The left in Poland – but not only in Poland – must make a new start in a spirit of self-critical reflection.

After 1948 (the year in which there was a forced unification of the socialists from the PPS, which had a democratic tradition of fighting for social justice, with the Stalin-manipulated Communists, who called themselves the Polish Workers Party) there was no longer a genuine left in Poland. Polish social democracy had been assassinated. The ruling Communist Party allowed only a very narrow space for independent thinking and acting: although Polish Catholics, in spite of everything, were allowed to publish a few journals and to debate in relatively free clubs, the independent left in our country found themselves totally suppressed.

One might think that after 1989 we would regain both political pluralism and freedom of speech. Unfortunately, however, Poland remains a backward country in comparison to Western Europe, in the fields of both economy and technology. And a certain Polish mental backwardness also remains in existence, reinforced by the heritage of Communist rule and the influence of the Catholic Church.

Massive inequality currently reigns in our society. It is strange but true that Polish Post-Communists – having converted themselves into social democrats – have been in power for about half of the period since the downfall of their dictatorship. But in fact this group, which is led by people like Aleksander Kwasniewski and Leszek Miller, has hardly any genuine Communist roots either. The label of social democracy was acquired by these politicians for purely tactical reasons. In reality, they were leaders of a narrow group of technocratic businessmen (former apparatchiks of the ruling party), who sought to enrich themselves in the process of selling off state-owned industry. Having no ideological background and aiming exclusively at their own individual success, they have eagerly participated in the building of our current social and economical system, which could not be regarded as acceptable in any imaginable system of left values.

European values (never mind socialist values) are regularly violated in our country. And the absence of a left reinforces this deplorable state of affairs.

This means that some essential theses from public debate in Poland must be challenged. For example, it is not true that social democracy in Poland faltered because of the emergence of a post-industrial society. In fact social democracy has never been political option here; and nor are we a post-industrial society. What we have instead is an immature desire for prosperity, reinforced by aggressive lobbying in the mass media in support of a market mentality. As a consequence the rich are becoming richer and the poor even poorer. According to statistical data gathered by the institutions of the European Union, 38 per cent of Poles are living at a level below the social minimum, and 7 per cent below the level of basic biological survival.

Genuine social democracy in Poland ought to be organised on the ideological basis of economic democracy and distributive justice. Both central and local expenditure must be planned with the aim of diminishing the social inequality. The nebulous catchphrase of ‘equality of opportunity’ is not enough. Social democrats must demand real equality in living conditions. To put it in more general terms, the language of the social democratic party needs to be distinct from the vocabulary of the liberal mass media. For instance, the popular catchphrase ‘a society based upon knowledge’ has a hidden meaning, which must be articulated. We must fight for equal access to education and culture, of which the younger generation in Poland in particular has been deprived.

A left programme in Poland is fundamentally connected with our European aspirations. When there is discussion about ‘Social Europe’ we cannot conceal that Polish employees are badly in need of basic legal rights that already exist in most civilised countries. The European code of labour must be implemented in our local conditions.

It can be observed, with regret, that social democrats – not only in Poland but also across Europe – have been satisfied with a passive adaptation to liberal vocabulary. There are hardly any significant differences between them and the conservative, liberal or nationalist right. The things they advocate can easily be taken up by spokespeople of the right, and have been – and there is not even any need to except people like Berlusconi or Sarkozy.

Even in the so-called post-industrial societies, democracy is still drastically limited in many areas. Politics has been reduced to a theatre-like performance that conceals the hegemony of oligarchic groups. Dominant economic interests have fallen out of the ambit of supervision by public opinion. In order to oppose this state of affairs social democrats must begin from where they currently find themselves. One can no longer overlook the involvement of the left in the very establishment that their spokespeople verbally condemn. Our conformist willingness to give up on the battle for justice needs to be openly acknowledged. Only after thoroughgoing self-criticism can people of the left begin to regain their voice.