If you want to perceive to the arguments of the widely understood left-liberal communities regarding the nations and their existence, you can find that they are schizophrenic.
This can be seen at least on 3 levels: the approach to the existence of features that are peculiarly common in a given population, the relation to the work of people surviving present for the activities of past generations, and the attitude towards national identity and martyrdom.
Selective designation of national characteristics
Environments forming the "elite III of the Polish Republic", which with post-communists stood in 1 line, due to the fact that the top enemy is "Polish nationalism", always liked to discredit Poles as an anti-Semite nation. They did not hesitate to ideologicalize past and to advance "historical policy" long before trying to do this to the Law and Justice – it is hard to uncertainty that promoting Jan Tomasz Gross is Barbara Engelking It's not to educate people what their communicative looked like, but alternatively to instill that they should be ashamed of that story. This is paradoxically based on the logic that the same people – in the case of generalizations concerning all another nation – would be stigmatizing as completely nationalistic, bidding on the level of outrage. After all, specified logic lies in attributing national attributes to Poles.
National features, but not all
With the national characteristics of Germans or Jews (but besides many another nations) of course, the other is true, due to the fact that they besides sometimes appear, but they always turn out to be positive. The German-hitler acted on behalf of a group of criminals, not his people. German national features are only evidenced by Germany, which is organized, modern and industrious. It seems that the defeat with Spain during the European Championships was carried out by Nazis – Germans would surely not.
More, the failures of our football representation may be a origin of cognition about the national characteristics of Poles, but already pointing to the German national tendency to chauvinism – and even 1 of the most valued German intellectuals wrote about the imperial aspirations of Germans. Herfried Münkler, who wrote that the full German policy after the 30 Years' War 1618-1648 stemmed from the fear of further humiliation, was guided by the pursuit of a preemptive attack – sooner than as a credible assessment of the Germans it will be regarded as a origin of knowledge, but... besides about Poles ("xenophobias", "have anti-German obsessions"). And no 1 has explained to the “well-educated” audience that there are no national features at the same time, due to the fact that in fact we all make “humanity”, but sometimes they appear (in the case of any nations), and surely be in the case of Poles who are lazy, bargain and hatred strangers.
The secular religion of correctness
It is besides not known how the anti-nationalist swordsmen are inclined – in moments of most likely even morally justified agitation – to admit that these are bordering 2 countries inhabited by nations, 1 of which is noble and pristine (Ukrainians), while the another is simply a nation of only wicked (Russians). The probability account that this is the case is at the level of the chance to hit the “six” in large Lotka. It seems that even the most bitter nationalist would not be inclined to view members of a nation as a personification of pure good.
With these Russians, it is interesting, due to the fact that their national characteristics, as may be assumed, evolved in just over a decade – even recently, the views on Russians presently in force would most likely be marked as "rusophobic".
Therefore, the “political correctness” is closer to secular religion than to the belief that 1 should believe in it, completely without considering mundane things as logic. The left-wing liberal environments, as a consequence of intuition and experience, accept the existence of national features, as they feel uncomfortable with the word "minister" or "unheteronormative" as a consequence of intuition and experience. But tempting ideology is besides strong for common sense to defy it.
Cryptonationalism
It is not only national features that appear erstwhile the left is in line with the concept – besides the work of today's generations for past behaviour is simply a comparative issue. According to this narrative, “white people” bear unquestioned work for the exploitation of Africa and are committed to endless penance. At the same time, Germany has no obligations towards Poles – they are completely different people and they cannot be punished for their ancestors' behaviour. While the “white man” is simply a genetically dependent exploiter, Nazism was an accident at work in the case of Germans (although the past cards showed that it was this kind of “work” that is liable for causing accidents), and that the criminals who were not caught by global courts were surviving there after the war, it most likely proved rather well only to civilize them, inhibiting “the witch hunt”.
Kryptonationalism in an anti-nationalist packaging would never let itself to conclude that Jews do not deserve anything from post-war Germans, due to the fact that these are different times and another people. On the contrary, all criticism of the Jews is to origin fear of being compared to Hitler, and no 1 would dare to say in specified a context that the surviving present have nothing to do with those who died. I have never heard, for example, the behaviour of the Ukrainian, offensively referring to Poles, be commented on by a message of the type: "These words led to Volyn" (although then Poles were besides murdered just due to the fact that they were Poles).
Not only is it based on racial logic (although in the anti-racist packaging that exists), but besides – while questioning the continuity between today's and old Germany – is the Kuriosian designation of the existence of an abstract being with an almost unlimited number of different traits (races) erstwhile rejecting the existence of a real being, having identity, past and most frequently a nation (nation). What does that come from? due to the fact that “multi-culti” and “Europeanity” are the foundations of faith, which is “political correctness”? And if not, which of the intellectual fashions of "well-educated people" drives intellectual equilibrists into this labyrinth?
Selective acceptance of national identity and martyrdom
The schizophrenicness of left-wing environments is besides evident in their approach to national identity and martyrdom.
The Sejm late accepted the Silesian period for regional language, and in the leadership towards the promoters of this idea, the leading representatives of the ruling parties were bidding – themselves Boris Budka grew up, like from under the ground, showing up in years camouflaged lover of Silesia period and, of course, it had nothing to do with the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament. erstwhile writing about the Silesian autonomousists, 1 sees an analogy with the separatist movements existing in Europe, as well as those who can number on the left, including Basque or Catalan nationalists. Sam Jerzy Gorzelik, the leader of the Silesian Autonomy Movement, in 1 of the texts defined his movement as being “between nationalism and regionalism”.
“Polish” concentration camps
Created by the Silesian communities, the Silesian martyrdom presents the Silesian martyrdom as victims of Polish persecution. The centre of this communicative is the repression of Ślązak after being placed in “Polish concentration camps” – in Łambinowice and Świętochłowice-Zgodda. The Euro MPs themselves Luke Kohut, connected with the movement of Silesian autonomousists, recorded a song with a certain “Kiero”, with these words addressing Poland: “It’s time to talk out about your camps. / advanced Silesian Tragedy Łambinowice-Zgoda”. specified terminology (“Polish concentration camps”) no uncertainty refers to abroad media which express the rewriting of history. Of course, this camp was ‘Polish’, just like Birut or Jaruzelski were ‘Polish’ – it was founded by the NKVD to place in it enemies of the russian state, and soldiers of the AK or NSZ were sent there. The utmost selectiveness in treating the destiny of its region, a region where a immense part of people are Polish patriots, commemorating the Silesian Uprisings, makes all the "historical policies" that we saw in Poland appear to be very innocent.
History for historians?
While, from the left-liberal perspective, being a Silesian nationalist is absolutely in good tone, it is unacceptable to support even the most inclusive national identity. simply callback the very negative attitude (and sometimes angry even attacks) of the most crucial left-liberal opinion creators to Simona Holowna, a man who does not go beyond what was part of the social and political consensus of the first fewer years of the 3rd Republic, a man who is undoubtedly besides inclined to recognise that what can best happen to Poland is its “Europeanization”. Yes, in relation to Polish identity ‘superlight’ it is already "extre strong".
We should leave the communicative to the historians and focus on the future – we were taught. Of course, past cannot be left behind, and one more time the ideology of builders of fresh reality has clashed with the nature of human behavior, including their own. It may have been that the request to "leave past to historians" masked the desire to tell the communicative and mention it to the present, but so that the conclusions from it were completely different from those attributed to the opponents.
Local does not mean not national
In any case, the past of Poland has begun to be re-brown, even though the romanticist tradition presented caricaturely and as something worthy of ridicule in modern times. Again, it turned out that its ideology, and its natural tendencies – all environment wants to have its heroes and its authorities, so the bronze could not be affected by part of the left-liberal environment, having a problem with resisting the charms of safety Service officers.
The leftist-liberal environments, in addition to the postulated "leaven of past to historians" and fragmentary brownening, proclaimed the request to replace national past with local stories, fond of showing the complexity of the fates of people, families and environments so tremendous that it actually prevents designation of anything as common, national. “The stories of average people” were placed above national history. specified a imagination of past is so polemically cumbersome that stories in which local identity or shared experiences brought people together more than national identity was, of course, a lot. However, this does not conflict with the common occurrence of attitudes resulting from the sense of national belonging, the existence of national characteristics or the occurrence of events which, from the point of view of the general representatives of a given nation, are more important.
Problem with the Polish people
The very attachment to Polishness, the sense of pride from the achievements of ancestors, was to be dangerous and lead to the rebirth of nationalist attitudes (self-treatment as the top threat of Polish nationalism, which was always democratic and never racist, while at the same time rehabilitation of genocide, totalitarian communism bears the mark of obsession and has never been verified by leftist-liberal environments). Polishness was painted in comic and scary colours, caricatured figure of “Christ of the nations” complementing the impulse of opposition by summoning bench ghettos. "This ridiculous tradition has led to a crime in Jedwabne" – this could be summed up again and, as always, highly thoroughly by the "elity" of Poland.
And abruptly it turned out that the demands of the Silesian separatists, representing the “Silesian people” almost like “Christ of the nations”, repeating behind the British Prime Minister Lloyd George An offensive saying about Poland with Śląski as “a monkey in a watch” (this comparison appears in the mentioned Kohut song), which powerfully rejects any another than the counter-Polish imagination of Silesia are not only acceptable, but even worthy of support.
Just as totalitarian regimes, fighting against religion, were incapable to come up with anything better than religion in the secularized version, so the leftist-liberal environments do not completely reject the existence of national features, "historical politics", cults of heroes and martyrdom, which tune them to fit their concept. They have a problem, not with nationalism or racism, but with the Polish people.
Jacek Tomczak
Rights Warsaw website
