Sorry, but the original post contains so much nonsense that I can't stop myself laughing. I'll highlight just a few things -
Razor blades?! Jesus. Electronics? Well, we'll add another 20 - 50% at least.
I bought razor blades the other day. I paid almost exactly the same price as I'd pay in the UK for the same product.
Electronics are about 10% more expensive due to currency movement - no big deal. And yes, I buy a lot of electronics - and the price difference compared to the UK is so small that it's not worth buying there. The UK, incidentally, being the cheapest place in Europe for electronics.
Poland is one of the most expensive countries to live in in Europe. In western Europe and the US it takes the average person between 10 - 15 hours of work to buy an iPod, in Warsaw it takes 45.
Uh...wages are lower, maybe that's why? And you cannot compare the EU to America when it comes to electronics - the EU always has been much, much more expensive.
She was told afterwards that she had priced herself out of the job by saying she was not prepared to work for less than 1200 zl per month.
More nonsense. The minimum wage is 1317zl a month, and this is enforced. Anyone being paid less than minimum can quite easily win in court without much fuss - the legal system being very heavily weighted towards employees.
Let's not even talk about contracts some women are made to sign promising not to get pregnant for a pre-determined period. Worker's protection is farcical.
Someone clearly knows nothing about the Polish legal system and how strongly it protects workers. In fact, Polish workers are protected almost as heavily as French workers! And as for such contracts - I'd love to see one. They don't exist - for the simple reason that no employer is stupid enough to do such a thing in a country where the labour laws are ridiculously strict.
My girlfriend's dad is director of a neurology department in a hospital. His remuneration? 5000 zl a month. Were it not for private sector work he would not be able to afford to live.
Obviously, he hasn't told you about all the bribes that he's received that "increase" his salary dramatically. Anyway, if you can't afford to live on 5000zl a month, something is seriously wrong with you.
Problem four. Taxes / Health system. ZUS and taxes are so high it is untrue. Again, look at taxes as a percentage of gross income in any of the aforementioned economic data sets and you'll discover that Polish people pay proportionally more tax than people in Scandinavia. And what do you get? Nothing.
More rubbish. My effective tax rate this year is hovering about 13% as a sole trader. Not bad really, especially when it includes pension and health care! Many people are also getting away with an effective 9.5% tax rate, especially teachers and translators.
In terms of public health, mental health, cleanliness, equipment and expertise, they are streets ahead of the NFZ.
Wrong again. Compare NFZ dentistry to NHS dentistry. I rest my case.
I read a recent article in Gazetta Wyborcza that said that roads in Afghanistan and Iraq were better than Polish roads.
Could that be because post-war reconstruction has been funded through the exploitation of that countries resources? It's hardly a big secret that American companies have been using Iraqi money to reconstruct the country that they destroyed!
Society. I have never seen such endemic racism and homophobia in a society. There are obviously problems in other countries, no country has an unblemished record in these areas, but they try and massive strides have been taken to ensure progress. Only this year, the Supreme Court ruled that they could not say homosexuality was not a disease until medical tests had been carried out. A lesbian friend is banned from seeing her mother, until she goes to a church camp to 'cure' her. Obviously this could be an isolated incident, but I doubt it.
Obviously someone has been winding you up senseless. Could it be that your lesbian friend actually had a major falling out with her mother over her sexuality (which goes on all over the world) and that her mother wants nothing to do with her? Good excuse to tell the gullible foreigner, anyway.
About 90% of her former friends, classmates etc have left Poland.
And they're the ones who will have nothing to come back to - while they work as waitresses in Western Europe. Let's be honest here - the best graduates don't need to leave Poland at all, because there's so much opportunity here. Actually, the ones that left are very often the ones that can't hack it in Poland - or they simply want to earn a lot of money by Polish standards quickly.