Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Half Million Left Poland in 2012




The EU is passing through a generation of general integration and mixing driven by the power of employment, the access to English in particular, and residual local chauvinism.  The size of the possible shifts is demonstrated here.

I have reached the point in which I think that local chauvinism needs to be made over into city state polities whose primary function is to preserve that particular culture while the remaining countryside is open to all under similar protocols.   That at least strips chauvinism of its obvious economic basis which easily translates into conflict.

Who cares if a new city is set up in the middle of France, housing one million Islamic fanatics living under insane laws if that is precisely where it ends?  The citizens would still be free to travel to work elsewhere and to return but not their laws.  In time the worst distortions would actually unwind anyway but it eliminates the zones of friction.

As posted the solution to the Palestinian problem is amazingly simple.  We build a communication corridor from Alexandria through to Gaza along its southern border, have it pass through Israel through to the West Bank and then up through southern Lebanon to Beirut.  Defined high density cities would be built in Gaza the West Bank and in Southern Lebanon linked into this corridor.  These cities define actual citizenry.

Then sell the remaining land free and clear to Israel while retaining full right to accept employment and visit with the usual protections against gangsterism.  Put this in place, the new citizens can also realize on past and present title with inevitable adjustments to equity and get on with their lives.  In this way millions of Palestinians can own land in Israel, work in Israel, actively participate in the urban life, even live there.  Their citizenship however remains secure and protected by their city state just down the road and their rights are then protected by their united polity.

My point is that this can be applied to any locale that chauvinism is a risk and to be fair, that is most everywhere.  The key is to remove the chauvinism from the economic levers while protecting the general economy.


Half a million leave Poland in 2013

11.02.2014 10:27
A leading demographer has estimated that up to 500,000 Poles emmigrated in 2013, as Poland's population shrinks still further since it joined the EU in 2004.


“Official statistics point towards what has been another huge wave of immigration,” affirmed Professor Krystyna Iglicka from Warsaw's Lazarski University.

“According to German data, some 200,000 Poles moved there last year. A similar number of our compatriots also went to the UK.

“Large groups have also started to seek their fortune in Norway and the Netherlands,” she added.

Professor Iglicka noted that a significant proportion of the immigrants are those joining family members who have already settled abroad.

If Iglicka's estimates are correct, it would mean that about 2.6 million Polish citizens currently live abroad, with the first major wave of immigration occurring after Poland joined the EU in 2004.

In 2013, about 2.1 people in Poland were registered as unemployed.

Agnieszka Zerek, who runs the Legalis legal advice office for Poles in the UK, says her clients generally find life easier in the UK than in Poland.


“It's easier to get a job, it's easier to maintain a family, it's easier to put money aside and save something,” she said. (nh)

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