Despite the craziness of the whole situation, this affair should not be underestimated. Given the escalating relations between Russia and Poland, it is not a very wise move for Warsaw to open another battlefront with Germany. If Poland should hold its positions against Russia, it needs as many strong allies as it can get.
Gross domestic product is undoubtedly a useful indicator of how the economy is performing. It shows one aspect of the economy that can be used to interpret a general level of “health.” However, while GDP is comparable to a simple doctor’s check-up, it isn’t as in-depth as a yearly physical.
In social sciences, extremism is defined so vaguely that anybody can hide anything behind it. Anything can be outside the “mainstream”. However, if status quo is the mainstream, well – who is not an extremist then? Extremes simply do not meet, and to be an extreme defender of morality cannot be punishable.
On July 26, 2017, Marek Tatala, Vice-President of the Civil Development Forum, spoke at the U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing about democracy in Central & Eastern Europe, which was organized in Washington D.C. In his speech, Tatala emphasized challenges to democracy and rule of law in Poland, including independence of judiciary.
I know it is much more comfortable to stay in our own bubbles, but in order to be better, we must push ourselves and step out of our comfort zones. Beside cultivating a relationship with our audiences (and educating them better on communicating liberty), we have to build the roads to others.
We don’t have a lot of time. If we don’t act now, we will entrench the semi-feudal, crypto-communist government. Our current situation is like extinguishing a fire: We shouldn’t care who hands us a bucket of water, the most important things is to put out the fire.
Bitcoin is losing share in market capitalization. This is just one of many possible ways to describe recent events in cryptomarkets. The surging capitalization of Ethereum and the related ICO phenomenon are the main reasons behind such developments.
Poles do not know how much and on what the Polish state spends their money. Meanwhile, the structure and size of public spending have a direct impact on their daily lives by influencing the level of taxation and the availability of public services.
The European think tank network EPICENTER has published the second edition of The Nanny State Index, an indicator of state paternalism in the European Union. The index evaluates restrictiveness of regulations governing the sale and consumption of food, soft drinks, alcohol, tobacco, and e-cigarettes in 28 EU countries in 2016.
For over three decades, the position of the Constitutional Tribunal seemed to be solidly grounded in the Polish institutional landscape and the pluralistic public discourse. However, with the recent demolition of the Tribunal, we are faced with an end of an era.
