CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
MIROSŁAW PIOTROWSKI
Easter, that is, Feast of Lord’s Resurrection, is the most important event in the Christian calendar. Many people are trying to prove more importance of Christmas than Easter, when we give one another presents. However, although, not so much in Poland, but in other countries, during Easter time there is also a custom of giving one another gifts. The universal symbol of Easter is an egg and a bunny. This is just Easter Bunny which brings presents, which are awaited by children not only in England, United States, but, first of all, in Germany from where this customs derived. Recently, thanks to generosity of the Easter Bunny, that is, Osterhase, Germany has had many reasons for satisfaction, because it is being given presents in various ways. Whereas, one can hear grumbling of other countries. For example, before Easter the Italians noticed that, against its will, it has been giving a present to Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and other countries for many years, in the form of its educated citizens. The Italian press wrote: ‘We cannot afford this present’. For, it has been estimated that for the last five years, Italy has been left by 150 thousand young people whose education in their homeland cost 23 milliard euro. As the English say "one man's loss is another man's gain". Only during one year did Italy ‘gift’ Great Britain with its citizens, whose education cost one and a half milliard euro, and Germany received a similar present at the amount of 650 million euro. Every year also Poland gives others a kind of a present in the form of crowds of emigrants. While most mass media abound in size, in fact, of virtual EU grants, according to analysis of experts basing on data published by the Main Statistics Office, we find out that the real loss resulting from Polish emigration is unbelievably much higher. At the current seven-year-old financial perspective, the Domestic Gross Product in most Polish regions may fall totally by about 120 milliard euro. Many local mass media are excited, for example, about the amount of 2.2 milliard euro, which the voivodeship of Lublin is going to receive from the European Union, and also, at the same time, because of emigration, this region is going to lose 7.3 milliard euro, as a result of the decline of the DGP. Other voivodeships, like the region of Lower Poland or Silesia, or Carpathian region, are going to lose much more for the sake of other EU countries. Can Poland afford such presents?
AA
„Niedziela” 14/2015