Bush speech illustrates Poles' lack of self-promotion
The Poles could take a tip or two from U.S. President George W. Bush and his eloquent speech in Warsaw this month. They do far too little promotion about the country and its triumph over the adversities of the past half century, of its emergence as a European "tiger" when many other transition countries got derailed or went in circles.
It may be that Poles pride themselves so much on their pessimism that they don't realize how misleading this is to newcomers. Poles know that their pessimism goes hand in hand with energetic activism. Outsiders usually associate pessimism with passivity and defeatism. That may be true in Russia; it's definitely not in Poland. Outsiders are surprised to discover that while Poles talk a gloomy game, they usually are problem-solvers extraordinaire, especially in getting around barriers that block their personal freedom or the country's freedom.
Bush spelled out the World War II context that magnifies Poland's success today. That's familiar to insiders, but alarmingly obscure to outsiders because Poland was under a rock since the communists took over after the war. Most foreigners know there was an uprising by Polish Jews and pay homage to that tragedy by visiting the Uprising Monument. But unless they have Polish roots, most know little to nothing about the subsequent Warsaw Uprising in which 250,000 people died and the city was flattened by Nazi saturation bombing while the Soviets bided their time across the river.
When Bush declared "no more Munichs, no more Yaltas," it brought tears to the eyes of many and applause from everyone. Most outsiders, however, have no clue that "Yalta" is a code word for Poles about the Western allies' handover of their country to Stalin. When Poland joined NATO, Gazeta Wyborcza's banner summed it up as "the end of Yalta."
And Bush was fulsome in praising Poland's progress toward a democratic market economy, contrasting this with the many (unnamed) transition countries that never got it together.
Maybe it's easier for a foreign ally to do a boosterism speech than for the Polish government to brag about itself. But it had better learn how because getting outsiders to come here is still a hard sell, except for those with business to do.
For others, there isn't a clear image of the country and the drumbeat in the Western media, off the business pages, remains critical and could get more so. This is partly because Poles don't put forward their own story and because of recent books about the wartime murder of Polish Jews by their neighbors in Jedwabne and possibly other villages as well. With the July 10 anniversary of the Jedwabne massacre likely to play big on the world stage, Poles have to equip themselves to confront some unpalatable wartime realities, but to talk with confidence about current strengths. As Bush did about Poland.
It's a prickly problem, especially since many Europeans already think the Poles regard themselves too highly. They cite this as underlying the slow pace of resolving crucial nuts-and-bolts issues key to European Union (EU) entry.
Facing the future, and dealing with legacies of the communist past, also poses some formidable challenges for Polish leaders and the rank-and-file population.
That's certainly true on the issue of corruption and the search for ways to curtail it and to understand what it constitutes before it gets ingrained in everyday life.
This is a tall order and the 26-member World Bank team of top-drawer Poles has been given an extended lease on life to pursue solutions with professionals such as educators or judges to sound them out on how they see the issues. And how they can counter the corruption that has crept into place, putting a shadow over everyone there, not just the rotten apples in the bunch.
It will be interesting to see if the Poles can call on the pride and the sense of fair play that helped bring down communism, to root out corruption.
Doing this when there are horrendous wage inequities will be a feat. For instance, parents of many high school students give driving instructors "extra pay" so the kids get their license even when they have flunked the test. The instructors may make peanuts, but there are consequences for the general public if more poorly trained drivers go on the streets at a time when Poland's road kill is already the highest in Europe.
Doctors charge "fees" to write notes to bosses for employees to take off time from work. And some demand extra money, on the eve of an operation, just to guarantee they'll be properly alert for problems. This may be extortion, not corruption, but so far no grassroots groups of aggrieved patients have been formed, and few would start one if their own safety in an operation were at stake. Whether the doctors themselves can agree on professional standards that dictate new behaviors is an open question.
Former Jagiellonian Rector Aleksander Koj says the low-wage argument as a mitigating factor for bribes won't wash. "That's just a cop-out," he said. Educating average Poles about this is another thing.
As rector, he resisted political pressure to circumvent admissions standards. He also abolished the rector's right to admit up to 25 people. His successor reinstated the practice, to his sorrow.
Koj also wants to attack exam-test cheating that is too commonplace to be comfortable.
If Polish students understand cheating as a violation of their individual ability to compete, they'll stop doing it, Koj said.
That means, of course, discarding the convenient "solidarity" ethic of the recent past, when anti-communist Poles thwarted any and all rules set down by the communist officials as an act of patriotism.
