Poland, 15 Years after the Counterrevolution

Prof. Zbigniew Wiktor

The whole purpose and practice by the counter-revolutionary forces in Poland in 1989 was to weaken, confuse and derail the working class as an opposition force against the bourgeoisie. There was immediate privatization and the selling off of the industrial might of Poland, thus making over 3 million Polish people unemployed. But in actual fact, it was over 5 million unemployed. The question of "Solidarnost" and the full-scale Western powers intervention and financial support for this movement, produced the desired result for imperialism.

At the present time there are 20-26% people unemployed, which is now the highest in Europe. Two Thirds of the workers are young people without any jobs. Over 60% of all industrial enterprises are foreign-owned. More than 80% of Polish banks are in the hands of foreign owners. With Poland joining NATO and the European Union, this is giving impetus to the drive for hegemony of Germans in Europe. The future perspective for Polish people is grim.

From 1989-2004 the industrial production fell below what it was in 1960. The economic trade that was going on with USSR and other former socialist countries practically ceased altogether.

The foreign debt of Poland to the World Bank and to other capitalist institutions rose to 120 billion dollars.

The terrible situation in the health sector, schooling and other social services is beyond description.

The present bourgeois government of Poland tries to convince the people that the last 15 years were years of one success upon another. Poland now has lack of useable roads, transportation, railway modernization and the communication systems that needs a complete overhaul. There is a great chasm between the extremely rich and the poor, and this chasm is growing alarmingly with every year. 50% of the people are living below the standard of minimum wage. Poland in these 15 years has sunk into a very deep crisis in the economy, social services and political chaos.

The involvement of Poland with its army in Iraq is so unpopular, that over 75% of Polish people are protesting and demanding that Polish government take the troops out of Iraq.

The illusions of capitalism are being decimated by reality of life. The mass media daily propagates anti-worker sentiment, anti socialism and anti-communist diatribe and, unfortunately this helps to disunite an worker solidarity and a united front against the present bourgeois regime of Poland.