Friday, August 31, 2018
Saudi Arabia: Allow Poland to Build a Cathedral, Says Dominik Tarczynski
Dominik Tarczynski says Poland should not allow Saudi Arabia to use petrodollars to build a mosque in Warsaw until KSA allows Poland to build an cathedral in KSA. Story here.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Paul Krugman, New York Times: Poland's True Historical Path: Fascism
Nobel-Prize winning columnist Paul Krugman, in yesterday's New York Times, deployed the Bieganski, Brute Polak Stereotype, as described in my book of that title. Krugman jokes that Eastern Europe's true historical path is fascism. Eastern Europeans, in this formulation, are allergic to modern trends like democracy.
You can read Paul Krugman's column here.
By the way, I am not a supporter of Law and Justice. I'm not a detractor, either. I don't think it would be appropriate for me to voice my opinion about Poland's government on this blog, dedicated, as it is, to stereotypes of Poles.
One can object to Poland's current government, though, without opening one's column with a Polak joke, in the same way that one can object to this or that policy of Israel without opening with a Jew joke.
That the New York Times okayed Krugman opening his column with a racist joke says much about the power of the Bieganski stereotype.
The column's title is also telling. "It Can Happen Here." That headline is an allusion to an American novel by Sinclair Lewis about fascism in the US.
"We're Very Close to Becoming Another Poland or Hungary," Krugman warns. Note that Poland and Hungary are the epitome of fascism in Krugman's forumation.
You can read Paul Krugman's column here.
By the way, I am not a supporter of Law and Justice. I'm not a detractor, either. I don't think it would be appropriate for me to voice my opinion about Poland's government on this blog, dedicated, as it is, to stereotypes of Poles.
One can object to Poland's current government, though, without opening one's column with a Polak joke, in the same way that one can object to this or that policy of Israel without opening with a Jew joke.
That the New York Times okayed Krugman opening his column with a racist joke says much about the power of the Bieganski stereotype.
The column's title is also telling. "It Can Happen Here." That headline is an allusion to an American novel by Sinclair Lewis about fascism in the US.
"We're Very Close to Becoming Another Poland or Hungary," Krugman warns. Note that Poland and Hungary are the epitome of fascism in Krugman's forumation.
Polish Journalist: There Is No Bieganski Stereotype, And No, I Have Not Read Your Book
I received an email yesterday from a young man asking for an interview. He identified himself as a journalist working for a Polish news magazine.
He said he wanted answers by today.
Huh? He asked me a series of questions yesterday and wants answers by today? Usually journalists give me more time.
I wanted to accommodate him so I rushed to type up some answers this morning before breakfast.
He asked quite a few questions. When I looked at them, I realized they were all the same.
His questions, paraphrased: "You are wrong. There is no stereotype of Poles. I know this is true because I talked to Polish people living in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, and Chicago. All are successful and none have experienced any stereotyping."
His questions are hopelessly naive.
I wrote back, "Oprah Winfrey, Drake, and Barack Obama are some of the most successful Americans. Does this prove that there is no stereotyping of blacks? Steve Mnuchin, Chuck Schumer, and Jon Stewart are all Jews. Does this prove that there is no stereotyping of Jews?"
He wrote back, "It was written 8 years ago. World changed [sic]."
He acknowledged that he had never read Bieganski the Brute Polak Stereotype, and yet he was certain, based on his conversations with Poles in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, and Chicago, that there are no stereotypes of Poles in the world today.
So, Poles and Polonians, fold your tents and move on. No one is stereotyping you.
***
Update. I just received another email from the self-described journalist. He said that he posted "many announcements" on Facebook groups for Poles living in the US and none of them said anything negative about living in America. Thus, Bieganski is false.
Note. This journalist took the time to communicate on Facebook, but he devoted less than a day to contacting the author of the only scholarly book dedicated to stereotypes of Poles, and he did that only to tell that author that she is wrong. And to inform her that he hadn't read the book, because "World changed" [sic.]
Mind. This blog is several years old. It is constantly updated with new material from me, from Polish Media Issues, and from blog readers.
The problem is not that the book was published in 2011. No serious journalist would dismiss a book about stereotyping because it was published in 2011. No serious journalist would dismiss a book without reading it, and insist that he doesn't have to read it because it was published in 2011. And no serious journalist would be unaware that the book's contents are constantly reaffirmed by ongoing events.
Denying a stereotype is an act of hate or ignorance combined with arrogance. Who would deny that Jews are stereotyped? Only an anti-Semite, or someone who simply isn't very bright.
He said he wanted answers by today.
Huh? He asked me a series of questions yesterday and wants answers by today? Usually journalists give me more time.
I wanted to accommodate him so I rushed to type up some answers this morning before breakfast.
He asked quite a few questions. When I looked at them, I realized they were all the same.
His questions, paraphrased: "You are wrong. There is no stereotype of Poles. I know this is true because I talked to Polish people living in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, and Chicago. All are successful and none have experienced any stereotyping."
His questions are hopelessly naive.
I wrote back, "Oprah Winfrey, Drake, and Barack Obama are some of the most successful Americans. Does this prove that there is no stereotyping of blacks? Steve Mnuchin, Chuck Schumer, and Jon Stewart are all Jews. Does this prove that there is no stereotyping of Jews?"
He wrote back, "It was written 8 years ago. World changed [sic]."
He acknowledged that he had never read Bieganski the Brute Polak Stereotype, and yet he was certain, based on his conversations with Poles in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, and Chicago, that there are no stereotypes of Poles in the world today.
So, Poles and Polonians, fold your tents and move on. No one is stereotyping you.
***
Update. I just received another email from the self-described journalist. He said that he posted "many announcements" on Facebook groups for Poles living in the US and none of them said anything negative about living in America. Thus, Bieganski is false.
Note. This journalist took the time to communicate on Facebook, but he devoted less than a day to contacting the author of the only scholarly book dedicated to stereotypes of Poles, and he did that only to tell that author that she is wrong. And to inform her that he hadn't read the book, because "World changed" [sic.]
Mind. This blog is several years old. It is constantly updated with new material from me, from Polish Media Issues, and from blog readers.
The problem is not that the book was published in 2011. No serious journalist would dismiss a book about stereotyping because it was published in 2011. No serious journalist would dismiss a book without reading it, and insist that he doesn't have to read it because it was published in 2011. And no serious journalist would be unaware that the book's contents are constantly reaffirmed by ongoing events.
Denying a stereotype is an act of hate or ignorance combined with arrogance. Who would deny that Jews are stereotyped? Only an anti-Semite, or someone who simply isn't very bright.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Amazon Removes 2,612 Reviews of Polish Books
Jan Peczkis is a Polish American. He reads and posts on my Bieganski blog. Jan and I disagree about many fundamental issues. I voice my disagreement. I believe in freedom of speech.
Jan informed my blog readers that Amazon has removed his 2,612 Amazon reviews, largely of Polish-interest books.
Many Polish books that have had no other reviews will now have no reviews whatsoever because Jan's reviews have been removed.
Perhaps you could make your thoughts known to Amazon on this matter. Perhaps Polonia could take some united action.
To be clear, Jan is to the right of me. He interprets Polish-Jewish relations very differently than I do. Having said that, the answer to speech you don't like is not less speech, but more speech. Jan was always confronted in the comments sections under his reviews. I met one of my best online friends, who lives in Israel, that way.
To totally erase Jan smacks of 1984
To translate this meme, it says, Freedom of Speech is like health. You don't appreciate it till you've lost it. It's a play on the opening lines of Pan Tadeusz, our national epic poem.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Jeremy Corbyn's Anti-Semitism Should Be More Shocking Than It Is
My book "Bieganski: The Brute Polak Stereotype" talks a lot about the Escherian maze that is Political Correctness.
Hate is not hate. Hate is hate only if powers-that-by define it so.
Case in point. The above photo is of powerful British politician Jeremy Corbyn laying a wreath to commemorate the terrorists who murdered Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Confronted with this photo, Corbyn engaged in some mealy mouthed nonsense about how killing has to stop.
A Guardian article addressing antisemitism among British Labour Party politicians offers some hint of how widespread and socially acceptable hatred of Jews is in the UK. You can read that article here
British antisemitism is scary and disgusting. British literature produced stock antisemitic images. Blood libel from Chaucer. Shylock from Shakespeare. Fagin from Dickens.
And at the same time, the UK arrested and tortured Tommy Robinson, who says things that the powers that be don't like about a religion that the powers that be do like.
If only the Brits had a mirror. They really need to take a good long look at themselves.
And what has any of this to do with Poles? You tell me how the world would react if a Polish politician showed up at a wreath laying ceremony for terrorist murderers.
Monday, August 13, 2018
Haaretz: Israeli Students Caught Dancing Naked at Nazi Death Camp in Poland
Like the headline says. Read article here. It was just two people, and they were immediately sent back to Israel. I'm just sharing this because of the headline.
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Bieganski in The New Yorker: Poland is Retreating from Democracy
The New Yorker informs its readers that Poland is retreating from democracy. Well, what would you expect from a nation of Bieganskis. Read their predictable article here.
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| Bad, bad Poland. From the New Yorker. |
