Krytyka Polityczna’s take on Donald Trump

**
Sławomir Sierakowski, co-founder and leader of Krytyka Polityczna

And it happened. History has repeated itself, not as a farce, but as dime-a-dozen pulp . There’s a complete lunatic at the reins of american power. Don’t fool yourselves that Trump will be civilized by checks and balances. He can be civilized to the same extent that Orban in Hungary and Kaczyński in Poland have been: not at all. For the West, however, this is still something that can be stomached. The US is an island, just as the UK is an island. Both countries are safe. And rich. Trump’s whims, like Brexit, is something tolerable. At the same time, this is a disaster for the countries in our region. This is an invitation to Russia. A politician, who is either fascinated by Putin or takes an ambiguous stance towards him, presents an invitation to Russia, which doesn’t have an ambiguous stance towards our region.

There may be a recession coming. Peripheries of the West always pay the price of its mistakes. I wanted to end on an optimistic note, but how? Let’s keep the struggle alive, let’s fight, maybe this will be a little less bad that we expected. But to say we feel blue is an understatement. Because, those who say that the life after Kaczyński will be worth waiting for are mistaken. I’m not suggesting we start learning Russian just now, but this is indeed a dramatic situation.

Agata Diduszko-Zyglewska, journalist, cultural activist, translator.

For me, Trump’s victory embodies the triumph of populism, chauvinism and everything that’s opposed to democracy. I feel that people on both sides of the Atlantic have grown bored of peace – we have been living in peace long enough, it seems, to lose an understanding of how fragile democracy is and how important it is to have politicians who understand what law is for, who respect women’s equality, who are, basically, rational, and act in a reasonable way. And Trump is not such a politician. Very bad news for us, indeed.

Agnieszka Wiśniewska, editor-in-chief of KrytykaPolityczna.pl

The political mainstream has stopped listening to people, it had an ear for business only, and now it pays the price of it. This price is called Donald Trump. A populist who beyond doubt will do nothing good; he won’t create any jobs in America, but it doesn’t really matter: people were so frustrated with the establishment, that they were ready to choose anything that isn’t the establishment.

The crucial question today is, what will this establishment do today? Will it try to return America to the status quo or will it finally realize that the chance to lead America and other Western democracies out of this crisis lies with people like Bernie Sanders.

Democrats, if they truly think about getting out of this crisis and make something with that situation, should forget Hillary already and remind themselves that they still have other people, like they had Sanders all along.

Igor Stokfiszewski, researcher, activist, journalist and artist

Hillary Clinton’s defeat is yet another proof of a fundamental crisis and ending of mainstream liberalism as a political formation. The alternative, however, is reduced to the Trumps – because of how much effort the political mainstream has put into marginalizing any other democratic opposition from the left. Just look at what occurred in Greece and the way the SYRIZA government was disarmed.

So this is the choice we’re presented with today: more Trumps or full legitimacy for new and emerging forces on the left in Europe and beyond. Otherwise, we’ll all have to agree on Trump’s hairdo.

Dominika Wróblewska, video producer, activist

A sexist, a racist, a homophobe and misogynist – the whole truth about Donald Trump. America had the only, once in a lifetime, chance to elect a woman-president. Unfortunately, voters decided otherwise.