The polynomial Szemerédi theorem implies that, for any $δ\in (0,1)$, any family $\{P_1,\ldots, P_m\} \subset \mathbb{Z}[y]$ of nonconstant polynomials with constant term zero, and any sufficiently large $N$, every subset of $\{1,\ldots, N\}$ of cardinality at least $δN$ contains a nontrivial configuration of the form $\{x,x+P_1(y),\ldots, x+P_m(y)\}$. When the polynomials are assumed independent, one can expect a sharper result to hold over finite fields, special cases of which were proven recently, culminating with arXiv:1802.02200, which deals with the general case of independent polynomials. One goal of this article is to explain these theorems as the result of joint ergodicity in the presence of asymptotic total ergodicity. Guided by this concept, we establish, over general finite commutative rings, a version of the polynomial Szemerédi theorem for independent polynomials $\{P_1,\ldots, P_m\} \subset \mathbb{Z}[y_1,\ldots, y_n]$, deriving new combinatorial consequences, such as the following. Let $\mathcal R$ be a collection of finite commutative rings subject to a mild condition on their torsion. There exists $γ\in (0,1)$ such that, for every $R \in \mathcal R$, every subset $A \subset R$ of cardinality at least $|R|^{1-γ}$ contains a nontrivial configuration $\{x,x+P_1(y),\ldots, x+P_m(y)\}$ for some $(x,y) \in R \times R^n$, and, moreover, for any subsets $A_0,\ldots, A_m \subset R$ such that $|A_0|\cdots |A_m| \geq |R|^{(m+1)(1-γ)}$, there is a nontrivial configuration $(x, x+P_1(y), \ldots, x+P_m(y)) \in A_0\times \cdots \times A_m$. The fact that general rings have zero divisors is the source of many obstacles, which we overcome; for example, by studying character sums, we develop a bound on the number of roots of an integer polynomial over a general finite commutative ring, a result which is of independent interest.