Robak
22 Dec 2005 / #1
The President that never read a single book, but managed to write one. A few reflections on the subject of Poland's first president. Every country has the ruler it deserves.
There is a fable by Andersen about the Chinese Emperor that was naked. Until a small, naïve boy announced the fact; no one was able to see the shocking reality.
It seems that the current social position of a person makes him not only immune to critic; it makes all his shortcomings and faults simply invisible.
From the sidelines, I have watched the comet-like career of the first Polish now ex-president of the after-communist era and was always as equally astonished. A simple shipyard worker with hardly any education and no understanding of the world around him - and if that was not enough, with a very poor command of the Polish language - became suddenly, according to the media, the savior of the Polish nation, even more than that, the savior of East Europe.
Reading the newspapers you would be inclined to believe that we have experienced the unannounced arrival of a new Messiah, the fact that could be possibly confirmed by looking at the lapel of "Messiah's" jacket adorned by a giant picture of Madonna. (The man has simply no taste.)
Mr. Walesa, the same man that on several occasions, both publicly and proudly declared that he never read a single book in his life - and that he was proud of it - was by popular vote given the highest, most responsible, and possibly, the most demanding office in the new Republic. (Would you buy a used car from this man?)
This is Poland under a magnifying glass. A self-made pseudo-politician becomes a president, and no one cares that the Emperor is naked.
The Poles, possibly more than other nations, like to deceive themselves, which is painfully visible in their history ("Of course Hitler won't start the war, he is too scared of our cavalry!"). The Poles like to fool themselves.
Mr. Walesas honeymoon with Poles finished before his presidency term had come to end. I don't know who called out that Mr. Walesa was naked, but suddenly the whole nation that until that moment had been totally blind, suddenly started to see (a veritable miracle).
Suddenly everyone was asking themselves: "Did we, really, choose this man for president? Did I give him my vote?"
And concerning Mr. Walesa's heroic role, let's put the record straight - the communist regime was falling apart, with or without Mr. Walesa. The fall of the Soviet Union was the decisive factor, not Mr. Walesa's whimsical "speeches" or the strikes, which by an unpredictable twist of history became all of a sudden a historic "factor".
It is a good thing, though, that no one abroad understands Polish. The things this man says; statements and opinions that are foul, rude, aggressive, nonchalant, uneducated, illogical, and often simply nonsensical. As a (former) president you can say whatever you like and it still smells like roses.
Thank God for the translators. Somehow, in translation, the awful stuff that the President used to utter became palatable, not all that stupid, sometimes even clever (it is a good thing that at least the translators are educated).
And the foreign heads of states nodded there wise heads appreciatively, "Hey, this guy knows what he is talking about." We all want to be fooled, it seems, not only the Poles.
The Polish language is hard to master, not only for foreigners. Many Poles have problems with it. But in Mr. Walesa's case his lack of the language skills was (and still is) an unprecedented pain in the butt; the President has had the most problems with his language of any Polish person I have ever heard. It was not a problem as long as he was an electrician, but for a president it was a disaster.
Not only his world and national "therories" were "unique,' his language made them incomprehensible.
One wonders, why people even bother with education, if a simple, almost illiterate person can get elected as the head of a whole country. I wish, for one, I never went to school.
No wonder Mr. Walesa was able to promise the nation that he would turn Poland into a new Japan. He didn't, but making promises is always easy. He could, as well, have promised Poles the moon and they would have still believed that he would deliver. He still makes new promises, but, alas, the Poles have seen the light.
Today, not even one in a hundred is stupid enough to vote for the president-electrician (although, he is not giving up). Were it not for his ability to gather wealth, which he excelled at for Mr. Walesa, it seems, this was really what Solidarity was about - he would have had to go back to his old job.
Nevertheless, the man who has no support in Poland still likes to see himself as a great politician and statesman. He travels widely, often and reads speeches for people more clever than him. The problem is that no one takes him seriously anymore. The emperor is naked, but the truth is still hard to digest for the universities around the world that still continue to reward Walesa with new doctorates honoris causa. The man has got over 40, can he make a new world record?
After a reign of a president like that, no wonder if the Poles are disillusioned with the politics and only a minority takes part in the democratic process. If you get a President Walesa by voting you cannot possibly be worse off by abstaining.
There are accusations against Mr. Walesa, among others by Anna Walentynowicz that he had been an agent of the secret police, which sounds plausible, taking into account that he, as only one of the Solidarity leaders, was not kept in jail during the State of War declared by General Jaruzelski. There are many others that believe that Mr. Walesa's conscience is not exactly squeak-clean, but no one so far has been able to show any proof.
The jury is still out on the Poland's first president. You be your own judge. And don't send the kids to school!
There is a fable by Andersen about the Chinese Emperor that was naked. Until a small, naïve boy announced the fact; no one was able to see the shocking reality.
It seems that the current social position of a person makes him not only immune to critic; it makes all his shortcomings and faults simply invisible.
From the sidelines, I have watched the comet-like career of the first Polish now ex-president of the after-communist era and was always as equally astonished. A simple shipyard worker with hardly any education and no understanding of the world around him - and if that was not enough, with a very poor command of the Polish language - became suddenly, according to the media, the savior of the Polish nation, even more than that, the savior of East Europe.
Reading the newspapers you would be inclined to believe that we have experienced the unannounced arrival of a new Messiah, the fact that could be possibly confirmed by looking at the lapel of "Messiah's" jacket adorned by a giant picture of Madonna. (The man has simply no taste.)
Mr. Walesa, the same man that on several occasions, both publicly and proudly declared that he never read a single book in his life - and that he was proud of it - was by popular vote given the highest, most responsible, and possibly, the most demanding office in the new Republic. (Would you buy a used car from this man?)
This is Poland under a magnifying glass. A self-made pseudo-politician becomes a president, and no one cares that the Emperor is naked.
The Poles, possibly more than other nations, like to deceive themselves, which is painfully visible in their history ("Of course Hitler won't start the war, he is too scared of our cavalry!"). The Poles like to fool themselves.
Mr. Walesas honeymoon with Poles finished before his presidency term had come to end. I don't know who called out that Mr. Walesa was naked, but suddenly the whole nation that until that moment had been totally blind, suddenly started to see (a veritable miracle).
Suddenly everyone was asking themselves: "Did we, really, choose this man for president? Did I give him my vote?"
And concerning Mr. Walesa's heroic role, let's put the record straight - the communist regime was falling apart, with or without Mr. Walesa. The fall of the Soviet Union was the decisive factor, not Mr. Walesa's whimsical "speeches" or the strikes, which by an unpredictable twist of history became all of a sudden a historic "factor".
It is a good thing, though, that no one abroad understands Polish. The things this man says; statements and opinions that are foul, rude, aggressive, nonchalant, uneducated, illogical, and often simply nonsensical. As a (former) president you can say whatever you like and it still smells like roses.
Thank God for the translators. Somehow, in translation, the awful stuff that the President used to utter became palatable, not all that stupid, sometimes even clever (it is a good thing that at least the translators are educated).
And the foreign heads of states nodded there wise heads appreciatively, "Hey, this guy knows what he is talking about." We all want to be fooled, it seems, not only the Poles.
The Polish language is hard to master, not only for foreigners. Many Poles have problems with it. But in Mr. Walesa's case his lack of the language skills was (and still is) an unprecedented pain in the butt; the President has had the most problems with his language of any Polish person I have ever heard. It was not a problem as long as he was an electrician, but for a president it was a disaster.
Not only his world and national "therories" were "unique,' his language made them incomprehensible.
One wonders, why people even bother with education, if a simple, almost illiterate person can get elected as the head of a whole country. I wish, for one, I never went to school.
No wonder Mr. Walesa was able to promise the nation that he would turn Poland into a new Japan. He didn't, but making promises is always easy. He could, as well, have promised Poles the moon and they would have still believed that he would deliver. He still makes new promises, but, alas, the Poles have seen the light.
Today, not even one in a hundred is stupid enough to vote for the president-electrician (although, he is not giving up). Were it not for his ability to gather wealth, which he excelled at for Mr. Walesa, it seems, this was really what Solidarity was about - he would have had to go back to his old job.
Nevertheless, the man who has no support in Poland still likes to see himself as a great politician and statesman. He travels widely, often and reads speeches for people more clever than him. The problem is that no one takes him seriously anymore. The emperor is naked, but the truth is still hard to digest for the universities around the world that still continue to reward Walesa with new doctorates honoris causa. The man has got over 40, can he make a new world record?
After a reign of a president like that, no wonder if the Poles are disillusioned with the politics and only a minority takes part in the democratic process. If you get a President Walesa by voting you cannot possibly be worse off by abstaining.
There are accusations against Mr. Walesa, among others by Anna Walentynowicz that he had been an agent of the secret police, which sounds plausible, taking into account that he, as only one of the Solidarity leaders, was not kept in jail during the State of War declared by General Jaruzelski. There are many others that believe that Mr. Walesa's conscience is not exactly squeak-clean, but no one so far has been able to show any proof.
The jury is still out on the Poland's first president. You be your own judge. And don't send the kids to school!