Edward Kuliga: The priceless gift of Solidarity - from the archive

solidarni2010.pl 1 week ago

Felietons

date: August 30, 2014 Editor: Hussar

Solidarity1980

We callback this column present on the anniversary of the signing of the August agreements in 1980, which paved the way for the creation of NSZZ Solidarity. It is impossible not to remind present of the second - painful anniversary: 31 August 1982, on the second anniversary of the signing of agreements in Gdańsk, Solidarność organized demonstrations throughout Poland. In more than 60 cities thousands of people have gone out into the streets. The tragic balance of that day is six deaths, which died as a consequence of the actions of the ZOMO and militia. Today, the same people, the perpetrators of the deaths of innocent victims, are operating within the CODE and another organizations fighting the Law and Justice Government. Let's remember August 1982!

Polish Solidarity Phenomenon

The first pilgrimage of Father John Paul II to Our Father in June 1979 allowed us to find ourselves and believe that we are not alone. This was the real beginning of modern Polish freedom and solidarity, though truncated. It took place at Pentecost on June 2, 1979, as a consequence of John Paul II's heard cry in Warsaw: “Let your spirit descend and renew the face of the earth.” The second phase of the birth of freedom is the signing of Gdańsk agreements and the creation of Solidarity on 31 August 1980. These 2 dates, not June 4, 1989, stand at the origin and are based on truth.

The phenomenon of Solidarity, grew out of Poland and Christianity, There would be no Solidarity without the evidence of the love of freedom and the Father written in blood and the integrity of Poles. Polish solidarity of the 1980s was a large peaceful national uprising to independence, freedom, fact and justice; the common work of thousands of average people of different backgrounds and professions afraid about the destiny of their Homeland. It was a social movement with an highly strong moral and patriotic charge, rooted in a common historical heritage, revived by Polish Pope John Paul II. Today, the Holy 1 awakened the spirit and hope of Poles to accomplish freedom. Thanks to John Paul II, Solidarity as a social movement brought a fresh qualitative change in politics of historical importance – it challenged the axiological foundations of the communist lie strategy and through solidarity and universal moral opposition led to the failure of legitimacy of power; which has never been the case before. After August 1980, the beginnings of a new, Polish social power strategy began from the bottom up, which caused the panic of the communist government and introduced a martial law on December 13, 1981, to strangle him. Despite decimating repression and forced emigration in the 1980s, Solidarity thanks to the aid of the Catholic Church and its steadfast pastoralists and chaplains survived and led to a political breakthrough in 1989 and started the dissolution of communist totalitarianism.

Today, 34 years after those events, erstwhile so many human weaknesses have been revealed, it is clear that what happened in Poland and in Europe through Solidarity has far exceeded the possibilities of pure human beings. It was the fresh “Church over the Vistula”, formed as a fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit, atoneed by the Holy Father John Paul. In a hard time of communism and martial law, as always in hard situations, only patriotic and moral motivation could kidnap people to specified a self-sacrifice, joint action. This does not mean that they were all angels or that there were no another perfect orientations, but the patriotic and Catholic trend was at first leading. Ironically, this patriotic and far-reaching Christian social movement was the consequence of the martial law and the "Circular Table" arrangement after 1989, dominated and manipulated by left-wing liberal cosmopolites supported by the erstwhile agent and business-financial environment, treating Solidarity instrumentally as a way to power and achieving their own political and financial goals, at the expense of the common good. The work grown out of the sacrifice and toil of the patriotic Nation was placed in the hands of leftist advisors and neoliberal ideologists of completely abroad Polish and Christian ethics. These people, together with the authorities, have utilized the symbolism and fame of Solidarity to make their political pedigree credible and for the usage of their own PR, while their actual policy was and is simply a denial of the principles of Solidarity.

Lack of moral order in Poland is simply a failure of the full society

Polish Solidarity began a fresh era in the past of Poland and Europe, but did not finish its mission. A large historical paradox is the fact that the multimillion-dollar social movement, suppressed by the communist government but not annihilated, which initiated the biggest political breakthrough in Poland and Europe after the Second planet War, itself failed to fulfil its basic social and political goals for which it was created, and yet became the subject of demolition by its erstwhile protagonists. The large political and social triumph of Solidarity has not been completed and established morally and legally; therefore, its fruitage is bitter.

Despite the unquestionable political and civilizational changes, the biggest moral disaster of Solidarity and of the full Polish society after 1989 is that the most fundamental thing for all man and for all society – moral order, as Pope John Paul II called for in his sermon in Skoczów on 22 May 1995. Moral governance based on truth, justice, solidarity and respect for moral values and common good has been blocked, as besides dangerous for the interests of the fresh establishment. There was a deficiency of and inactive deficiency of people of conscience, both among the rulers and rulers, although they applauded the Pope so much.

All another failures are the derivative of the first. ‘(...)The regained freedom will not make or defend itself if, on all long of social, economical and political life, the people of the right conscience are not able to defy not only the various changing influences and external pressures, but besides everything that weakens or even destroys human freedom from within"(John Paul II,Rome, February 14, 1998). It was impossible to do so without accounting for communism, which was the essence of iniquity. That is why the strategy became a series of fresh powers and imposed its rules on it. Corruption, lying, slander and another relics of the totalitarian strategy settled profoundly in human consciousness perpetuated through media and education.

Roadless Polish Freedom

In assessing the past 34 years of Solidarity, the vastness of all good brought to Poland and Europe by Solidarity must first be appreciated. ‘.(...) Solidarity opened the gates of freedom in countries enslaved by the totalitarian system, demolished the Berlin Wall and contributed to the unification of a Europe separated since planet War II. We must never erase it in our memory. This event belongs to our national heritage."(John Paul II, Sopot, June 5, 1999).

Despite historical merit, Solidarity as a social movement of Poles failed to fulfil all the hopes it had put forward, due to the fact that the thought of solidarity was trampled and thrown out of politics by its representatives. Values subsided before the wolf rush to power and money. due to the fact that there was no simple solidarity of people, honesty, religion in our own strength and faithfulness, and most importantly, strong intellectually and morally leadership. We have not taken advantage of our opportunities and opportunities due to the effects of the martial law, which has overstated the post-communist power strategy and maintained a negative staff selection, and which has not succeeded in changing the way of the "self-restricting revolution" without the coercion of the state which unfortunately remained in their hands.

Solidarity was wrongly affected by the full work for all the negative social consequences of economical and political changes that occurred in Poland after 1989, while the actual manager and the beneficiary of highly liberal antisocial policy and armed privatization were leftist-liberal and post-communist and abroad financial capital. The deficiency of political and economical experience and the sin of naivety of Solidarity activists and politicians have led many to be deceived; they have tolerated and corporate antisocial reforms and neoliberal policies as the only way to the desired goal of integration into the European Union. The thought of Solidarity has been rejected and Solidarity as a political force has broken down on the road to the European Union in exchange for delusional prosperity. The effects of anti-social policy have led to the disengagement of leadership from its own social base and the failure of social assurance and the interior breakdown of Solidarity. The social covenant was broken and the principles of social trust were violated.

Subordination of Polish affairs to abroad interests in exchange for power, consent to surrender of Polish property and liquidation of the Polish economy and the resulting failure of millions of jobs and eternal public debt, abandoning reprivatization and simple principles of social justice, throwing on the destiny of Polish youth, providing privileges and impunity to criminals and communist agents, constantly disputing their own people and sowing prejudices, poisoning historical memory and littering national culture, depopulation, demoralization and ideological conflict with Polish and Christianism, are just any serious social sins involving politicians who came to power through Solidarity.

The causes of the large social business and the failure of credibility were many, and the biggest was the harm of a simple man and the demolition of the common good.

Solidarity was built by ordinary, noble people. Their evidence is eternal, regardless of the number of bastards who went in to report, steal, break and destroy.

Solidarity as a typically Polish social movement has sustained many dense blows. The defiance of her own ideals in her ranks, and especially in her governing bodies, no longer took it. And so Solidarity as a social movement was shattered with the hands of Solidarity. The most valuable thing for building the foundations of an independent state – trust and social integration, were destroyed for many years. This schism crossed out the chances of a social and moral revival of Poland in this generation. The priceless gift of John Paul II, which was Solidarity, was disregarded and mostly wasted.

Time has shown that as a society and a nation we were incapable to do anything more, but everything good after 1980 comes from Solidarity and what it does not get is due to its lack. Years of communism and resentiments have done their part. Parapped and disappointed society, manipulated continuously by agentura and neoliberal media, without strong leadership, refused to proceed to fight. There have been major social changes associated with the social process, globalisation and invasion of counterculture. All imponderabily has been driven out of the social space by self-centered and applicable materialism. The steadfast were alone, and the average bread-eaters shortly fell down the wings and went to defend the post-communist position quo, as allegedly a better safeguard of their interests. The drasticly low level of political awareness, the departure from values and solidarity made society a hostage to neoliberal media and political kuglalars. The ground for totalitarian practices has been prepared.

The experience of the Solidarity period shows clearly that it is the cultural and axiological strategy and the degree of integration and social awareness that find the strength of spiritual society, and this in turn about its resilience to ideological poisoning and the ability to last and argue all totalitarianism. The spiritual strength of the Nation and its solidarity based on patriotic and Christian values proved to be a decisive origin in the fight against communist slavery and are inactive a reliable weapon in defence of the fresh slavery provided faithfulness.

Edward Kuliga

The author was an activist of Kraków Solidarity from 1980 to 1989.

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