Polandball

[[File:Polandball.PNG|right|165px|thumb|Poland cannot into space.]]{{internet}}
'''Polandball''' is a community webcomic and Internet [[meme]] that grew out of Krautchan sometime in the late 2000s. Although it was originally created to mock a [[Poland|Polish]] nationalist who was trolling the board, it has since almost matured and has grown to encompass national [[stereotypes]] of many nations (including [[Germany]]), [[political]] [[satire]], and world [[history]].  It is said that "Polandball makes fun of everything equally" - though inevitably [[Animal Farm|some things get made fun of more equally than others.]]

==The Good==
When done well, Polandball can be an entertaining and informative meme, definitely one of the better ones on the internet. Otherwise obscure topics in [[North America]] and [[Europe]], such as [[South America]]n and [[Asia]]n history, are shown in an entertaining way that can easily be accessed by someone with little to no training in the subject. Despite its whole point being national stereotypes, the [[Reddit|subreddit]] takes a sympathetic view of the struggles faced by some minority groups, such as [[Native American]]s, [[Hispanic]] migrants, and [[African-Americans]] and other [[Africa]]ns.<ref>https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/polandball/images/2/29/1ball_-_3ball_-_8ball.png</ref><ref>https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/polandball/images/f/f2/Hard_Work.png</ref><ref>https://i.redd.it/y14rc8hmtzh01.png</ref><ref group=note>[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/polandball/images/3/30/United_in_Diversity.png| This one in particular is a refreshing breather to the trends noted below]</ref> Occasionally, you can even see both [[wingnut]] and [[moonbat]] memes be thoroughly mocked by the community. Across the internet, memes such as "Poland cannot into space" have become commonplace even outside of the context of the strip.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20130330075647/http://www.przeglad-tygodnik.pl/pl/artykul/fenomem</ref>

==The Bad==
On the other hand, the low-barrier of entry means the quality of an individual Polandball strip inevitably depends on its author. Regular readers may note a streak of right-wing (and often [[Christianity]]-centric)<ref group=note>This is reflected in how Polandball's official fandom wiki's article on "Christianityball" reads like something from an apologetics site, as well as the fact that you can take one look at their "Atheismball" one and think ''Who wrote this, [[Ken DeMyer]]?''</ref> European nationalism and chauvinism in the general [[memeplex]], particularly when it comes to minority groups who live in Europe itself as opposed to colonized groups. [[Racism|Racist]] memes such as [[Eurabia]]<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/comments/1ksf1g/sweden_throughout_the_years/</ref> and [[Antiziganism]]<ref>https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/polandball/images/6/68/Comics-country-ball-britain-english.jpg</ref> are regularly repeated on its [[Reddit|subreddit]] and elsewhere for the sake of "[[irony]]". While the subreddit takes the issue very negatively, with users being permanently banned from it for making genuinely racist comments,<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/wiki/index/policies/submission_rights "While /r/polandball is a satire sub and /r/polandball humour is invariably transgressive, we have zero tolerance for genuine racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. Please do not confuse our sense of humour as a free pass for bad behaviour."]</ref> places without such strict moderation (such as Facebook groups) tend to become ultranationalist hives.

==In conclusion==
Read it, laugh at it, even look beyond it to find more about the topic it describes. Just don't [[Fundamentalism|treat it as gospel truth]].

==External links==
*[https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/ Polandball] on Reddit

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
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[[Category:4chan]]
[[category:Webcomics]]
[[Category:Memes]]

Categories: 4chan, Webcomics, Memes