The Eastern European Experiment

[@k.s.9400]

Going from Berlin to Warsaw feels like you’re going from a less developed country to a more developed one. Very interesting and I would have never predicted that.

[@ferologics]

that is just not true. but there’s definitely less refugees

[@k.s.9400]

@@ferologics have you done this yourself? Because I have

[@ferologics]

@@k.s.9400 yep :) Warsaw is a modern capitalist city built from ground up after WW2. Berlin is, and always has been, a swamp, literally built on mud and sewers. Berlin has tons of history, culture and nuance in its nooks and crannies, which surpasses Warsaw in oh so many ways. I can see why you’d think WW seems more developed. There are virtually no immigrants there, streets are cleaner, and it’s logistically sane. But the city feels “hollow” beyond this. Something is lacking. Berlin has this vibe, an identity that is rooted in its history, it has a heart. Here, Warsaw is lacking, imitating the West a bit too much, trying be the next Chicago. So on the face of it, it can feel more developed, but it depends on how you perceive it. From my POV it’s shallow and sterile, but I have high hopes for Warsaw’s ability to deepen and recoup its identity.

[@k.s.9400]

@@ferologics I’ve lived in Warsaw for almost a decade and have visited Berlin about 4 times. Warsaw isn’t hollow culturally, I’m just gonna guess you don’t speak a word of Polish.

[@baassiia]

​​@@ferologicsVibe you mentioned doesn't mean a thing. It's like personal opinion - I like potatoes more than fries, why? Because it Has better Vibe. Sure, you are free to think that

[@arktseytlin]

Restricting movement in the Eastern European countries after decades behind Iron Curtain was absolutely not an option. Freedom is more valuable that economy.

[@WalllFlllower]

"Abolishing gender to prove our power over the universe" 🤣🤣🤣

[@IronCandyNotes]

Moral fashion... great concept.

[@advocate1563]

I teach at a major uk university. It is ONLY my eastetn european students who are consistently capable of critical thinking

[@ventoraveritas2853]

Not surprised at all I'm sorry to say.

[@SlovenskiSin]

Would love to see a standalone episode about Slovenia, presented as a perfect endgame case (canary in a goldmine?) for what EU policies achieved since 2004. Its size is perfect for a laboratory where a live player could quickly demonstrate what kind of result above that is possible. If an above-average result can’t be achieved for a city-state-sized population of 2 million within a decade (in either case), what hope and timeline is there for nations with 20 or 200 million people?

[@edwarddench5342]

Echoing what George Friedman has been saying for years

[@cyber_spock]

Woah shit. Samo always dropping bombs "[College] in my opinion is a zero-sum exercise of limited utility to society." LMFAO. Please never change Samo. I'll listen to every single live players episode you ever produce.

[@GdzieJestNemo]

in general agree, but there's bit of odd inaccuracies. I will keep it limited to Poland as i'm native and i'm most familiar with. Western Europe is subsidizing "eastern european" economies - just check how many big companies can you name from the region - entire regions' GDP in Poland is carried by Dutch, German or French companies. After 30 years there's hardly any domestic company coming from the region. Migration wise people coming back is insignificant, it's only mentioned as it's odd to see people actually coming back at all. We are ones using progressive taxation. Economically we are heavily social and state centered model (that is common in all old block i believe). From cultural points - american university type progressivism pretty much doesn't exist. That entire section from 46:00 to around 52:00 is pure delusional nonsense.

[@TylerDurden-pk5km]

The development of the gender differences are very easy to explain - and are in no way special to eastern Europe. It simply shows revealed preferences. If times are hard and the only way to obtain status for women are through "hard sciences" and engineering: They choose these careers once societies are wealthy enough to also educate women in these subjects. But once the society becomes richer, and the women can obtain sufficient status/wealth in other ways, they no longer do it and pursue carriers in fields they prefer - usually softer topics as mentioned.

[@advocate1563]

Viz Jordan Peterson and Big 5 personality test

[@baassiia]

No really. I am math person, just was born like that. We all differ. Agrre with comment above mentioning Jordan P, who explains IT very easily. We are all born different.

[@UvstudioCaToronto]

Didn't cover China's influence on Eastern Europe?

[@aprofromuk]

hungary is basically a chinese colony, tbh u can get very good chinese food in budapest :)

[@UvstudioCaToronto]

@@aprofromuk I look forward to visiting Budapest!

[@EmilNicolaiePerhinschi]

flat tax in Eastern Europe: that's only the "income tax", there are lots of other "contributions" (thus not "taxes" :-) ) In Romania voiceovers are banned by law. Gun rights: before like 1866 owning guns in Eastern Europe was mandated by law, not a right, it became a right in Romania in 1866 until ~1980 when the right to own guns was severely restricted and stayed that way until now.

[@ferologics]

eastern EU is a sleeper

[@m_ke]

I have no idea where this guy got the idea that any side of the political spectrum in Poland is embracing libertarianism. Konfederacja is the only party that pretends to be fiscally libertarian but they have very little support, PiS is more fiscally socialist than Bernie Sanders while socially more conservative than evangelicals in the US and PO is typical centrist neolib

[@ajuc005]

Libertarianism in practice is anarchy, there's no country on Earth to embrace it fully because it would become a failed state and some populist would come and make it a dictatorship. But some countries are going a few steps in that direction, and Poland is among them. For example there's the "single person businesses as linear tax haven loophole" feature of the Polish fiscal system. Even PIS wasn't brave enough to touch it :) Then the social in Poland is surprisingly libertarian (yeah, I know - this sounds like oxymoron but hear me out). Socialist way would be to improve the public services for everybody. Instead they are letting the services fall apart while they throw money out of a helicopter and let people use them however they want. Then there's the slow but constant suburbanization and increasingly car-centric development. Poland is still fortunately an European country with decent public transport, but it remains decent in big cities and between them. In remote villages it atrophies and you have to have a car.

[@Vasile2001]

Would love to see some links to all this "truth" told by this dude. It is clear his info is lacking.

[@ferologics]

uno swap card: russia undergoes a catharsis post-putin.

[@Kadwid]

helps actual war refugees... it must be malicious intent, it's eastern europe after all

[@willmalcomson]

Erik bruh u do so many podcasts just get a good mic, was a horrendous listen every time u said anything

[@GrizzlyDaniel]

slovenia is not a realy country lol,

[@davisoneill]

The world yearns for the return of the Soviet Union.

[@ajuc005]

how dumb can you be

[@ferologics]

tbh america / west is declining, germany lost its way, and the last hope there is is eastern eu / orthodox countries that are not cushy, but forged by their struggle.

[@ajuc005]

orthodox countries are the least developed parts of Eastern Europe with absurdly high HIV, alcoholism, drug abuse and homicide stats

[@boogeyman4937]

Only Bulgaria and Romania are Orthodox countries and they are also the poorest EU countries (Romania currently records the highest economic growth in the whole EU, but is still the second poorest country). Along with them, Greece is also an Orthodox country, but Greece has been in the EU for more than 50 years and all these other Eastern European countries, which are not Orthodox (they are mostly Catholic, except for the Baltic countries which are Protestant) have already overtaken it economically a long time ago.

[@GdzieJestNemo]

it's reassuring seeing that "declining" west is still doing better in pretty much all aspect than rest of the world

[@davisoneill]

The Berlin Wall wasn't to keep the people in - it was to keep the trash out. Sadly missed.