Thank you. Nobody deserves having to click on a huffpost link.

I’m not one to defend Poland in its current state, or whitewash it’s checkered history especially with regard to how it treated Ukraine, but…

Poland didn’t even exist for 125+ of those 500 years, as it was completely erased off the map by the Hapsburgs, Russians, and Prussians. Its neighbours have always treated Poland as a playground for proxy wars and political intrigue, and both Russians and Germans think of the Polish as yokels or shit disturbers, worthy only of subjugation or exploitation.

In other words, it’s not hard to see why Poland quickly turned into an anxiety-ridden bully. Like an abused kid grown up into a shitty adult.

A while back, I (with a few others) built and sold an innovative tech company to a large “enterprise”. What you’re describing is exactly why they bought us and how things played out post acquisition. I’ve since left, but the thing we built is now in shambles, buried and suffocated by bureaucracy and institutional ineptitude. The parent company has learned nothing, continues to keep buying smaller tech companies, and can’t seem to figure out why things always turn to shit.