One of the perks of attending an elite school, be it Eton, Oxford, Cambridge or the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is not only the high quality education, but the network of friends one can build. Indeed, in Hogwarts, Harry Potter found friends, which was much more important than the spells he learned.
The tendencies towards greater intrusion into people’s privacy were visible well before 9/11 and can be imagined even without the elements of its influence. The transition to e-prescriptions, online banking and voting – these are daily routines in Estonia and will be rather sooner than later in other parts of the Western world as well.
In Poland, it is not usually those who stop going to church that loose their true faith in God, the Gospel, and the fundamental principles of a righteous Christian life. In Poland, the faith loose those who still go to church and even start clearly dominating in their Christian communities. These are the ones who have gotten their values confused and lost touch with the true Christianity. They befoul the faith with their hostility and…
Poles are currently celebrating Christmas. A holiday dedicated to a small refugee. Yet, nobody will probably mind getting indigestion from all the food they consume while at the same time thousands of other small refugees cannot count on our assistance. Can you see the irony?
The current social pillars are divisive, but the divide is not across the “East-West” lines or even the “liberal-socialist” lines; rather, it goes along the “reality-delusion” lines. Sadly, the proposed social pillars will not make delusional politicians to accept reality
In Poland, liberalism is not very popular. Liberalism is a project that is best descibed as distanced. Every attempt to bring it closer to the people is therefore as challenging as trying to get closer to the sun. Is it therefore possibe to present liberal ideas in such a way so that Poles might stop fearing it?
I am surprised that “mostly young people and families” and other people who do not support racism, xenophobia, hatred towards “the other”, nor aggressive radical nationalism, still march with people who support these ideas. They can always celebrate the Independence Day in a different way.
Poland cannot allow to have its law go downhill nor to have sect-like religious behaviors promoted. The former puts paid to the accomplishments of the Polish Round Table Talks of 1989. The latter, on the other hand, disgraces the sheer idea of religion.
The narrative of the whole debate is not about freedom, but about the right to travel. Probably not all people should have the right to live wherever they want, but everyone should have the freedom to try it. And, after all, data show that immigrants are beneficial to the economy.
In 2017, the looming threat of communism has not vanished completely. According to a poll conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, 44% of American youth would prefer living under socialism, 7% under communism, and only 42% chose capitalism.
