Michalski: Praise of Continuation

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ecause – unlike the politicians and journalists promising us the Polish empire, cheap and quick (“vote for us only, read us only, believe us only”) – I think that the Polish government can be a little bit stronger or a little bit weaker, but the government’s true potential is determined by the potential of Poland and that can be measured.

Polish politics, or maybe rather the politics of deciding about the lives of the people living in Poland, is being settled in Europe, where currently governments are taking the risk of introducing a very cautious version of the Tobin tax,  the tax on the financial transactions which put speculative capital to the work for society. They may succeed. Despite Cameron’s hostility (was it worth destroying Blair and Brown? they could get persuaded into the cautious version of the Tobin tax and Cameron is just a London City’s puppet, so he’ll never put taxes on the City) and Obama’s preventive capitulation (it would rather be Bill Clinton who would risk the cautious version of Tobin tax, at least before the Monica Lewinski scandal; Obama is now too weak to challenge Wall Street, even with the back up of the people from the Brooklyn Bridge).

Even without London and New York, this attempt taken by the eurozone and its surroundings may still be a turning point. Obviously the main economists of investment banks and hedge funds are trying to convince us in the media that it does not make sense to introduce in Europe even the most cautious version of the Tobin tax  as “the capital will go away”. However, if Deutsche Bank or Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank moved out from the eurozone to the Bahamas where they have their richest clients, they would pay much more for the access to the European market than they will loose on the very cautious version of the Tobin tax.

So if the governments of the eurozone and its surroundings, the richest region of the world, try to introduce at least the most cautious version of the Tobin tax and if they succeed, the break in the global market power which is authoritarian, exclusive,not balanced by any policy and operated by all its political and medial puppets, will become a fact. And if it became a fact, the future support of the Tobin tax by America, England, Russia and China would be possible too.

Tusk and Rostowski, Sikorski and Lewandowski are not players in this game, but Tusk and Rostowski, Sikorski and Lewandowski won’t interfere in the game; after all they will benefit from the money received from the very cautious version of the Tobin tax over the next four years. And that’s enough, because another representation of the Polish state – such as MEPs from the Law and Justice party (PiS) or the Poland Comes First party (PJN) – together with the Tories would smash any attempt to create a political power to balance the influence of the global market and it could additionally weaken any European politics already being embattled. Thanks to the election results, the Polish government will not weaken European politics. It may even strengthen it, although this is just my private dream as this won’t happen so long as there is no left, no liberals and no conservatives in Poland.

The Civic Platform party (PO) doesn’t think about political economy at all or thinks of it in neoliberal terms. Palikot’s party doesn’t think of political economy at all or thinks of it in the neoliberal terms. The Democratic Left Alliance party (SLD) doesn’t think about political economy at all, the Polish People’s Party (PSL) doesn’t think at all, the Law and Justice Party (PiS) thinks in neoliberal terms despite their boss talking rubbish about Budapest. As long as there is no social-democracy in Poland, as long as there are no liberals and conservatives and only the people who either do not think of the political economy at all or think of it in neoliberal terms,  Poland, passively attached to the European Union’s chariot, to the eurozone, to Berlin and Paris is more useful than beyond the chariot and jerking it without any sense. That’s why I am happy about the election results.

 

Translated by Katarzyna Abramowicz