Czech Morals?

Discussion in 'Culture' started by judi, Sep 15, 2004.

  1. judi

    judi Active Member

    my friend tells me

    that the moral is quite low in czech;
    that every second house there is a pub or a brothel;
    that and women and men drink a lot,
    that everybody only looks for fun and drink,
    that family values are low and people work only to spend on drinking and nothing on family or to invest in a house

    oh, I'm so sad now, I have been thinking about czech as my ideal country
    with high moral and strong family values, peacfull and friendly
    christian oriented...

    :cry: :cry: :cry:
     
  2. Halef

    Halef Well-Known Member

    Hm... maybe we should first agree on the definition of moral :) But if you mean that divorces or pre-marriage sex are considered normal, then yes, there is low moral here.

    Definitely not. Well, maybe in certain areas :) but generally, there are as many pubs as anywhere else. Btw, have you ever been to Ireland? That is the every-two-houses-a-pub country.
    Brothels (gee, I had to look this up in my dictionary) are also in quite reasonable amount. There are of course areas, such as those near German borders , where this type of service can be seen a lot, but again, no red-light districts.

    Women do not drink nearly as much as men :) Yes, some men go to pubs regularly to drink their ten pieces. The Czech republic is the world leader in the consumption of beer, if I remember correctly, the average amount is about one beer a day per person, including children and abstinents (including in the statistics, not the drinking).

    There are some alcoholics, but the alcohol problem is far from what they have in Russia, where in rural areas, if you do not drink you can become a mayor quite easily :)

    And why not? Again, tell me what's wrong with looking for fun. But I would be very careful with using the word "everybody".

    Drinking, drinking... the beer is quite cheap, no need to cut the house expenses :) This is a nonsense, omaybe it is true for some people, but surely not for average Czech population. In fact, it describes a man with serious alcohol problem.
    Family values low - once again, please specify. Is low family value accepting a divorce (quite common), sending old parents to a retirement home instead of taking care of them day and night (also a normal thing), or what?

    I think there is no ideal husband, no ideal car, no ideal house and no ideal country. Everything has its pros and cons.

    I already asked for explaining what you mean with "high moral and strong family values". Peaceful and friendly - it definitely is, come and see. Christian oriented - if you look for strongly Christianized country, try Poland or Slovakia. There are much more atheists then believers in CZ. But there are churches, the christianity has its tradition here, and if you wish, go to church, believe in God or any other high being, and nobody here will have a problem with it.
     
  3. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    My two cents worth (from observations 10 years ago):
    I can agree with this statement only in the sexual inhibition (or lack thereof) and pornography, speaking relative to the mainstream morals of the U.S. This was a shocker for me, when I first arrived. Otherwise, I would say that Czech morals are similar to those in the U.S.
    This may be true in some places, perhaps near the German border (or so I've heard) or in certain areas of Prague, but in general is most definitely not true (especially about the brothels).
    Czechs (of both genders) do typically drink more than the average person in the world. The drink of choice for most is, of course, beer, although you'll find a fair amount of harder alcohol as well.
    I don't agree with this statement. Not that Czechs don't enjoy fun and drink (they do), but most Czechs also work hard. This statement may hold true, generally speaking, for the student population as most students do not work. But then again, most working students I know here in the U.S. don't let work interfere with fun and drink either.
    Actually, I'd say that Czech family values are at least as high as in the U.S. (again generally speaking). That's not to say that they don't go out with friends often (as opposed to spending most of their time with family). Czechs are typically very close to their family members (they also usually have much smaller families--one or two children--than in other places outside of Europe). Czech children actually seemed more respectful to their parents and other adults, than here in the U.S. (perhaps not difficult to say in general). Especially I'd say that Czech extended families are closer than in the U.S. As for investing in a house, the vast majority of Czechs live in big apartment-type buildings. Buying a one-family house is next to impossible (in the bigger cities, at least), given both the availability and the cost of such houses.
    Don't be sad. There's much in the C.R. that is positive, despite some of the negatives I've mentioned above (no place is perfect). The Czechs enjoy a more peaceful livestyle than is the norm here in the U.S., and are generally more friendly (although one has to get through the initial barrier first to see this). As for Christian-oriented, I'm afraid that religion does not play a significant role in modern-day Czech culture.

    Hope this clears up some of your concerns.
     
  4. Tristan

    Tristan Active Member

    ...so no wonder zillions of people are spending their holls there ! :lol:
     
  5. Acheron

    Acheron Active Member

    judi: your friend speaks like an unhappy looza, dont believe him that s bullshit
     
  6. amraam_7

    amraam_7 Well-Known Member

    total bullshit, kill your friend :evil:
     
  7. Dana

    Dana Well-Known Member

    Hi Judi,

    When I read your post, I had to double-check and make sure you were really asking about the Czech Republic. Even though I'm sure there are people and places in the country that fit some of the above statements (just like in any country I would think), there is absolutely no way you can apply the above to the Czech Republic in general. It's simply not true. (E.g. the village I come from has one pub and 0 brothels for its 1000 inhabitants).

    Dana
     
  8. judi

    judi Active Member

    now, I know that one should not generalize about whole population in one country but when my friend told me that I was stunned!

    I'm not very keen on society with low moral standards like:
    -succeed even if you have to let somebody down or -do that on someone elses expence
    -extreme exposure to drugs, prostitution, drinking problems
    -lost society with no firm law against criminals (like in australia, if you hit the thief in your house you pay him for hurting his citizens right)
    -low priority, choices, care and rights in general for children, mothers and families (australia is good on this one)
    -totaly commercial society (like in australia)
    -high percentage of criminal
    -high percentage of teenage prostitution, drug abuse and pregnancy
    -high divorce rate

    now these are just some of the low moral standards that I had in mind,(you asked to give details)

    I know that there's no ideal country, but somehow I imagined that czech is different than western countries(including australia)...

    that friend of mine is croatian, she said that in croatia people tend to invest everything in building the family
    and in comparison to czech, in croatia people less abuse alcohol, less is divorce rate, less prostitutions on the streets, ...
    family values are quite high
     
  9. Frank_pivo_4

    Frank_pivo_4 Well-Known Member

    ............
     
  10. Acheron

    Acheron Active Member

    How about you figure the situation yourself by actually travelling and visiting foreign places instead of sitting on your butt all day and mindlessly following someones advices.
     
  11. Acheron

    Acheron Active Member

    you tell me australia is good on that one ? how about the rights of the (ab)original people of australia ?
     
  12. Halef

    Halef Well-Known Member

    OK, thanks for the details, let's see..

    Yes, that used to happen quite a lot. You know, when socialism changes to capitalism overnight, the first people to succeed are those with such standards and methods. Many of them are in jail already, and generally I think the times are getting better. Being fair and honest is better :)

    The Czech drugs politics is quite succesful. I would have to look for some statistics, but I know for sure that after the boom (again - end of socialism, opening borders etc. shock) the number of drug users is at the European standard, and what is very positive, young people are very well informed about the dangers and risks, and usually try nothing worse then marijuana or ecstasy (if you wish to discuss more about drugs, we should start a sepparate topic for it).

    Prostitution - as was already said, there are certainly some areas (big cities, German border) where you can meet prostitutes. But it certainly is not "extreme exposure". The wild, outdoor prostitution is regressing and the girls move to those "night clubs" or "massage salloons". But there are no red light districts with brothels everywhere. Example - Brno. I know of , say, five "night clubs". There surely are some others, but I am not "exposed" to them :) I think it is not bad for a 400 000 city.
    In my hometown (5000) there is no brothel at all.

    Drinking problems - well, I must say that there are some people here who have drinking problems. Not a lot, but there are. In my town (5000 people, remember) I guess 10-20 people have serious alcohol problem. On the other hand, you don't have to hide a bottle in a bag if you want to drink at street, and we do not jail 17 year olds for drinking one beer.

    That is the difference between roman and anglo-saxen law. In CZ, there is no precedence law. All the courts have the same one law book, and decide according to it, and a judgment passed by one judge-going-mad does not mean all others must decide the same way in similar cases. In your example:
    - if you (somehow) manage to hold the criminal in your house and call police, it is alright
    - if you harm (or even kill) him, you must prove that it was so called "appropriate defence". Which says (briefly) that it is alright to shoot him if he draws knife at you, but is is not alright to shoot him when he is running away and not threatening you.

    Low choices, care and rights for children?
    - all grades of schools, including the best universities, are free. That's for the choices.
    - the medical care is nearly-free (employers pay medical insurance for their employees, the state pays it for children and students). Mothers usually stay about a year at home after the birth.
    - children rights - chidren are not allowed to work till the age of 16 (maybe 15). If a child grews up in inacceptable conditions, a social worker can come and take the child away. There is quite a problem with adoptions - many children have to stay in children's homes, because it is enough when their real parent sends a postcard twice a year to block the adoption. Afaik, the law should change soon.

    Oh no. Money means quite a lot, but love, friendship etc are still very important.

    Define high :) During the last ten years, the amount of crimes is quite stabilized and is about 350 000 - 400 000 crimes per year. That is for 10 million people. Australia has about 20 million people, and if I understand this correctly, there have been 1,1 million crimes in 1995.

    As I don't run a brothel, I cannot answer the teenage question. But if I remeber correctly, there was some round-up in brothels a year or so ago, and the found only a few under-18s in the tens of them.
    Drug abuse - see above.
    Teenage pregnancy - happens occasionaly, like everywhere, but generally young people are very responsible. The average age of first intercourse is 18 years (both boys and girls) , and the age for marriage or first child goes up steadily (about 25 now, I guess)

    Although I do not completely understand all those statistical ciphers, but we are quite above European standard, but on similar level like UK, Denmark or Austria. On the other hand, living together unmarried is only just starting to be popular, unlike in western countries where it is normal, and kicking someone out of your house when he is not oyur husband does not count as divorce :)

    Yes, I did, and I thank you for providing them. I hope some of my answers will be a bit helpful.

    Of course it is. Just come and see :)

    I am not good in Croatian, so I cannot find any figures comfirming or refuting it. Your friend might be right, I have nothing against Croatia and maybe all those rates are lower. And? In Poland, there is very low divorce rate because the country is strongly catholic. If I ever have to choose between living with someone I do not love anymore, just because someone says that divorce is a sin, or divorcing, letting both of us go free and find a better partner, I will choose divorce.

    You know what, Judi? Make a nice little trip around Europe, visit Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czechia, Poland or as many countries as you wish, and choose which on suits you best. You may read tons of webpages and listen to hundreds of advices, but the best thing you can do is trying it yourself.
     
  13. judi

    judi Active Member

    acheron, I know about aboriginals but when it comes to the children one must say that they care.

    I have to thanks everybody especially halef fore detailed explanation

    yes we would like to come to czech but that's different story now
    (it's not enough to come for a week so we tried house swap and the man that we found we lost contact with, and not many czech are interested to come to australia for a month apparently, so....)
     
  14. Frank_pivo_4

    Frank_pivo_4 Well-Known Member

    ............
     
  15. judi

    judi Active Member

    well we don't know yet.
    I guess the part where I could search for my ancestors...
     
  16. Frank_pivo_4

    Frank_pivo_4 Well-Known Member

    If your ancestors are from bohemia its most likely they got some german in them and if they were born in moravia there prolly slavic.Thats not always the case.I was born in moravia but my parents are from slovakia.My mom side is more closer to the hungarian border which prolly means there ancestors came from asia.Its kinda shows my moms of the family is more tanned not gypsy tho.My dads side is more slav i think.I like to think of my self as a slav :).Maybe if you tell us more we can help you find out more :).
     
  17. judi

    judi Active Member

    I already tortured some people about that, like Sova
    http://www.myczechrepublic.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1540

    but I would apreciate any more help...

    so far I'm waiting for some documents from church where my grandgrand parents lived.... they're the ones that came from czech apparently
     
  18. Eva2

    Eva2 Well-Known Member

    Judi wrote:

    >that family values are low and people work only to spend on drinking and nothing on family or to invest in a house <

    Not my family or any other family I happen to know. Your Croatian friend must have kept bad company. It is true that church is not our forte but apart from that, Czechs are hard workers. I live in Canada and when I come home to visit, I have to drag my kin out to have some fun.

    All the same, I'm trying to understand your mental process. You meet an individual who says something defamatory about a country and your first impulse is to visit a relevant website and post a condemning message. Don't you think that more evidence is necessary before you form an opinion? Best of all, do as was suggested above and visit our country. Then, and only then, you'll have the right to damn us all.
     
  19. Joss

    Joss Active Member

    My family over in Czech Republic drink in much the way that most central and eastern European countiries do. The thing is that they all accuse each other of drinking more than the other. Czech say that a boozer drinks like a Dane, Danes say Drinks like a Swede, In England we say drinks like a fish. Wonder what the fish say? Drinks like an Ausie?

    Judi you sound like an idealist - this isn't a perfect world that's why you have the Iconic figure of Sir Les Patterson.

    There's a convent right in the middle of Prague. I'm sure you will find an ample supply of sobriety, virginity and clean 'habits' You find what you look for but at least you could actually look.

    Joss
     
  20. Emperor

    Emperor Member

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... too funny...




    My friend told me once that Australia is full of nothing but convicts, and I personally know a girl who used to run a brothel. Also I heard that Tasmania is one of the world's major suppliers of opiate products.

    So from these two statements, I can derive, that prostitution is legal and young girl not only work there but run it. This would make me believe that sex is a very open thing and thus there has to be tons of children out of wedlock and girls being exploited. And the second statement is that since Tasmania produces a lot of opiate products, Australia has to be full of drug dealers, pushers and users.

    I hope you see how ridicules your assertions are!







    And yes, I know that my post is full of fallacies; Ad hoc, Affirmation of the consequent, ad ignorantiam and ad populum for starters ;)
     

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