On October 4th, I wrote about the grim outlook for Slovakia if its upcoming election were to give power to the Moscow-friendly “Social Democracy” party headed by one Robert Fico. Unfortunately, the Social Democrats did win the largest share of the vote, though not enough for a majority in Parliament. Fico is now trying to form a coalition government so that he may once more occupy the office of Prime Minister. If he succeeds, it’s bad news for freedom-loving Slovakia.

Toward the end of that piece, I wrote, with an unsuspected prescience: “Then there is Poland, whose government has strayed so far from the heady days of Lech Walesa as to be virtually unrecognizable. Despite its full support of Ukraine until now, its governing Law and Justice party openly opposes ‘liberal democracy,’ and is leaning more toward the current Hungarian model. What the future holds for Poland is anyone’s guess.”

From a more recent reporting, it appears that Poland’s future has already arrived, and is no longer a matter of guesswork. CNN’s Rob Picheta interviewed Warsaw residents about the effect the political changes have had on their families and their usual dinner table conversations, which have become increasingly fractious. He wrote about one family:

“But when the generations meet these days, the conversation turns bitter, animated, emotional. And it doesn’t take long. ‘We always end up talking about politics,’ Karolina says with an exaggerated weariness. ‘Mum is ready to go within seconds.’ ‘She provokes us,’ adds Patrycja dryly . . . ‘She wants to convert us,’ says Karolina. It can get loud, and feelings can be hurt.”

. . .

The article continues: “Poland is splitting in two. An increasingly toxic politics has polluted kitchens and dining rooms in every region of the country. Poles seem to live in separate realities, their worldviews and anxieties determined by where they get their news.

”And a vicious election campaign, which may conclude on Sunday without a definitive result, has hardened public discourse to the point of political warfare. The government’s sharp illiberal turn on civil rights for women, LGBTQ+ people and minorities, and a drastic overhaul of the judiciary and public media that brought both under increased state control, have appalled Western nations that once looked on Poland as the model student of the free market democracies which emerged from the Soviet bloc.

”But they have delighted conservative Poles who stringently oppose the adoption of what they see as Western European social and cultural values, which PiS [the Law and Justice party] describe as a threat to the country’s deep-rooted Catholic heritage.” [Rob Picheta, CNN, October 11, 2023.]

*. *. *

The PiS party has been based on a platform emphasizing national security, as well as a generous social welfare program for parents and pensioners. But it has also taken greater control of the judiciary, public media, and cultural entities. According to the CNN report, “If you ask a Pole their view on the government these days, there’s rarely much ambiguity; they’re either with them, or against them.”

Clearly, Poland has been polarized . . . politically, at least.

And so it starts, in every single country that begins to lean ideologically toward Russia. Apparently, thirty years have been long enough to have erased the memories of the older generations as to what life was like under Communism; and the young adults have never known that life at all and thus have no frame of reference. So is it all destined to cycle around again, once more dividing — not just Poland, but the entire world — into “us” and “them”? And is there something that can be done to stop it . . . preferably before “us” becomes part of “them”?

Just sayin’ .. . .

Brendochka
10/14/23