes years of disrupted overpriced education, again, an unattractive proposition. See what I am trying to say? So many industries in the UK contain too many obstacles prior to entering that industry for British people, whether that be financial or social obstacles, making key job roles that the economy relies on for growth and function like Nurses, Lorry Drivers and Driving Examiners unattractive. Now that the UK has almost closed its borders to skilled foreign labour and opened it to unskilled foreign labour, these decades long issues are coming to fruition. We are importing more people reliant on the state, and exporting more people contributing to the state, whilst not promoting home grown skill and talent in order to take the place of exported foreign talent.

[youcantata]

Poland will be one of top 5 power countries in Europe in next decade, surpassing Russia or Italy. Go Go Poland.

[hermesliteratus]

This is the very first time I hear anyone calls Poland insanely rich.

[shirqilletisi]

Poland needs to become a stable economic powerhouse in Europe. This stability contributes to the defence of Europe generally as adversaries become innovative and pressurize Europe economically and politically.

[WLatu-kzse]

Thank you Brexiteers !!!
I spent a few years working in London (AI engineer), paying 40% bracket tax, never using any of those 'legendary social benefits', got attacked several times when cycling across bad neighborhoods. I'm in Warsaw now: a safe, clean city, with thriving businesses, and interesting high-tech jobs.

[Sam-doq]

The Uk economy has pretty much been flat for the last two decades. An inconsistent immigration policy, lack of decisive leadership and inability to form new trade deals post brexit have left it stymied.

[aleksanderszczurek]

UK's tough situation is not making Poland stronger. Strong economic ties between the two would make us both richer. A Pole living in the UK.

[maximusprometheus]

Poland has a long way to go, but there are very positive signs. I only wish them the best. Cheer's from America.

[kentuckyrain]

well, we do not have immigrants from 3rd world countries and let's keep it that way. Cheers from Poland

[toni]

It also doesn't improve UK's situation that their current government has decided to go full 1984 on their own people, further encouraging high-skill workers to leave the country.

[patrykziemniak]

Poland is currently having few issues:
1. Electricity costs - due to not transforming and being reliant on coal we are currently in huge issue with certificates for clean energy making it the most expensive in the world which also leads to higher production costs, even when workers are cheaper.
2. Huge debt - currently our GDP is mostly buffed with taking a lot of loans to keep up with budget. Last 2 years and current one are terrible financially. Deficit is 184 billion PLN while income only 682 billion PLN. Budget for the next year is looking even worse (almost 300 billion in deficit making it closer to 50% of income). Current success will hit us back in the future due to high debt costs increasing each year. At some point we will have to slow down.
3. We are having huge "hidden debt" with retirement system. Currently there is no money saved and with fertility rate of 1, 26 this will fail miserably
4. More and more taxes each year. Minimal wage salary is taxes over 40% (with all kind of hidden taxes) while with higher salaries it can increase up to 62%. A lot of taxes called "fee for x" to act like not a tax.

It's not such paradise as some people describe. It's currently ok in Poland but it's far away from being good place for living while considering future. If government (both ex and currently leading parties - PiS and PO) won't stop going crazy with money spending we will become Venezuela 2.0 in next 10-15 years.

[zenzull]

The most significant difference is that Poland not welcoming hostile muslim immigrants, unlike UK.