Warsaw just doesn't know how to get it right. Today Marszałkowska Street, in Centrum, was saturated with protesters, onlookers, police in armour and rowdy security guards. KDT (a hall with discount shopping) was being shut down and all the sellers were asked, maybe demanded, to take their stock and disappear.
Disappear where?
Had they not been given an alternative venue to run their business?
According to the President of Warsaw, they had, but they had failed to respond to the options given to them. Were these alternatives adequate or were these innocent people whose jobs were secured in the KDT hall.
The city of Warsaw claims that the area will be used for the metro system (there are already two entry & exit points) and they plan to build a future museum – there's enough museums in Warsaw, instead they should focus on restoring and modernising the present ones. Warsaw's Museum of Technology in the Palace of Culture and Science leaves much to be desired, it's at least twenty years behind.
Priorities are not straight in Warsaw. People do not take priority. Instead they are treated worse than animals and when harm is done to them, there's no one to come to the rescue.
Warsaw may be the capital of Poland but it sure isn't the leading or most prosperous one. The decisions made by Parliament and other governing bodies are questionable to say the least. My question is what are they really trying to achieve because it sure doesn't look like they want to help anyone but themselves.
If you don't have money, you don't have a say. Without the right income you can forget about health, education and a normal standard of living.
Look, those people were given several options and they didn't answer to any of them. They had about 2 years to think about it and discuss it with the officials. And they didn't. The court ordered them to move and they didn't. The repo asked them to move, and they didn't. And it's not even their hall. It's as if somebody moved to your apartment and would lawlessly stay there - would you be happy about that? And if you wanted to move them, they would bring some football fans to throw rocks at you.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Warsaw citizens do not want any steel, ugly discount shops selling crap in the centre of their city. We finally got rid of one the biggest and dirtiest markets in East/Central Europe, and we would like this behemoth to go too.
And you say that "without the right income you can forget about health, education and a normal standard of living". It's like in other countries you would be in heaven without the right income. You would be poor - and I am sorry, but that's called life.
There were shown children. where are parents? Where are they? There are few people with a cause, most of them are there to make a riot including our, like i love them call, "football fans" - they are great patriots always where people need them... The city is building a new stadion for them and they paying back with such a behavior - that's just outrageus. I would put them in the cell 1mx1m to let them think what are they doing. We live in civillized world and as such we are obliged to follow the law, aren't we. They are there illegaly. But the worst thing is that all this situation is manipulated by people who sit in their comfortable chairs propably right know. The executive board of KDT were hiding crucial informations from people about negotiations with city council about moving people to other localization, basicly even giving them jobs. The negotiations last over a half year. There is a rumor that interested people were frightened to not take the city proposal. In the end on the whole situation, the political opposition tries to take advantage from, (which is full of shit cause they were doing same thing -using force on illegal demostrations, not so long ago) which makes people believe they can do whatever they want. Still its stupid idea, cause i don't think they will acctually gain advantage on this, as most of the Poles are after Warsaw City Mayor - but that's not my problem. Strong goverment, country must oblige the law and if needed force it.
ReplyDeleteIs Warsaw the most prosperous one? So if not they should let people break the law? That's not the case, don't you think? breaking the law that is the case.
Thank you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that my post will bring up so much emotions.
Mateusz, I understand that they were given options and they ignored them. However, many people have lost jobs and may have not been given adequate alternatives, and this alone can make them emotional.
The behaviour of these people was innapropriate. Laws are laws and if they were ordered to get out, they should have abided by that. But I think people are scared right now because the economy is in turmoil, at least according to the media, and unemployment is increasing, leading to irrational behaviour. Of course, this still doesn't justify their actions.
I've been to KDT once out of curiosity and it was crowded with people shopping. Numerous people I have met shop their because of the lower prices. The steel discount shop, while not attractive for Warsaw, is the place where many people, who can not afford Zloty Tarasy, Promenada or Galeria Mokotow, can shop.
I'm curious and somewhat worried as to what the repurcussions are going to be for the city and it's people once the KDT Hall is down, and more people are unemployed. More people on the street without a job is not a good idea.
You say 'you would be in heaven without the right income. You would be poor -' but what is the right income? In some countries you can be on minimum wage and still have access to decent health care, get an education and live like a human being. Here, the minimum wage is way too low and many people are struggling. The Warsaw Voice (14/07/09 – Daily Update) only recently quoted it at about 1276 zloty per month, but people are working ridiculous hours and earning less than that.
Yes, life is tough but people should be at least treated fairly when it comes to their wages so that they have a chance at a normal standard of living. Maybe if there was some fairness in the system, such riots as witnessed yesterday would not occur.
Dawid, yes people broke the law. Breaking the law is wrong. But as you say 'The executive board of KDT were hiding crucial informations from people about negotiations' this is not the way to go. Everyone should be given adequate information to be able to make educated decisions about their transition otherwise they jump to conclusions which are usually negative in nature.
Force is never the right answer. Unfortunately, some people feel that they have no other choice but to resort to force. Yes, it's wrong. Yes, it should be punished. Force used by the police should be controlled.
I have high hopes for Warsaw. It is a beautiful city with a lot of potential but the government doesn't always do the right thing when it comes to its citizens. People should come before buildings, not the other way around.
Katarzyna, in Poland health care and education (especially the latter) is free (by "free" I mean we all pay for that). Of course the health care is OFFICIALLY free and afaik it helps to "show your gatitude" if you need more complicated treatment. But education is really free (well, you still have to buy the books and stuff), so I wouldn't say we have a big problem with that. We don't even have to pay for studying at the public universities - and that is extremely expensive in other countries.
ReplyDeleteBTW - is it only me or you can't use arrows and "home" and "end" keys while editing the posts? Even copying is disabled. Man, that's annoying ;)
Mateusz, you're right university is free here, but only for full time students. Those enrolled in part time study at the weekend or in the evenings have to pay. In an ideal world education would be completely free but hey we can't have everything.
ReplyDeleteWhile primary and secondary school education is free, the standard that I've come across is poor. Yes, there are many schools that have high standards and excel in given a good education, but there are equally as many schools that are letting children down. Just because something is free doesn't mean it's adequate, the same goes for something that costs a fortune but that's not the point here.
Health care is not free. Polish people who are employed have to pay a set amount to ZUS from their meagre pay checks. They don't get a choice between private or public health insurance if they are in full time employment. They can choose to pay extra for private health insurance (though this might be in the process of changing, I'm not 100% certain). The amount of money people pay monthly to ZUS and get a poor standard of health care is ridiculous. If I'm paying for something every month I expect a decent level of service. What I have witnessed in my time here, is that people are not getting what they pay for instead many are being robbed of their money.
Hospital care is covered by the payments made to ZUS, however 'lapuwki' or 'showing gratitude' as you put it, are still common. They might not be legal but many doctors still like to receive them and people continue to give them because they feel it's the only way they are going to be looked after. Again there are exceptions. If people 'show their gratitude' to doctors, shouldn't it be the same for hairdressers, teachers, shop assistants, and all the rest. The services have fees and we shouldn't have to give them extra in order to get looked after.
There are many other countries that are much worse of, and Poland has made progress in terms of these areas we're discussing, but everyone sees these points differently. Depending on your upbringing, your level of education, standard of living, etc, you're going to see the pros and cons differently.
People who don't have to worry about money sometimes fail to see how others are living. Every country is going to have poor people, that's how the economy works but the issue here is that around 50% of Poles are living in poverty (CSO, Labour & Living Conditions Division, 2008 Report – available on www.stat.gov.pl). The data can be interpreted in different ways, and it's likely that not all citizens participated, but I still find the figures shocking. I hope that these statistics will improve in future because I try to have high hopes for this country.
Not having to worry about such issues personally is a relief, but I know many people who do have to, and it really does put a strain on their health, their relationships and their lives in general. Someone will always be better or worse of than another,that's how the world works. The poor don't understand the rich, and the rich don't understand the poor. Trying to find a middle ground and a bit of equality is difficult but it's not impossible. We just have to stop measuring ourselves in terms of how much money we have. We all need the same things – food, water, shelter, health care and education. Some take advantage of it while others let opportunities pass them by. People deserve the same respect when it comes to the basic necessities of life regardless of their income, unfortunately the world doesn't function that way.
I'm not sure what the problem is with the copying but I'll see if I can get it working.
Happy new year.
ReplyDeleteVery nice website.
I am impressed.
I like it very much.
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