On 30th September 2011, we were visited by Cezary Michalski, an opinion journalist, essayist, and most recently a columnist in “Krytyka Polityczna” political magazine.
Starting with the question whether the Polish state will survive globalization, the author of “Ministersto prawdy” (the Ministry of Truth”) elaborated on the crisis of the Polish state and the Polish “national” policy. Are we in Poland properly ideologically and intellectually prepared to bring forth the issue of responsibility for the country and then formulate a response?
Should a national state and a national policy survive in the economic globalization, are these concepts universal values, or merely a historical and local tool at the disposal of a political community, a tool which can be replaced (to what extent?) with more universal political instruments such as the European Union, or other already existing transnational political institutions or ‘a world government’? The background for these and other thoughts formulated by our guest was created by the long history of Polish society and intelligentsia.
Mentioning the name of Stanisław Brzozowski, Cezary Michalski showed that the existence of realistic thinking, free from fantasies about the defense of the great Republic is possible in the Polish political discourse. Naturally, the discussion was dominated by current events, including our guest’s columnist activity and Cezary Michalski assured us about his dedication in moving away from the deadly seriousness towards the provocative, liberating foolery.
