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Sep 5 18 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Poland just became a $1 trillion economy without open borders, without giving up religion, and without tearing down its traditions.

What did Poland do that the West won’t? (a thread) 🧵👇 Gdansk, Poland Credit: Elif Odabaş
Back in 1990, Poland was broke and gray.
Fresh out of Soviet control, it had crumbling factories, dull housing blocks, and a weak economy.

No one expected it to become the EU’s quiet success story.

Image: Warsaw (Then and Now) Image
Today, Poland has become a vibrant society.

Old towns have been rebuilt with care.
Churches restored.

Soviet scars replaced with colorful facades and cobbled streets.

Poland proved something no one talks about:
You can build prosperity without destroying beauty.
While the rest of Europe is debating statues,
Poland is preserving cathedrals, restoring medieval squares, and opening palaces to the public.

It didn’t chase glass-and-steel “progress.”
It made history visible again.
Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Warsaw...
They’re now among Europe’s top destinations.

Tourism is booming.
But not because Poland sold out.

Because it doubled down on what makes it Poland. This 1072 feet underground salt mine was built 700 years ago.  The Wieliczka Salt Mine near Kraków, Poland is a 13th-century marvel.
Interior of the Main Building of the Warsaw University of Technology, Poland, 2019 By Kgbo - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
he Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń (Poland, 2004)
While others erase their roots, Poland crowns its faith.
Literally.

In 2016, Poland officially named Jesus Christ as its King.

Not a symbol. Not a metaphor.
A national act of declaration. Jesus Christ the King of the Universe (Polish: Jezus Chrystus Król Wszechświata) is a statue of Jesus Christ in Świebodzin, western Poland, completed on 6 November 2010. The figure is 33 metres (108 ft) tall, the crown is 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall, and along with its mound, it reaches 52.5 metres (172 ft) overall. It took five years in total to construct and cost around $1.5 million to build, which was collected from donations of the 21,000 residents of the town.
And yet, its economy keeps growing.
Fastest GDP growth in the EU over the past 30 years.

Unemployment under 3%.
Low inflation. High exports.
And foreign investors lining up. Quarterly GDP growth by EU country, Q2 2024, Source: Eurostat
Poland never abandoned manufacturing.
While others outsourced to China, it built high-quality production at home.

Today, it’s the industrial backbone of Europe quietly powering cars, tech, and tools. Poland’s automobile industry is one of the most important manufacturing sectors in Poland, accounting for 11.1 % the total value of the country’s production, and is second only to the food industry.
Education is strong.
Wages are rising.
Crime is low.
Families are intact.
Faith is public.

It’s not utopia. But it’s a country with direction. Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in Warsaw, Poland  Designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1822, it was completed in 1830. Photo By Tilman2007 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
And here’s the kicker:
Poland didn’t rely on mass immigration to grow.

98% of its population is still Polish.
Yet it reached $1 trillion GDP.
That breaks every “rule” Western elites push.
It also refused to adopt the Euro.
Kept the zloty.
Kept control of its economy.

That’s why Poland didn’t collapse during the eurozone crisis.
And why it's still climbing. Image
Tourism is now a core engine
Built not on resorts, but on history, heritage, and identity.

People come for Chopin, castles, cathedrals ...
Not casinos. Inside St. Mary’s Basilica Credit: Kevinandamanda,cim
The West told us:
“Tradition holds you back.”
“Religion divides.”
“Beauty is optional.”
“National identity is outdated.”

Poland said:
“No thanks.”

And look who’s winning.
This is what no one wants to admit:
Poland is thriving not in spite of its values but because of them.

No erasure.
No imported chaos.
No war on the past.

Just faith, work, pride, and beauty. Wilanów Palace (Warsaw) - Poland’s “Versailles,” Wilanów Palace is a Baroque treasure, featuring intricate stucco work and beautiful gardens.
If this resonates with you, you’ll love my newsletter: I go deep into stories of culture, resilience, and revival → newsletter.thecultureexplorer.com/subscribeImage
So, the next time someone says a country must “modernize” to survive,

Ask them this:

If Poland did all this without giving up who it is, even building medieval castles, why can’t anyone else? Stobnica Castle, Poland
This is not just about Poland.
It’s about the model of the future.

What if prosperity doesn’t require surrendering your soul?

What if faith, family, and beauty are economic engines not obstacles?
Because beauty still matters.
And Poland proves it.

If you found this thread useful, share it with others and let us do what we can to spread this message and make our nations great again. 🧵🔚

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More from @CultureExploreX

Sep 3
Civilizations don’t begin with kings or armies — they begin with stories.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Iliad, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings — separated by thousands of years, they’re all asking the same question:

How do you turn chaos into meaning? 🧵 Upper left: Epic of Gilgamesh Upper right: Iliad Lower left: Hamlet Lower right: Lord of the Rings
The oldest epic we know is about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who lost his closest friend and went searching for immortality, only to learn that no man escapes death.

He learned that meaning lies in what we build and leave behind.

Across time, stories help us face death and make sense of a broken world.The Epic of Gilgamesh stands as one of humanity's oldest literary masterpieces, dating back to the early third millennium BCE. This ancient Mesopotamian poem originates from the Sumerian city of Uruk, located in present-day Iraq. Credit: Archaeo - Histories
That was 4,000 years ago. But the pattern never changed.

Every epic since has wrestled with the same truth: chaos comes for all of us.

And every culture turned to stories to tame it. Dante and Virgil in Hell is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Read 20 tweets
Aug 30
You think Rome’s churches are beautiful?

They weren’t built just to impress you.

They were built to outlast you.

To show that gold fades, empires fall—but faith carves itself into stone.

Read this, and you’ll never forget them. 🧵👇 santa maria maggoire where Pope Francis was laid to rest...
This isn’t a sightseeing list.

It’s a journey through collapse, wonder, survival—and glory.

And some of these churches? You’ve probably never even heard their names. Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri... Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs - designed by Michelangelo.
Start at San Marcello al Corso.

It survived fire, plague, collapse.

The blackened crucifix wasn’t replaced, it was kept.

Why?
Because faith that never suffered is faith that never lived. Image
Read 21 tweets
Aug 22
What if I told you Washington D.C. wasn’t just inspired by Rome but was a deliberate attempt to become a modern Rome?

The buildings weren’t just designed to look “classical.”

They were built to signal power, permanence, and empire. A thread... 🧵 U.S. Capitol Building Washington D.C. Photo by Linda Orlomoski on flickr
Library of Congress – Beaux-Arts Grandeur

Ever seen knowledge carved into marble?

Every inch of this building screams:
Ideas are power. And power is eternal. Library of Congress... Credit: Handluggageonly.co.uk
The Capitol – Roman Monumentalism

A dome echoing the Pantheon. Columns from the Forum.

But here’s what’s wild—
It was originally meant to be lit without any modern lanterns. Why?

Because Jefferson called them “degeneracies of modern architecture”
Read 22 tweets
Aug 21
Some places make headlines.
Others quietly outlive history.

Which ones matter more?

The ones that still hide secrets long after their empires died.

Here are 15 forgotten places that refused to disappear. 🧵👇 Rocca Imperiale has a rich history dating back to the 13th century when Emperor Frederick II built its iconic fortress to guard the region, making it a strategic stronghold for centuries.
1. Ulm, Germany

This church survived 2 world wars, the fall of Napoleon, and the bombing of Hitler’s Reich.

It still has the tallest spire in the world.

500+ years later, Ulm Minster is the last one standing. Image
2. Concordia, Sicily

It’s not in Athens. Or Rome.

But the Temple of Concordia is one of the best-preserved Greek temples on earth.

Built 2,500 years ago—and still glowing in the Sicilian sun. Temple of Concordia, Akragas, Magna Graecia. Credit: Saga @KourCostas
Read 18 tweets
Aug 13
Most people think Christianity rose because of Rome.

But Chesterton flipped the script. He said Christianity rescued Rome from spiritual death.

How? His idea explains Western civilization better than anything you learned in school... (thread) Left: Colosseum in Rome Right: Nativity designed by Gaudi (Credit: Explore BBradley1024)
To Chesterton, Rome wasn’t just a superpower.
It was a broken civilization gasping for meaning.

It conquered the world but lost its soul.

And just when it reached the end of itself… something unexpected happened. The Course of Empire - Destruction by Thomas Cole
A child was born.
In a cave.
To peasants.

And Rome
Military Rome, Imperial Rome, Pagan Rome
Would never be the same. Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence, Caravaggio, 1609
Read 12 tweets
Aug 10
Baroque art dazzles the eye.
But dazzling was never the goal.

It was built for survival.

When the Protestant Reformation emptied pews, the Catholic Church fought back, not with arguments, but with performance that made people flood back into its churches… 🧵 Doria Pamphilj Gallery Insta: @avanicastrophoto
In 1652, Bernini unveiled The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in Rome.

A marble saint in rapture, an angel poised with a golden spear.

It’ was theatre in stone, designed to make you feel divine presence. Image
Image
Image
This was the Counter-Reformation’s strategy:
If sermons couldn’t bring people back, spectacle would.

Art became persuasion.

Every detail aimed to make the viewer part of the sacred drama.
Read 17 tweets

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