Billions have been taken from the pockets of thieves and given to Polish families. The previously uncovered Eastern border is now protected by Polish and American armies. We’ve become less dependent on gas from Russia. We’ve retaken the banking sector. We’ve stopped being a pushover and a derisory country in international relations.
This revolution is not finished yet, and many of the changes are superficial.
The majority of people have to deal with local government clerks, and local governments are run by the Civic Platform. This won’t change immediately, but we can try. The largest cities don’t have to be choked by traffic and smog. The poor don’t have to be thrown out onto the streets by gangsters. Our children could be playing in civilized conditions and the municipal police needn’t be persecutors.
Today’s Poland isn’t ideal. However, we have made a jump in living standards and live in a country where ordinary people have more to say
Law and Justice’s (PiS) victory in local governments will mean Poles have accepted the “Good Change”. After three years we can say whether we want a Poland in which the judiciary is trying to be fixed, or one where they are at the behest of some local mandarins. Although local elections are about infrastructure and efficient offices, they will be a kind of referendum.
Today’s Poland isn’t ideal. There are all sorts of people in the government. We have made a jump in living standards, however, and live in a country where ordinary people have more to say other than oligarchs and mafias.
In spite of what the opposition claims, we are much more European than we have ever been since 1989
In spite of what the opposition claims, we are much more European than we have ever been since 1989. In Europe, people defend their own interests and respect their individuality. Loyalty and submission are traits of the East and Germany can be furious at us, but we don’t have to care.
I look at the road we’ve been through in the last quarter-century. There were hardships, but this road has led us to a Poland we could’ve only dreamed of. We owe this to our stubbornness. We owe this to you, Dear Readers, and know that you will not fail either us or Poland.
