Society

On the face of it, COVID-19 has changed everything. Suddenly, homeschooling seems to be the new norm and many parents have to tackle a tremendous challenge for which they have hardly been prepared.

The city of Gangelt offers the chance to better understand the virus and its means of transmission. A team of scientists led by virologist Professor Dr Hendrik Streeck from the University Hospital Bonn conducts an in situ study and presented the first results before Easter.

The human rights of women and children in Poland are at risk. The government is exploiting the fact that due to social distancing restrictions women are unable to protest against a barbaric legislation which was passed in its first reading in Sejm

Krzysztof Penderecki died in Cracow at the age of 86 years after a “long and serious illness.” The statement issued by the Ludwig van Beethoven Association called Penderecki a “great Pole, an outstanding creator, and a humanist” who was one of the world’s best-appreciated Polish composers.

Typically, there exist two forms of anarchy. The ‘nation-state-anarchy’ and the ‘federal-movement-anarchy’. Together they pave the way for the arrival of a European strong man.

The new Slovak government brings new hopes for an education reform. Previous governments were unable to manage the ministry. They typically came up with announcements of general changes, only to get suffocated by dealing with pointless details in the end.

Slovakia is not Wuhan. Slovakia is not even Bratislava alone. The optimal solution for the capital is different from the one for Pribylina (a small village in Slovakia). Closing a country like ours, where half of the population lives in the countryside, is a comfortable waiver of responsibility by those in charge.

If the ongoing lockdown – unprecedented on this scale in the modern history – is to continue for another three months or longer, we will bear witness to an economic and humanitarian catastrophe. What might follow is a massive and unpredictable social rebellion.

Coronavirus has become water for the mill of all those who would like a strong central, authoritarian-like government. On the Polish radio, I have already heard the cries of admiration for the Chinese system, which apparently would be more effective than the European Union is.

The left wing has been continuously been getting caught in semantic traps, which it actually set itself. Equality and political correctness seem to run around in a vicious circle. Meanwhile, freedom of speech and civil liberties fall victim to this endless struggle.