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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 17:55:18 GMT 1
Dear Forum friends,
I post this message from a general and specific interest in parliamentary democracy and the belief that a certain balance, Communicating vessels (Naczynia połączone), and some sort of near 50-50 balance between government and opposition forces is important for a healty democracy. Often the (center) right or (center) left wins 55 or 60% of the votes and the oppositions stays with 45 or 40 percent of the votes in the left vs right distribution.
In Poland, the USA, Hungary, Austria and other European and Western nations that balance seems to be gone and Rightwing National Populist, National conservative, conservative and reactionairy forces seem to be dominant, in a new movement in which the rightwing wing of the centre right (Conservative Christian Democrats, rightwing liberals and conservatives) have merged with former far right Neo-Fascist, Neo-Nazi, Ultra-Nationalist, Peoples nationalist, Phalangist, Nativist and xenophobic rightwing political forces, movements and parties. In the German Alternative for Germany former Christian Democrats of the CDU and CSU parties sit next to former Neo-Nazi's of the NPD (National Democratic party). Poland is different than Germany, but in Poland you also have modern 21th rightwing and far right mergers and fusions in new parties in movements. The weakness of the Polish centre left, left and even far left worries me.
The dominance of the right is to large. It is a democratic right of Poles to vote that way, think that way, feel that way, and go into a national conservative, nationalist and rightwing Populist direction. But I do believe that the left did not had and does not have an answer to the people who vote for far right or reactionary right, where they voted leftwing or centrist liberal in the past. From the other hand the far right and the right also have their electoral losses and it is a fact that the leftist Greens made victories in Germany and the Netherlands. The left in Poland of course is different than in Germany and the Netherlands. Partia Zieloni is not the same as Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or GroenLinks (GreenLeft). Every European country has a different society, different heritage, different financial and economical situation, a different kind of left and thus national and regional circumstances with a different past and history. Therefor I post this leftwing post about leftwing politics in general and leftwing politics in Poland from the perspective of a Dutch layman who from far away abroad tries to understand the Polish situation.
Cheers,
Pieter
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 17:55:35 GMT 1
 Adrian Tadeusz Zandberg (born 4 December 1979) is a Polish historian and computer programmer, doctor of humanities and left-wing politician, member of the Board of the Razem (Together) party. His parents moved in 1967 from Poland to Denmark, where Zandberg was born in 1979. In 1985 his family moved back to Poland. After studying history at Warsaw University, he received his doctorate for his dissertation about British and German left-wing social democratic movements. He also studied computer science at a Polish-Japanese computing academy.Left Together ( Lewica Razem ) is a coalition electoral committee appointed by the Razem Party, the Labor Union (Unia Pracy) and the Social Justice Movement for the European Parliament elections in 2019. They collaborated with the pan-European political organization Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (founded by the Greek economist and former finance minister Janis Warufakis) with whom in 2016, the party together took part in the cooperation. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_Europe_Movement_2025 ) HistoryThe intention of establishing a joint committee was announced on January 8, 2019 by the politicians of the Party of Together, UP, RSS, the Polish Socialist Party and Freedom and Equality, as well as representatives of the Mazovian OPZZ. Patron of the coalition was announced Polish politician and former parliemant member Anna Grodzka. Of the five parties, three eventually announced the establishment of a joint committee on February 28. PPS decided not to take part in the elections, while WiR supported the European Coalition. The leaders of the coalition of groups and Anna Grodzka, while the only one associated with LR, Adam Gierek from UP, did not decide to reelect. Among the persons who opened the electoral lists were nine representatives of the Total Party, two UP candidates and two representatives of the RSS . The lists included 108 members of the Party Together (Razem), 11 RSS and 5 people with UP and nonpartisan. The Committee took the 6th place (the last from all-Poland), receiving 1.24% of votes. After the election, the coalition ceased to function, and on 1 June 2019 the name "Left Together" ("Lewica Razem") was adopted by the existing Party Together. The original text is in Polish:Lewica Razem (koalicja) Lewica Razem – koalicyjny komitet wyborczy powołany przez Partię Razem, Unię Pracy i Ruch Sprawiedliwości Społecznej na wybory do Parlamentu Europejskiego w 2019. Współpracował z paneuropejską organizacją polityczną Ruch Demokracji w Europie 2025 (założoną przez greckiego ekonomistę i byłego ministra finansów Janisa Warufakisa), z którą w 2016 współpracę podjęła Partia Razem.Historia O zamiarze powołania wspólnego komitetu poinformowali 8 stycznia 2019 politycy Partii Razem, UP, RSS, Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej oraz Wolności i Równości, a także przedstawiciele mazowieckiego OPZZ. Patronką koalicji ogłoszono Annę Grodzką. Spośród pięciu partii, ostatecznie trzy ogłosiły 28 lutego powołanie wspólnego komitetu] PPS zdecydowała się nie brać udziału w wyborach, zaś WiR wsparła Koalicję Europejską. Start do Parlamentu Europejskiego zapowiedzieli liderzy współtworzących koalicję ugrupowań oraz m.in. Anna Grodzka, natomiast o reelekcję nie zdecydował się ubiegać jedyny związany z LR eurodeputowany, Adam Gierek z UP. Wśród osób otwierających listy wyborcze znalazło się dziewięcioro przedstawicieli Partii Razem, dwóch kandydatów UP i dwoje reprezentantów RSS. Na listach znalazło się 108 członków Partii Razem, 11 RSS oraz po 5 osób z UP i bezpartyjnych. Komitet zajął 6. miejsce (ostatnie z ogólnopolskich), otrzymując 1,24% głosów. Po wyborach koalicja przestała funkcjonować, natomiast 1 czerwca 2019 nazwę „Lewica Razem” przybrała dotychczasowa Partia Razem.  The elections are over. I wonder if the coalition Lewica Razem will manage to exist for long. The left in Europe is always divided and coalitions never last long. The individual parties have strong identities, heritages and their own base and grassrootsmovements. There are differences between Razem en Unia Pracy. On the other hand they seem to cooperate with or have reached out a hand to the leftwing SLD (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej).
Cheers,
Pieter |
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 17:56:19 GMT 1
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 17:56:53 GMT 1
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:05:43 GMT 1
Bonobo,
Is this positive or negative or just a political development for Poland? Can you compare it to the formation of the Left party in Germany (Die Linke), GreenLeft in the Netherlands (a merger party of 4 small leftwing parties in 1989) and the influence of the leftwing wing in the Democratic party in the USA, the Socialists and the Social Democrats in the Democratic Party, or is this a typical Polish, Central European development and thus a Polish leftwing construction which could only take place in Poland if you look at the Polish history, statistics, Political science, Polish news, the Polish economy and with sociological and psychological glasses?
What I see is a complicated Polish left in which old Orthodox Marxist Leninists of the PZPR, Reform or Eurocommunists ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocommunism ), leftwing Marxist socialists, non Marxist leftwing Polish Socialists, leftwing Populists, old Fashioned Polish socialists (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS), West-European style Social Democrats (who support the Nordic Model, the Scandinavian Social Democratic economical system and the continental European Rhineland model of Social stakeholders Capitalism in contrast with the Anglo-American Free Market -Laissez faire- stockholders -value- capitalism), the Polish feminists, the Polish GLBT-Q rights activists (leftwing Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgenders and Queers), Polish Leftwing Labour Unionists (the old leftwing wing of Solidarność and Komitet Obrony Robotników [KOR]) and liberal Roman-Catholics who follow the Catholic social teaching and tend to vote for liberal or leftwing Polish Political parties, other leftwing intellectuals, Polish anarchists, Polish students who are member of Polish leftwing University student organisations, Development aid workers, social workers, leftwing teachers, leftwing professors, leftwing sociologists, leftwing philosophers, leftwing unaffiliated workers, leftwing writers, poets, musicians, artists and leftwing voting leftwing civil servants and leftwing entrepreneurs are present or represented.
What is your opinion about the present day Polish politics, the present day Polish left and do you believe that the left would be stronger if all the leftwing parties would unite in a new Centrolew? ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrolew / pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrolew ) Is a Humanist socialism possible in Poland of the 21th century in which the 127 year old Polish socialism of the Polish socialists (Polish branch of the non-Marxist, revisionist, Democratic Socialist, Social Democracy in Europe) of the Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (PPS) and Unia Pracy merge with modern West European Social democracy (Labour parties and social democratic labour unions), Green party politics, classical liberal politics and the politics of the leftwing wings of the European Christian democratic parties and christian Labour unions, and the Polish liberal and progressive tradition of (again) the the Catholic social teaching. A smart Polish left would merge these things and build a grassrootsmovement, a typical Polish way to socialism, and thus a Progressive Polish Peoples Party, which would unite the left and would have the power the present PiS government party has. Today the left is outside the parliament and seems to be a protest movement.
The Polish left could learn from the Polish history from the Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (PPS), the Bund (Ogólno-Żydowski Związek Robotniczy "Bund" w Polsce), the leftwing wing of the Solidarność and Komitet Obrony Robotników [KOR]) (the leftwing intellectual dissidents) and from the succeses of GroenLinks, the Greek Syriza (The Coalition of the Radical Left) in 2015, Podemos in Spain, Die Linke (the Left party in Germany) and the succes of the Barack Obama 2008 presidential and 2012 campaigns.
I am neutral and objective and an outsider, not a member of any Polish Political Party, but I do believe that a balance is good for a Democracy, Freedom, a system of checks and balances, which has counterveiling powers, a Trias Politica (Separation of Powers), a separation of church and state, a protection for minorities and respect for the opinions, aims and voting patterns of others. In the fierce polarisation, discord, irritation, frustration and hatred in the European and American political climate I see an endangerment of Free speech, Free opinion, control of an on power, and a growing of intolerance, Autarkic and Isolationalist stances. That is worrisome, and that's why a resurrection of the Polish left would be good for both the left and the right and next to the also for the political centre.
Today the situation in Poland is like it is and the Polish people democratically voted the present government and thus they have to live with this government and it's policies until the next elections. Many Poles are fine with the present administration, and yet many other Poles aren't fine with the present Polish adminstation and the direction it has moved Poland into. We will see what the next national elections will do and what the result of that elections will be.
What is your opinion on this Bonobo? What is your own opinion? In your mind, life and experience, knowledge and information and presence in Poland you know more about Poland than us 'Polish Diaspora in Europe and the the USA. As a man who works in education with pupils and students in Kraków, you know the world of highschools, pupils (teenage youth culture and Civics -Civic education- [Wiedza o społeczeństwie], and your work as a School counselor), and you know the academical world of the academic university intelligentsia of university students, nauczycieli akademickich, professors and university personel. And you know the typical Crakovian and have visited other Polish cities, towns, Urban Agglomerations, villages and hamlets. You will know the difference between the more liberal cosmopolitan large city folks and the more conservative rural town and village people. You will know split Polish families with a conservative and liberal wing. You will know Polish civil servants, people of the Polish middle class, Polish workers, Polish entrepreneurs, Polish Yuppies (Young Urban Professionals), Polish Hipsters, Hippies, artists, housewives, accountants, architects, graphical designers,photographers, journalists, psychologists, doctors, dentists and horeca people and shop owners. You follow the Polish press, media and politics enough to be able to monitor and judge the Polish situation as a Polish insider, who is born and raised in Poland and had and has a professional carreer in Poland and a Polish family with wife and son. You have regular contact with Polish familymembers, colleagues, friends and acqaintances in Kraków and other parts of Poland? What do they say about Poland as Polish citizens, as voters as people who can judge the Polish politics, politicians, the Polish government, the Polish opposition in general and the Polish left in particular? Are they content with the present direction Poland is going in an economical sense, financial sense, the monetary situation, the cultural state of the country (the Polish civilization, Polish humanism, the quality, quintessence and value of the present day Contemporary Polish art [the Fine Arts: Painting, Scupluture, video art, art photography, Happening/Performance art, the Polish professional theatre -Poland was one of the most important countries in the 20th century in the development of Modern theatre (both in theory and practice -plays and acting- Jerzy Grotowski andc others-] the level of the present day Polish press and media -the quality of essays, articles, columns and news items in Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita, Odra, and maybe the quality of present day Polish literature and poetry and the art critics of Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita, Odra?), taxes, public spending, social security, culture, Polish diplomacy and status way?
The state of a Modern 21th century country is also measurable from the state of it's cultural landscapes, infrastructure, level of education, the availability of art and culture for it's citizens, how sophisticated it's internet (electronic/digital) infrastucture is (digital democracy/internet democracy), how well developped it's political system and climate is (pluriformity, level of Transparency, anti-corruption mentality and tolerance and open to the world), the level of it's modern architecture and the maintainance of it's old architectural wonders, if a country has a lot of Human Capital (the amount of good educated workers, administrative middle class and business high class), and the literacy of it's population.
How do the average Pole sees the present government, what is the status of Poland in Central-Europe (Visgegrad group) and the West? Is Poland as polarised as let's say the Netherlands and the USA? Or less Polarised? Is the majority pro government and happy with the present day policies, measures and actions of the present day government and with the way the government implements these measures and policies into their every day life. What effect have the policies of the present day PiS government on the lives of the Polish workers, middle class, young Polish people and pensioners?
Bonobo, you said something very interesting and honest about the Polish intelligentsia and the climate in Poland, which gives me the impression of a materialistic middle class society, in which the economy, consumer goods and easy reachable goals are the aim of the new generation. This is your opinion. You are one of the 38,433,600 Poles. I would like to hear more Polish opinions, more Poles, to get a more objective, neutral and average opinion about Poland. Next to you I want to hear Jaga's, Joasja's, Franciszek, Irena's, Aleksander's, Alina's, Wojtek's, Zuzanna's, Adam's, Lena's, Wojciech's, Wiktoria's, Tomasz's, Martyna's, Pawel's, Magdalena's, Kazimierz's, Malgorzata's, Juliusz's, Helena's, Jerzy's, Paulina's, Andrzej's, Barbara's, Lech's, Patrycja's, Radoslaw's, Barbara's, Aleksy's, Dorota's and Mateusz's opinions.
But of course I value your opinion very highly Bonobo, as one of the independent, Kraków intelligentsia voices I can connect to via these kind of Polish Forums.
Cheers,
Pieter
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:06:49 GMT 1
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:08:27 GMT 1
Of course the reactions and opinions of Polish Americans (Jeanne), Slovak Americans, Czech Americans, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Israeli's with a Central- and Eastern European heritage, and of course last but not least the German, Austrian and Swiss, Belgians, French, Scandinavians, Southern-Europeans, British and Irish people are welcome too. I like to look at a subject from all sides and hear as much opinions about it and gather as much experience, knowledge and information about the subject to get a clear, honest, broad and more balanced view about the subject. In this case Left Together (Lewica Razem)- a coalition of the 2 Polish leftwing political parties Razem and Unia Pracy.
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:12:16 GMT 1
What does the left voter want? This text is inspired by and partly based on Matthijs Rooduijn 04/04/2015 ( stukroodvlees.nl/wat-wil-de-linkse-kiezer/ ) The Left is empty, weak and divided today. But in Poland new energy comes from new political alliances, like Lewica Razem, the collaboration between the leftwing Polish political parties Razem and Unia Pracy. Next to that you have the new political party Wiosna of the Polish LGBT activist Robert Biedroń (born 13 April 1976) who is a former mayor of Słupsk and politician. Biedroń was previously a member of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland party (Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SdRP)) and the Democratic Left Alliance (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD). Lewica Razem also collaborates with the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and Wiosna of Robert Biedroń. I wonder how long this Left cooperation, front and synergy will last?
Robert Biedroń (born 13 April 1976) is a Polish LGBT activist, former mayor of Słupsk and politician. Formerly a member of the Sejm and the mayor of Słupsk, he launched a new political party called Spring in February 2019, and was elected a Member of the European Parliament on his party's list on 26 May 2019. He also serves on the board of the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia.
The Polish Parliamentary elections to both the Sejm and the Senate held in Poland on 25 October 2015 were a disaster for the left and the centre left.
The election was won by the largest opposition party, the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS), which formed the administration which governs and dominates Poland today. The United Left (Zjednoczona Lewica, ZL) only received 1,147,102 votes, which was 7.55 procent. To few votes to be able to enter the parliament in 2015. So thus the left is not represented in the Sejm.
Where did the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Your Movement (TR), the Labour Union (UP), the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), The Greens (Zieloni) and the Polish Labour Party (PPP) fail? Where did it go wrong. Did the Polish left critically analysed itself? To look at the leftwing political party landscape with a helicopter view. Did the left asked independent intellectuals to research their campaigns, strategies, tactics and policies?
Why is the right so successful and the left so unsuccessful? Does the Polish right appeal more to the Polish workers, the Polish middle classes, the Polish academics (Intelligentsia of the Polish cities) and Polish civilians in general. Are we right or wrong in the West (Western Europe) if we believe that Poles are rather conservative, traditional and religious people?
What is the reason of the downfall of the Polish left, centre left and the moderate centre right in Poland? The economical growth was successful under the previous centre right, liberal conservative (or conservative liberal) and slightly Christian Democratic Civil Platform government. That government still had a progressive and leftwing opposition in the Polish parliament next to a rightwing one. Today the left has completely disappeared from the Sejm. Only far right, rightwing and centre right and centrist political parties like the PSL (the agrarian Polish Peoples Party) are represented in the parliament. No centre left, nor leftwing and far left political party is represented in the Polish parlaiment. There is a rightwing domination today in Poland. The same phenomenon you see in other Central-European and Western-European countries and in the USA.
What political opinions, voting behaviour and all sorts of other more and less political issues drove Polish voters to the right in Poland in October 2015. Of course the Polish left has asked this question to themselves (yourselves). Did we reach the voters, was our campaign right, how is our Agitprop working? Did we had the right political marketing, did we reach our core basis of workers and lower middle class?
Too what extent do left-wing voters differ from voters from the middle and right-wing voters? What are the views of the Polish left-wing voters today? In a number of areas, they differ little from other voters.
In the past, left-wing politics were often associated with progressive attitudes. On the left, for example, there was a support for abortion, euthanasia and equal rights for homosexuals (Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgenders and Queers, the GLBT community). This is still the case, although left-wing voters are not so different from voters in the middle of the political center. In addition, left-wing voters hardly differ from voters on the right when it comes to views on the political establishment. Remarkably, the voters in the middle are statistically significantly more negative towards politics. They strongly agree with the assertion that politicians do not fulfil their promises. However, it should be noted that voters who are very left or very right on average are again a lot more cynical than voters from the middle. Finally, the left in the past has also been associated with Democratic renewal. Left-wing voters were generally for the introduction of referendums and direct choice of directors. That is to a large extent still so. It is also apparent here that left-wing voters hardly distinguish themselves from other voters in this respect. Differences
However, there are also several areas where the left-wing voter clearly distinguishes itself from both other groups of voters. Firstly, left-wing voters find much stronger than other voters that prosperity should be distributed fairer. Left-wing voters are significantly more likely to agree that the income differentials in the country should be reduced. Left-wing voters are much more positive about the ethnic minorities and minority groups than right-wing voters and voters from the middle. Left-wing voters in Western Europe find to a greater extent that immigrants in the EU should be able to live with the preservation of their own culture. Interestingly, left-wing voters also differ from other voters when it comes to European unification. On average, left-wing voters are more in favour of (further) European integration than other voters. Even the far left voters are more positive about European unification than the voters in the middle and the voters on the right (these results with regard to the far left and right are not shown in the figure). When voters are asked what the government should spend more money on, left-wing voters are much stronger than other voters advocate more money for education. And finally, left-wing voters are stronger than other voters in favour of freedom of expression and the freedom to demonstrate.Two opinions to left-wing politicians Sahra Wagenknecht (born 16 July 1969) is a German left-wing politician, economist, author and publicist. Along with Dietmar Bartsch, she is the parliamentary chairperson of Die Linke. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Bundestag.Left-wing politicians focus Firstly on socio-economic inequality and education. Few left-wing politicians seem to have the time to come up with a strong new left-hand story about income and wealth redistribution. What can left-wing politicians wish more than a time-spirit in which left-wing voters reveal the author of a thick book on wealth inequality and progressive global taxation as a true rock star? Redistribution through the welfare state is one thing, but one should also be more aware that education is far from the ideal equality machine. An educational system that offers real equal opportunities still needs to be invented and voters know that. Left-wing voters distinguish themselves clearly from other voters regarding the question of how much money should be invested in Education.
It is not just the inequality with regard to money that worries leftwing people, also the political inequality worries them. It is also a power inequality that evokes indignation in many people. Voters from both the left and the right corner have an increasing idea that politicians and directors are mainly concerned with themselves and are hardly concerned with what ordinary citizens consider important.
Leftwing politicians have the great advantage of being able to link a story about socio-economic inequality to ideas about political inequality. According to socialists and the leftwing of the Social Democracy the power relationship between governance and ' workplace ' has been completely skein. Labour Unions, Socialists, Social Democrats and leftwing liberals still protest against a self absorbed administrative elite who would take decisions that undermine the quality of education, health care, housing, employment, of life of the workers, social security, the economy and the way of life of the people.
Leftwing politics always should be about equality, fighting unemployment and poverty, social security, housing, good health care, good education, levelling (equalization), more equality between men and women (emancipation, Feminism, equal pay for men and women), protection of minority rights, the importance of Human rights, and progressive, social and empowering ideas for workers, women, minorities, and the Polish youth. The Polish youth must have a future in Poland and in the United Europe of the European Union.Two flavors left Left-wing voters do not form a homogeneous group. The opinions on the left are quite divergent. It seems that we can distinguish two flavours on the left: on the one hand, left-wing voters have been set up somewhat nationalistic and are more wary of European integration and increased immigration, and on the other hand there are more Cosmopolitan-minded left-wing voters who particularly see the benefits of European unification and open borders.
It is not a ' new ' story, but it cannot hurt to see that there are still clear left-wing preferences among the voters. Pronounced socio-economic and political inequality flavored with a national or European sauce, can bring left-wing voters and political parties closer together. It is a light that these two flavours create more order in the fragmented political landscape. It is therefore still the art to bring it right, but that is another story.
The freedom-loving tradition of the left should stay a core element in Leftwing activism, campaigning, political marketing and policy making. A just distribution of income and fair chance for everyone to work, care, education and recreation are the other core elements of leftism or leftwing politics. Social Democrats favour a society where human dignity, equality and solidarity (Solidarność) are most important. Core issues for Social Democrats are employment, social security and welfare and investing in public education, public safety and health care. The support base of Social Democrats today is a mix of Civil servants, minorities and the elder working class. The Social Democracy should attract more young people, students and young workers.
Modern Social Democrats and radical liberals favour of a mixed economy combining market economics and government intervention, because that serves a Social and Democratic direction of their society. Leftwing Polish Political Parties should stand for an increase in government spending on education and innovation, for instance increases in teachers' salaries.
Progressive Social Democrats stand for a Federal Europe and more European cooperation on issues such as the environment, immigration policy and foreign policy.
A pluralist society where everyone can participate in freedom is important for a truly progressive, leftwing and social party. A Modern 21th century leftwing political party combines openness with a sense of community. The protection of the Earth, ecosystems and a respectful treatment of animals is another aspect of modern leftwing politics. Keynesian economics in my opinion is the best progressive economical direction or a group of various macroeconomic theories for the economy of leftwing politics. The Nordic Scandinavian model with it’s a comprehensive welfare state and multi-level collective bargaining is a model for the left in Poland with it’s high percentage of the workforce unionised while being based on the economic foundations of free market capitalism. Next to that the Dutch polder model (Dutch: poldermodel) of consensus-based economic and social policy making in the 1980s and 1990s could also be a good example or model for Poland. It worked quite well in the Netherlands ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polder_model ).
I (Pieter) am realistic and pragmatic however in the fact that in many European countries and and regions of Europe your have particular circumstances, with special historical, development, financial, economical and social cultural differences. Poland is not the same as the Netherlands in the sense of wealth, chances for civilians to explore and develop themselves, education, work and income. Poland has its past of partitions, wars and the heritage of the Polish Peoples Republic, which lacked the chances and the development of the Western-European countries that were ruled by Social Democrats, Christian Democrats and classical European liberals. Polish people immigrate abroad to work, study and to settle. Dutch people stay at home and can find good education, work and a home at home in the Netherlands. The Polish Diaspora is huge in Western-Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israël. There is a reason for that. The Poles lacked the Social democratic success story of Western Europe with it’s Nordic Model, Rhineland model of social capitalism and the Dutch Polder model. Fact is that the Polish situation is different than other European countries and therefor Poland needs a specific ‘Polish socialism’, based on Social Democracy (Democratic Socialism), the progressive (liberal) wing of Catholic social teaching, and present day 21th century progressive ideas of the Polish leftwing intelligentsia (Polish intellectuals) and Polish socialists, Social democrats, social liberals, Democrats, Humanists, leftwing intellectuals, progressive students, influential progressive liberal university professors who are linked to or sympathetic to the left, leftwing primary school and highschool teachers, civil servants, social workers, leftwing entrepreneurs, leftwing Young Urban Professionals (Yuppies), Hipsters, creative people (artists, graphical designers, 3D designers, architects, photographers, movie makers), writers, poets, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, economists and Millennials.
Strengthening the international rule of law, in order to ensure peace and respect for human rights is the foreign affairs direction of a true progressive political party.
The Polish left is very pluriform, devided, multi facetted, dynamic, changing and in progress. Alliances in the recent past and present came to existence and disappeared. The Polish left is trying to find it’s place in the Polish political spectrum which is dominated by the Right. Despite the protest movements and the demonstrations in Poland the opposition didn’t manage to break the power of the Right in Poland.
There lies a task for the Polish Left to rebuilt the left and try to at least get 30% or 40% of the vote back and get back in the parliament and the Senate.
Wiosna and Lewica Razem are good initiatives, but they must grow to be successful!
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:13:31 GMT 1
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:13:50 GMT 1
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:14:05 GMT 1
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Post by pjotr on Aug 10, 2019 18:14:31 GMT 1
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Post by pjotr on Aug 11, 2019 0:41:39 GMT 1
  Robert Biedroń, mayor of the northern Polish town of Słupsk | Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesPoland’s progressive hope
Robert Biedroń wants to revitalize Polish politics but risks splitting the opposition.By Martin Miszerak and Dalibor Rohac 2/1/19, 4:00 AM CET
Updated 4/19/19, 1:20 AM CET With high-profile leaders such as New Zealand premier Jacinda Ardern and U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rising to global prominence, you’d be forgiven for thinking the progressive left seems to be making a comeback.
Jacinda Ardern
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
But its prospects are markedly less exciting in Europe, where modern progressives are mostly flailing in the polls. Notwithstanding a few notable exceptions — Germany’s Greens have risen dramatically in the polls, and some segments of the radical populist left are making inroads in countries like France — placing your bets on a progressive and socially liberal agenda is a risky move, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
And yet, that is exactly what Robert Biedroń, the 43-year old former mayor of the northern Polish town of Słupsk and a former member of parliament, is intent on doing.
Charismatic and openly gay, Biedroń has been compared to French President Emmanuel Macron, who disrupted France’s political establishment in 2017. And his prospects certainly look good: His “movement,” not yet an officially registered political party, has already claimed 9 percent support in recent polls, compared to 37 percent for the governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party and 25 percent for the main opposition grouping, Civic Platform.
Biedroń’s views — compared to those of PiS and Civic Platform — are unapologetically left-wing. He advocates for a complete separation of church and state, the abolition of tax privileges for the clergy, and the replacement of religion classes in public schools with English. He is also a strong supporter of LGBT and women’s rights, including access to abortion. Robert Biedroń takes a selfie with supporters on November 27, 2018 in Szczecin, Poland | Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesBut perhaps his most controversial position is his refusal to join forces with Civic Platform, the main center-right opposition party. Despite accusing the right-wing government of “terrorizing [Polish] democracy,” Biedroń has not shied away from criticizing the opposition.
His primary target has been the economic track record of the previous Civic Platform-led government, which he claims put in place an unsuccessful “trickle-down development model” that prompted a brain drain in smaller towns, where only “older, non-working people” now remain. He has also called for a much higher degree of economic redistribution from Poland’s wealthy cities to its much poorer towns and rural areas, as well as a “citizen’s pension,” a form of universal basic income, of at least 1,600 złoty per month (about €380).
His suggested policies mark a serious departure from politics as usual in Poland, a country where the political left is still, to some extent, associated with painful memories of communism. Indeed, it may be the first time since 1989 that serious progressive ideas are receiving a hearing.
The gap Biedroń fills on the political market is especially resonant among young and educated urban voters. Poland’s millennials increasingly resemble their Western counterparts: For them, progressive ideals are not tainted by memories of the old regime, and they are disenchanted with what appears, to them, to be a right-wing political duopoly.
Still, despite his appeal with a growing section of the population, Biedroń should tread carefully.
Left-wing platforms across the region are not getting the kind of traction Biedroń is hoping for, and their trajectories point to trouble ahead.
In the Czech Republic, the once-dominant Social Democrats (ČSSD) are struggling to remain relevant. Slovakia’s established Smer party is progressive in name only, having internalized much of the intolerant right-wing populism and anti-immigration rhetoric characteristic of Visegrad countries. Meanwhile, Progressive Slovakia — a left-wing party founded by a group of young Slovaks in 2017 — is not faring too well either. Unhappy with what was on offer, its goal, like Biedroń’s, was to disrupt upcoming national elections in 2020. But more than two years in, polls indicate that the party, which also has a strong following among young urban Slovaks, will only barely make it into the national parliament, if it gains a seat at all. Its most charismatic figure, Zuzana Čaputová, is trailing fifth in polls ahead of the presidential election to be held in March.
None of this is a good sign for Biedroń, who has similar ambitions and faces many of the same obstacles. With a parliamentary election to be held by November, time is not on his side. As illustrated by the fate of Poland’s Nowoczesna, or Modern Party — a once promising example of a centrist political disruptor that has since fallen into irrelevance — it is one thing to build a movement that can succeed in a particular election, and quite another to build a resilient party structure.
Nevertheless, Biedroń’s budding political movement shouldn’t be written off. It has captured the imagination of Polish millennials, many of whom don’t see themselves represented by the political establishment. With their support, Biedroń could well have a shot at revitalizing Polish democracy.
Much will depend on whether he can avoid fragmenting the Polish opposition ahead of the election. Neither Biedroń nor Civic Platform can afford to let narcissism or small differences in policy blind them to the first-order problems facing Poland: PiS’s creeping authoritarianism, the erosion of rule of law, and the country's growing geopolitical isolation.
Only by working together will they stand a chance of dethroning Law and Justice, and restoring Poland's place as a post-communist success story and a key European player.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to clarify Robert Biedroń's current job title.
Martin Miszerak is the chief executive of business advisory firm Miszerak & Associates and a former privatization adviser to the Polish government. Dalibor Rohac is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 15, 2019 0:19:34 GMT 1
The dominance of the right is too large. True but it is a temporary shift. As a centre, I am neutral about left or right as long as they are sensible guys. But I am sorry to say, most rightists are narrow-minded self-righteous assholes, perfectly hypocritical and completely intolerant of people who don`t share their views. That has always put me off them. They would be only ridiculous and pathetic if they weren`t so dangerous when at power. Today the balance has shifted to the right side, but sooner or later nature will sway the pendulum to the left side. After getting the helm, will the left remain reasonable or will they go mad like rightwingers did after 2015? |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 18, 2019 0:00:15 GMT 1
Today the balance has shifted to the right side, but sooner or later nature will sway the pendulum to the left side. Unfortunately I think we will have a long wait.... |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 18, 2019 10:14:00 GMT 1
Today the balance has shifted to the right side, but sooner or later nature will sway the pendulum to the left side. Unfortunately I think we will have a long wait.... Long is a relative notion. What is lousy 50 years juxtaposed to the history of mankind? Or of the universe? Like a short flight of a glow worm at a starry night. Or a breathe of a buffalo on a freezing day. And other poetic associations by the chief of Apaches, Big Bull. |
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Post by naukowiec on Dec 18, 2019 19:45:47 GMT 1
What is lousy 50 years juxtaposed to the history of mankind? It's very short in the scheme of things, but I am also fed up of: narrow-minded self-righteous assholes, perfectly hypocritical and completely intolerant of people who don`t share their views. and would like to see change within my lifetime. I am impatient! |
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Post by pjotr on Jan 1, 2020 15:58:36 GMT 1
Dear folks,
I hope that in the present rightwing times in North-America and Europe that in staid of reactionairy, Ultra-Nationalist, National Rightwing Populist and xenophobic leaders, politicians and movements on the right side reasonable moderate conservative, Christian Democratic, traditional, classical liberal, technocratic, pragmatic and moderate and reasonable Center right wing politicians would take over the power of present leaders who walk a thin line between democracy and autocracy. You see a generation of self centered, megalomaniac, power hungry, self obsessed, rather absolutist thinking, one movement/one party, propagandist leaders.
Jarosław Kaczyński, Mateusz Morawiecki, Viktor Orbán, Vladimir Putin,
Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Jair Bolsonaro and Xi Jinping. In Austria you see that the national direction can go back from the far right to the moderate conservative and Christian Democratic right. (Sebastian Kurz, leader of the centre-right ÖVP). In the Netherlands you have the center right (Teflon man) Mark Rutte, who isn’t the best prime minister we have ever had, but a good care taker. Germany still has the Grand Coalition (die Große Koalition) of the Center right Christian Democratic Block CDU/CSU and the Center Left Social Democratic Party SPD. On the sidelines you have the German Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), the German Centrist to center right market oriented liberal/classical liberal FDP and the growing rightwing populist Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland) and the rather strong leftwing populist and hard left Die Linke (with roots in the former East-German communist party of the German Democratic Republic [DDR], the SED, and its follow up PDS, the party of Democratic Socialism). Next to that Germany has a non-parliamantary violent far left anarcho-syndicalist, Autonomist, Anti-Fascist movement known as Autonomen, Antifa and the Black Bloc (the Anti-globalization movement, the alter-globalists/the anti-globalists) with branches in Scandinavia (Denmark, Copenhagen), the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece (Athens), Barcelona (Spain, Catalonia), the Czech Republic and Poland.
But in most European countries you see a sceptic, sarcastic, cynical, negative and pessimistic attitude of populations, citizens and thus voters against the political establishment. There is a resentment towards the old center right and center left political parties, parliamentarians, politicians and leaders. The Social Democratic Labour parties lost in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. In Poland, Hungary and Israel, a country I consider to be partly Central- and Eastern European in nature (due all these Israeli’s of Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarussian, Russian, Moldovan and Georgian descent) you see that the left and centre left were wiped out and struggling to survive. Only new, modern, pragmatic and innovative movements and parties could turn the tide for the left.
Cheers,
Pieter
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 1, 2020 18:01:15 GMT 1
There is a resentment towards the old center right and center left political parties, parliamentarians, politicians and leaders. The Social Democratic Labour parties lost in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. In Poland, Hungary and Israel, a country I consider to be partly Central- and Eastern European in nature (due all these Israeli’s of Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarussian, Russian, Moldovan and Georgian descent) you see that the left and centre left were wiped out and struggling to survive. Only new, modern, pragmatic and innovative movements and parties could turn the tide for the left. Cheers, Pieter It isn`t so tragic, after all, always could be worse.  E.g., during last European Parliament elections, centre and leftist parties werent` crushed by the rightists/populists as had been expected. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-european-parliament-elections/Pro-European Union powers managed to keep control of the European Parliament in the bloc-wide elections of May 2019, following a surge in support for liberal and green parties in Germany, France and the U.K. Populists won a majority of the national vote in France, Italy and the U.K., but failed to make the broader gains that many polls had projected. |
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E.g., during last European Parliament elections, centre and leftist parties werent` crushed by the rightists/populists as had been expected.