>For me, meeting the Eastern European émigré communities in the US was like a
>journey back in time to the 19th century. Not everyone, of course, but
>quite a few. I hear the same about other immigrant communities (e.g. German
>aka Pennsylvania "Dutch" and Amish), Welsh (aka Appalachian hicks) etc. I
>also imagine the same can be said about Dutch in South Africa (aka
>Afrikaners).
A couple of years ago a visiting tourist from Poland came to stay with me a couple of days while he visited the sights. he was a fellow member of the IWW. I took him to see my mate down the road, who is the son of a post WW2 Polish immigrant, my mate had an interest in meeting someone from his late father's country.
They had little in common. My mate is one of these people Wojtek is talking about, peasant mentality, interests restricted to peasant things like hunting, fishing and raising livestock. His enquiries about these subjects ("So what's the hunting like") baffled the urban computer programmer from Poland though, who seemed convinced that sort of life was extinct in Poland. My mate was obviously equally baffled that the Poland his father had come from no longer seemed to exist.
>Let's face it, for a long time the US was the human sewer of Europe - only
>with the rise of Nazism and cold war it became the destination of brain
>drain.
No, that's not fair. I have convict ancestors on both sides of my family (in all likelihood, I can't be bothered finding out for sure.) There may even be a few Irish rebels. Americans are more likely to have Puritans and other religious zealots. Which is worse of course is a subjective thing.
Anyhow, there's something vaguely elitist in assuming that the poor, uneducated and displaced who emigrate are the shit of Europe or any other place.
My old mate Zol', for instance... Sure, he might be a peasant at heart, but surely he's more a product of his environment than his father's heritage? After all, he had a mother too, who was a local from way back. Also, Tasmania is full of peasants. I think its safe to assume that if his father had stayed in Poland he's be just as civilised as anyone.
That is, if you want to accept at face value the prejudice that peasants are the shit of the world. In my experience, they are actually better people on balance. The descendants of the English ruling class who emigrated along with the convicts to this place are hardly any advertisement for humanity, after all.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell tas