Dirty linen, washed in public

Watched, at time with bated breath, the controversial interview given by Meghan Markle and prince Harry to Oprah Winfrey. I have never been into fade of the Royal Family, nor particularly interested in their affairs, but gotten familiar with how the “Institution” functions inside out, I have promised myself to read a bit to catch up.

Needless to say, public image of the Royal Family is about keeping up appearances. A well-read man knows the Institution which has lasted centuries and which a symbol of the British Empire badly needs to look out impeccably and be perceived as such. Members of the Royal Family are obliged to take care of the impeccable image, at the expense of personal happiness. In fact this is their service, not a job, a service.

If everybody knows the Royal Family is definitely not as perfect as the picture of it painted in the media, why is there so much fuss about the interview? Meghan and Harry have decided to sign out of the charmed circle of strict rules and begun their own, unconstrained life, far from the golden cage there had been trapped in. They have also decided to divulge details from the Royal Family which were meant to never be brought to the life. The account of ruthlessness, duplicity and harassment within the Institution is anything, but astonishing.

Oddly enough, the Royal Family’s popularity with Britons is none the worse for the interview. It looks like the British citizens expect a neat, immaculate façade from the Royal Family and do not give a damn about the expense at which it is achieved. The perception of Meghan and Harry’s decision to wash some dirty linen in public is unfavourable. Such disapproval reflects condemnation for speaking up when evil is around and actually shows up conservatism of the British society. But if you break down the stances towards the interview by age groups, the elderly in majority disapprove of it, while the youngsters rather approve of the openness in speaking loudly about murky stuff.

Personally I note Meghan and Harry have displayed consistence in their deeds. At first they have chosen to loosed their links with the Royal Family and pay the price of getting financially independent, just a year after they divulged to the public facts which should take aback nobody.

Besides, do watch out for Harry’s worn-out suit and shoes :)

The interview has prompted me to catch up on the story of princess Diana, who was extremely popular with Britons, but was falling out of line with the old-fashioned image of the Royal Family. Time to catch up soon.

 

Apologies for mediocre quality of the posting. Writing-wise, I am not at my best today. Several of my friends are now down with COVID-19, including two in hospitals. My parents’ friend (for me uncle Krzysiek, somebody closer to me than relatives) is now under ventilator. I confess I simply worry and hope the third wave will not be as tragic as it looms.

Who’d resolve and let us know – should they stay or should they go

Brexit is definitely a worthwhile topic, yet to compile the note I had to fight the inner order to shy away from writing dissertations on it. The reason I am inclined to refrain from having my say is that I am not a sufficiently diligent observer of the process. Over the recent weeks and especially days I have kept abreast of the festival of dithering and powerlessness and my major impression was that if you believe fecklessness is the domain of Poland, take a glance at the bygone empire whose statesmen cannot handle the Brexit.

Seemingly, the matter is straightforward – the will of the nation expressed in the referendum in June 2016 has to be brought into life. What makes things complicated is that the quitting procedure is unprecedented. A 600-page-long agreement has been negotiated with the EU, just the British parliament has not made up its (collective mind) to back it; deputies keep arguing for weeks being stuck in a gridlock, leaving bystanders around the world confused.

The most mind-boggling part of the story is that as Brexit date was inexorably approaching (before it was deferred by two weeks mere eight days ahead of deadline) and the no-deal option was looming, few were outspokenly fearing dismay. Some regulations governing air traffic, transport of goods and people as well labour market have been enacted, yet, correct me if I am wrong, everyone potentially harmed by the Brexit has seemed to have been taking it for granted the no-deal, chaotic scheme would be averted. No-deal Brexit, if it was to come about as scheduled, i.e. on 29 March 2019, would strike as a bolt from the blue.

The fortnight given mercifully by the EU to the UK to get its act together only prolongs the period of wreckful uncertainty. In the meantime, the concession from the EU has ignited a glimmer of hope among Brexit opponents. A petition for another referendum has been signed online by nearly five millions, around a million of people were reported to march yesterday in London, calling for revoking Brexit. Personally I hope firstly that the UK would reserve on its way towards independence from the EU structures, secondly that the travesty called Brexit will teach other nations a lesson, what reckless decisions preceded by flawed cost-and-benefit analysis lead to.

The result of the Brexit referendum, just like the victory of Donald Trump several months later or victory of PiS in parliamentary election in Poland several months earlier prove… (here I deliberately shut up, however comments containing ending of the sentence are appreciated).

Belated reflections on Brexit…

…because writing on one adventure needed to take precedence, as thanks to committing my thoughts to the blog, I have gotten the story off my mind, at least temporarily… From time to time I wonder whether mere writing, without hitting the “publish” button would not suffice…

Some musings on the same topic, published on the same day, here on W-wa Jeziorki.

Those familiar with the theory of economics, surely know the concept of certainty equivalent. To put it simply, individuals prefer to be certain to receive a small amount / quantity of a good rather than take a risk to get a chance to receive larger amount / quantity of the good. This notion hinges upon preference of humans to eliminate uncertainty in life and hold on to what one can be sure of. In economic and social behaviours of individuals the theorem appears to hold true, but behaviours of masses (less often in terms of economics) more and more often call it into question. Notwithstanding, I am not wiping my eyes in astonishment. Back when I was a student, I was told by lecturers interest rates could not drop below zero. How short it takes to prove wrong notions that had lasted for decades…

There is no absolutely perfect thing in life. You cannot expect to have a perfect spouse, friends, children. There is no perfect job, no perfect house, no perfect holidays, no perfect vehicle. If you thought long enough you would find something to enhance in everything that surrounds you. Imperfection is an indispensable part of our lives, hence we ought to accept it and live with to the extent it is tolerable or strive to change it where it goes beyond acceptability. Having written this, I do not condemn striving for perfection, which in essence is praiseworthy, as long as pursuit of perfection does not make you lose your mind.

The Brexit referendum, or rather its result, is a spot-on example of rejecting an imperfect, yet decent and predictable solution. Membership in the EU has not been devoid of drawbacks, yet once you throw the baby out with the bathwater, you ought to have a clear and feasible idea how to fill the bath again.

This brings back a memory of a referendum held in Warsaw in October 2013 whether to oust the then-mayor, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. The campaign of Mrs Gronkiewicz’s opponents focused on her presidency’s shortcomings, but did not go beyond kicking her out of office, i.e. shed no light on any plan how to improve the state of affairs in Warsaw once she is deposed. Inhabitants of Warsaw discerned this lack of constrictive alternative and voted their feet by not going to polling stations. Consequently, the referendum was deemed invalid due to turnout below validity threshold.

The Brexit referendum is astonishingly similar to Polish parliamentary and presidential elections in 2015 in Poland. Platforma Obywatelska and president Komorowski in early 2015 were akin to the EU: they offered stability and predictability, yet were self-focused, complacent and out of touch. Yet Poles and Brits have turned their back on stability and predictability and opted for a change. But watch out, in all three votes the winning side had a tiny majority. 51.89% of Brits voted to leave. 51.55% of Poles voted for Mr Duda in the run-off, PiS scored 51.09% of seats in the parliament. Mathematically such results tip the scales, yet just like a glass can be half-full or half-empty, they mean nearly half of voters who exercised their right are displeased… 

Similar tendencies are witness across the world. In Austria in the recent election, though the result has been overturned, an extreme-right candidate scored around half of votes. On the horizon looms an imminent threat of Donald Trump becoming the president of the United States, which given the country’s democratic tradition and civic awareness of its residents, is horrifying and gives lie to all fairy tales of what features a candidate for this office should exhibit.

What manifests itself on macro scale can be witnessed on the level of individuals. I have seen several people being so weary or dissatisfied with their jobs that they grabbed any opportunity to move over to a different company. Usually with hindsight they regretted their decisions and humbly admitted their previous workplaces were not that bad, but their inner desire to change was stronger than sound judgement… On the other hand, despite allegedly record-high number of divorces and informal relationship break-ups, among my friends, acquaintances and workmates aged 25 – 50, I do not see many people quitting their partners because of a crush / infatuation / fascination with someone else, or just seeking a fleeting romance to taste a change (I may have bad insight, since the latter is not something one should boast about and what is rather kept in secrecy).

A cool head tells me each decision akin to remain-or-leave question faced by Brits in June 2016, should be preceded by a substantiated cost and benefit analysis. Whatever is in question, I can bet neither of two solutions under consideration is perfect, yet if you dissect them, spot advantages and drawback of both and sensibly decide which prevail, you are more likely to make a reasonable decision, instead of letting yourself get carried away by emotions (a fodder for wicked populists) or herding instinct.

Unless ruling elites finally stop being busy looking after themselves and realise what causes masses to throw away stable and predictable schemea and dive into the unknown at any price, humanity will be on slippery slope. 

Besides, I would not simplify the matter and point at immigration (whose meaningful contribution is beyond all doubt) as main driver of voting in favour of Brexit. Europeans living in the golden age (which might be now drawing a close) for decades have not experienced war, deprivation and thanks to quite evenly distributed fruits of long-lasting high economic growth have had their needs and whims met. They have grown bored of peace and abundance and instead of appreciating what they have, keep seeking some new impulses, an undefined change, without taking heed whether it would bring more harm than good.

W dupach się poprzewracało, tyle w temacie :(

The Iron Lady - film review

An elderly, senile, yet elegant lady does the shopping and then returns home to reminisce the past events with her (dead) husband. Dejecting and magnificent is the recent biography of Margaret Thatcher, masterfully starred as by Meryl Streep (this year’s Oscar for best actress prize winner).

The film’s plot runs as a series of retrospections, bringing back the most important moments of Mrs Thatcher’s (nee Roberts) life, interspersed throughout the daily struggle with dementia and beginnings of Alzheimer.

I cannot tell how reliable the depiction of Ms Roberts’ early life is, but from the film you can learn that upbringing and influence of her father, who ran a grocery, shaped her economic views, instilled extraordinary strength in her and familiarised her with the taste of deprivation. Margaret Roberts looms as a clever, prudent and determined young girl, with good grasp of basic laws of microeconomics. Adolescent Margaret’s way is uphill. She grows up when women are still seen as inferior and many realms of life and social activity are still no-go for the weaker sex. This does not change with years and is best illustrated in the scene when she enter the parliament for the first time. Men’s room is fit for entertainments typical for males, in the bathroom you can see urinals, behind the door with “women” board you would not notice anything else, but a chair and ironing board.

The strength of Mrs Thatcher has its dark sides. Her deeds are marked by obstinacy (refusal to change course). Her belief in the power of entrepreneurship, faith in perfection of the free market, one-sided disapproval of trade unions are slightly naïve, slightly cruel and suggest her perception of economics is over-simplified. If everything was as simple, as in her mind, she would not have become such a controversial figure. The shock therapy she applied to the ailing British economy was painful, but justified. With hindsight we see shock of the first years of her rule when unemployment soared and industrial output plummeted and we the subsequent turnaround. The choices she had to make were difficult and as a prime minister, she would always remain stalwart and unrelenting. She pursued the retrenchment programme despite backlash, put down protesting workers from unprofitable mines. Having slashed expenses for social care, she did not hesitate to spend millions of pounds on the Falklands war, winning which was a matter of honour. Her self-pride and conviction of her own infallibility, combined with not caring about the image, have ousted her from the seat of Tory leader. In her last months of serving as prime minister, Mrs Thatcher is depicted as full-of-herself, cold-hearted manager trying force her own ideas upon others, such as in the case of the community charge, seen by many as unfair and as another move into redistributing wealth from the poor to the rich.

The film is worth seeing not only as a whole work, but also for a few absolutely outstanding scenes.
1. The proposal scene – and Margaret’s speech in which she warns Dennis she would not be a silent wife standing by her husband’s side and would never like to end up washing up a teacup (watch out for the last scene then!).
2. The moment when she pulls out from outside her house to leave for parliament in 1959, and her children scream to ask her to stay, but she, with stone-cold face, sets her car in motion, does not look back and trespasses into the world of politics.
3. The scene when she announces her family she is going to run for a leadership of the Conservative party. Her children, who have always held it against their mother, that her commitment into public life was at the expense of family life, simply leave the kitchen, while her husband, usually supportive, this time does not try to hide his disapproval. Left alone in the kitchen, Mrs Thatcher asks: “When did I lose track of everyone?”. The scene is an unbeatable illustration of traps one can fall into when making a career without taking heed of their near and dear ones.
4. The scene when old Mrs Thatcher visits a doctor and complains that “people do not think anymore, people feel” and sees the shift from thinking to feeling the major cause or how the world looks like. And here I could stop and muse about “think vs. feel”, as it would be a great topic for a separate post.
I try to think and feel as much as I can, mix the two, but at the end of the day thinking takes over…

The film reminded me about my old longing for a politician who would step in to rule Poland, carry out necessary but unpopular reforms, and after four years would step down in disgrace, with support in polls below 5%, but leaving the country healed of its economic woes. With politicians focused on popularity with voters, this will not work…

From psychological perspective, Mrs Thatcher is depicted as tough outside, but it is hard to determine, whether she is equally tough inside. When she writes a letter to mothers of soldiers killed in the Falklands war, the surely shows she remains a sensitive woman, but is she all the time?

And people we meet on our way – are they tough or fragile, do they show their real psyche, or do they pretend. With four combinations:
1. fragile outside, fragile inside,
2. tough outside, tough inside,
3. fragile outside, tough inside,
4. fragile inside, tough outside,
first and second are sincere, third is improbable, but could be typical for mercenary ones who play on other people’s emotions to reach their goals, the fourth is, maybe sadly, more and more often seen. The world we live in makes us act as strong, while inside we may still be weak. It might be only a matter of time when this picture falls apart…

So in life, it is best to strike a healthy balance between toughness and fragility… Did the Iron Lady learn that lesson?

Climate and economy

At least we ceased to complain. Poland is gripped by the winter. In our climate, it shouldn’t surprise us, after the first “attack” in December, we learnt to live with it. Worse are the things in the Western Europe, in countries, where no one is used to, nor prepared for the snow and freeze. Temperatures in Scandinavian countries drop below minus forty degrees, United Kingdom and Ireland are paralysed by the snow, temperatures hit the next lows. Germany, Benelux countries, even Spain and Portugal are plagued by blizzards and frost. British commentators began to draw parallels between the current weather spells and the notorious winter of 1963.

This weekend Warsaw was haunted by the heavy snowfalls and blizzards laced with freezing rain, which brought around 30 centimetres of white powder and a layer of ice. Poles seem to be tackling hard weather conditions patiently, without griping and haste. There were several prangs, some buses landed in the ditches, trains and other means of collective transport are delayed. It looks a bit worse when it comes to pavements – few are clear of snow, so a pedestrian’s life’s not easy these days. Policemen and weather services appeal to people not to leave home, go by car, or travel longer distances, if it’s not necessary. Refraining from moving might be advisable, but on the other hand we can’t let the severe weather disorganise our lives. We have to commute to work or school, do the shopping and actually should fulfil our social and cultural plans. We mustn’t give up, even despite the forecasts, which are not favourable. Next week blizzards will give way to arctic high and lower temperatures, long term forecasts say the temperatures around 21 January might fall below minus twenty five in some regions of Poland. But we won’t give in!

I’ve read or heard the British economy loses one between seventy million and one billion pounds each day, due to harsh winter. Weather, which disrupts our daily routines is also costly in economic terms and, what few realise, can incur measurable losses.

Let’s look at what snow means:
1) Snow-clearing actions – thousand or millions spent each day for gritting, salting and disposal of snow, this money makes holes in municipal budgets
2) Snow-clearing means also time lost for this fascinating activity, time which could’ve been spent in much more productive way – this weekend I spent around five hours clearing the drive and street in front of my house. The same time I could have spent relaxing or learning more as it’s the exam period – if I spend less time cramming up, I get a lower grade and my scholarship will be lower…
3) Snowed roads get clogged – people waste time in traffic jams instead of working, when they get to work they’re tired and less productive.
4) If the roads are blocked, cars consume more fuel, give off more fumes, cause air pollution and hit wallets of carowners.
5) Those who travel by other means of transport also have to be prepared for delays, wasted time and productivity.

Frost, though not that inconvenient also from the point of view of economy means costs. It’s all about heating expenses. Whenever the temperatures fall, demand on natural gas, heating oil, coal or other materials is one the rise. This means households, institutions and businesses have to spend more money on heating and have less money to spend on other items. The same money could’ve been saved, if only the temperatures had been higher, so frost means in a way a waste of money.

In the light of the facts presented above, it’s hard to deny the countries located in the mild climate zones were given the head start, as they could focus on development rather on struggling the severe weather. Another explanation why Great Britain was and is higher developed than Russia?

The cold snap has added fuel to the sceptics who undermine the global warming theory. In my opinion, winter such as this year’s occurs once in ten to thirty years. It used to happen in the past and will happen, regardless of the global warming. This process does take place, but I don’t believe it is caused by mankind. Our activity can account for no more than ten per cent of the temperature rise, the rest is beyond our control, we can’t prevent it, just like we couldn’t avert global cooling. A noteworthy article on this issue can be found here.

There’s one thing that niggles me while I’m writing this post. It is commonly known that Earth’s atmosphere as a whole is in a balance. The composite average temperature on our planet is steady (though it creeps up and it’s called global warming), so when in one place it’s colder, in another one it must be warmer. So I’m asking – where? I read weather reports from all over the world every day and I haven’t noticed any news of abnormal heat in South hemisphere, meanwhile China struggles harsh winter, temperatures in Russia are totally normal, Europe is gripped by one of the allegedly worst winter since decades, Mid-west regions of United States are plagued by frost and snowfalls, Florida estimates losses on plantations incurred by sub-zero temperatures, only Greece and surrounding areas are reported to enjoy higher than usual temperatures. So where has the warmth gone???

A propos weather reports. Polish media informed today that the temperature in Bismarck, North Dakota, fell to minus fifty five degrees. I wasted almost an hour only to find out the news item was an absolute lie, spread by many websites, newspapers and radio stations. The media copied the article from one another and brought about sensation. Fifty five (Celsius) degrees would have been really remarkable, if the temperature dropped that low. In truth it hit its low at minus thirty six degrees (check the weather data for substantiation here), in a comprehensive account by CNN nobody mentioned such temperature. The Polish news of American tragic freeze cited an article from Washington Post. I found one, but it also doesn’t give any information of Siberian frost in Bismarck (you don’t have to register to read this article, you can use your facebook profile).

An explanation? A journalist who wrote this has either made the story up to make a sensational headline or misunderstood the source text which said the US weather services had warned against wind chill hitting less than minus fifty (Celsius, still) degrees. Wind chill is temperatura odczuwalna, so no wonder local residents were warned, as spending long time outside carried a serious danger of frostbite.

Is anyone else concerned about the declining quality of Polish journalism? I’m appalled firstly by the language – their spoken (glaring errors) and written (bombastic, but meaningless phrases) Polish leave a lot to be desired (if correct use of their native language isn’t within their capacity, how can they be credited with good command of foreign languages), and secondly by the content of news I receive. The story of minus fifty degrees a few thousand miles away is not that important, but it casts serious doubts on the reliability of Polish media and integrity of journalists. At least the readers’ comments didn’t let me down – they immediately pulled the mediocre journalist up for departing from the truth, although they could’ve done without foul language.

Will misrepresentations like this become order of the day? Minus fifty five will look great on a tabloid’s cover, so does it really matter if it was true?

Gorące serca zwalczą mróz – I feel under my skin this winter will give us a rough ride and will go down in history. We have no choice but to bear it up…

How to ride out a heat wave...?

I swear, I didn’t grumble during the June inclement. Rainy, chilly, although sometimes humid days damned by everyone were like manna from heaven for me. Now, weather seems to be making up for the drizzly, cold weeks, this time going into another extreme.

On Monday I spent a few hours in air-conditioned shopping mall (Fashion Outlet Centre in Piaseczno), meandering between shops mostly to find out the great price reductions meant that totally unaffordable items became less unaffordable but still a bit pricey. You can cut the price by sixty per cent, from 299 down to 119 zlotys, but it’s still too much for the certain quality. I can pay for the quality but not for a brand tag. During the stroll I managed to find the real bargain at Franco Feruzzi’s – decent light blue, striped long-sleeve shirts for only 29,50 złoty per item, each reduced from 99 złoty – made of cotton (80 per cent) and polyester (20 per cent), rather thin and crease-resistant. And can be ironed without problems (not through wet handkerchief like the last bought on sale…). After two hours of shopping around I left the mall to feel the belch of hot, still air on my face. Over kilometre-long walk home was a real anguish, however sun, obscured by thin layer of clouds didn’t beat down so mercilessly…

If you don’t have to leave home when the temperature hits more than twenty five degrees you’re lucky. If you just have to go to town to do the shopping, etc. it’s not a tragedy. Today I decided to accustom myself to the unbearable heat and go for a walk in the full, burning sun at four p.m. I sauntered for about three quarters, totally calm and thus didn’t even get sweat. But do not consider it as a remarkable feat – I had only sandals, shorts and sleeveless T-shirt on. But if I put on a black suit, elegant shoes and did a tie, you’d be right to call me awesome imbecile…

At work it’s usually not a problem (I assume your company has a dress code which stipulates you need to wear a suit and doesn’t provide you with such useful facility as lockers). In the overwhelming majority of offices the air-conditioning system has been assembled and it’s always turned on (unless the employer is tight-fisted) whenever it’s boiling hot outside. The problems come up when you have to get to work somehow. Here there are a few steps where the troubles await. If you keep your car in the open air it might be already heated when you set off, even if it’s seven o’clock in the morning. To avoid that it’s advisable to keep your car in a garage. The worst may come if the park car where your car sits when you’re working is a sunny place. Leaving in the late afternoon you can turn up that your vehicle has just turned into an oven with the temperature reaching sixty degrees inside… If you don’t have air-con – just get in, open all windows and pull out, if you have the beneficial device, start the engine, switch the air-con on and wait for about five minutes. Then get in and enjoy your ride… If you have to fall back on public transport, you’re in a doghouse – you’ll pickle with tens of other sweat-trickling sinners waiting for your stop like a condemned spirit in a purgatory…

So maybe a puzzle:
How to feel a chilly breeze when the air is still, sultry and temperature exceeds thirty degrees?

- Get off the notorious Warsaw public transport bus (time bomb, make Solaris).
I’ve checked that method many times. No matter how hot it had been, I’ve always felt like a new man just after getting out of that hell on wheels.

It’s not a problem that I don’t like when it’s warm I really like... It’s a problem that warm for me means fifteen degrees. When other people have to wear jumpers, jackets, curl up and get goose pimples I feel comfortably having only a T-shirt on. However, temperatures like today’s mean an authentic anguish for me.

An ideal climate for me is the one from British Isles – mild winter, cool summer and lots of rainy days. People can’t stand it but it took my fancy, even though I’ve never been there. My face fell today after I read that the temperature in London hit thirty one degrees – as much as in Warsaw and that British weather authorities project that hot spells will haunt England more and more often and residents of Isles will have to prepare for it. Temperature in the UK may reach even up to forty degrees in the summers at the end of the current century.

My radio-clock started droning – it means the electrical storm is near (although still not in sight)

Putting a spoke into his wheel?

Diplomacy is one of those realms in which one has to comply with the certain patterns of behaviour, even if they seem unreasonable… That’s why I have conflicting feeling after receiving the news of Polish Prime Minister’s delivering a speech about (doubtless) virtues of balanced state budget and highlighting this as reason why Poland keeps its head above water in the times of downturn. Was it really a dig at reckless fiscal policy of UK, or just a way of emphasising our accomplishments in that field? Tusk didn’t mean (as he claims) to any other economy but more or less involuntarily pounced at failure of Great Britain with its economy declining for the third quarter in a row… Is anybody to explain me if the British media were right to outrage at Tusk’s speech? Was it a blunder to boast about soundness of one’s own economy, while standing next to the Prime Minister of the country engulfed in recession?

PS. In case of MPC (RPP) session – predictably rates are unchanged…