I read a Facebook entry in which someone wrote: “I do not understand the Polish nation. Humiliated, robbed and kicked in the butt on every step, they go out and vote for Trzaskowski”.

Someone else added that the reason for this is the Stockholm Syndrome and the slave syndrome.

True, history has not been kind to us, and there might be something in the Stockholm Syndrome example. But that’s not the whole truth.

Whether someone supports Andrzej Duda or Trzaskowski is a case of civilizational conflict, which has been around in Poland since 1989 and then again, after Poland joined the EU.

People voting for the current mayor of Warsaw (Trzaskowski) see Poland advancing through an unconditional acceptance of whatever might come from the EU (Brussels).

The supporters of the current president of Poland (Duda) see their advance in cooperation on equal terms with Brussels.

What makes them so different, is how they perceive the paths to their preferred states.

What do we have in Western Europe?

True, they are wealthier than Poland. But they also have homosexual marriages, adoption of children by homosexual couples, empty churches, an education of self-shame concerning their own history and severing from Europe’s Christian heritage.

Trzaskowski has exactly the same points in his election offering, minus adoption of children by homosexuals which he has not yet openly promoted. His “philosophy” is that we must become exactly like Western Europe to achieve wealth and prosperity. To join them, we must become them.

What does Andrzej Duda offer?

The other path – hard work and many renunciations, while maintaining our identity and values. Without the false shame of believing in them. We would join the rich Western societies through equal cooperation.

Which path is better? That is a rhetorical question for me. But for the majority of Poles?

Despite Duda’s victory in the first round, it shows that it is not a rhetorical question for everyone.

One may hope that it changes in the second round.