Katastrofa prywatyzacji emerytur w Polsce - book review

Sixteen million Poles being contributors to the social security system have four working days left to choose, whether a fraction (roughly one-seventh) of their contribution will stay in the state-run pay-as-you-go (PAYG) social security fund (requires no action) or be diverted into private-run pension funds (requires submission of declaration), participation to which will be since now discretionary (couldn’t I have stretched the sentence out even more?). So far less than one million Poles declared the will to have 2.92% of their before-tax salaries to be transferred to private-run pension funds under the public social security system. The interest in the last days when the choice is possible has been growing exponentially and it is estimated the number of participants of the second pillar of the pension system will exceed one million, still far cry from government’s estimations from 2013 which assumed almost twenty percent (or three million people) would plump for pension funds.

I have already made a choice and anyone who has been carefully reading this blog would easily guess what my decision has been. In discussions with my friends and colleagues I have openly admitted which option I had chosen, elucidated reasons and have not encouraged anyone to change their mind. I actually favour the government’s idea to let people decide what the uses to their contributions to the system will be. To a few persons I mentioned the book I had recently read. Some of them, mindful of my general free-market and liberal orientation, were kind of perplexed to hear me speaking highly about the book written by a leftist economist, the most avid critic of pension reform in Poland, professor Leokadia Oręziak.

The situation with a man whose opinions are well-shaped is that in 99% of cases you cannot easily categorise them as 100% liberal or 100% socialist (simplifying the issue to distinction between two main undercurrents). I cannot claim to be a pure liberal, nor to be a pure socialist, I simply lean towards common sense and put faith in ideas that stand to reason. Sometimes ideas which might appear liberal in fact are not. The concept is brilliantly illustrated in the book by highlighting the paradox of neo-liberal doctrine backing the power of unregulated market and positing cutting back on inefficient and evil government. The same doctrine when it comes to private-run pension funds does not hold back from asking the evil government for ensuring participation in private-run pension funds would be mandatory, i.e. the bad state must coerce the citizens to pay financial institutions for managing their pension accounts. I learnt many times liberal doctrine assumes a man should be responsible for their deeds and should be given autonomy to decide about themselves, while the socialist doctrine assumes people not necessarily know what is best for them, therefore the government should take care of them and decide what is good for citizens and for this purpose seize more of their income in form of taxes. The outcome of the reasoning is that obligatory payments to private-run pension funds under the public pension system is a manifestation of socialism. This has been long ago said by independent liberals from Centrum im. Adama Smitha.

“Who benefits from this [existence of pension funds]?” (Komu to służy?) is a tad populist question frequently posed by the opponents of pension funds. The book casts a new light on that matter. It does not take a genius to discover none of the developed countries coerced their citizens to pay pension contributions to private-run pension funds being a part of public social security system. Of course saving for pension is wide-spread there, but is not compulsory. People look after their future pension on their own or via employer-run pension plans. Almost all countries which implemented obligatory pension funds have in common that they went through a debt crisis and were relieved of some of their sovereign debts. Such was also the case with Poland. One other common feature is that the debt relief was combined with assistance of the IMF and the World Bank and was subject to following requirements imposed by these institutions. For me, from the perspective of financial services sector, it is quite natural a creditor has a distressed creditor on a string. Now the last question to ask is whether the IMF and the World Bank are doing a huge bail-out job disinterestedly. If you believe when zillions are at stake any action can be disinterested, then the fact the list of developing economies which struggled debt crisis and were aided by the IMF and the World Bank and the list of countries which adopted the pension system in shape similar to that implemented in Poland in 1999 is just a coincidence!

Mrs Oręziak in the second part of her book cracks down on common myths on private-run pension funds advocates of pension funds spread to persuade people to superiority of capital pillar over state-run PAYG system. She debunks these myths (I also dissected most of them along the way) in a way intelligible for an ordinary reader. This part of the book is particularly worthwhile, albeit personally I would rearrange some passages from the argumentation and leave out others.

Although our views on the flop of the public pension system managed by private entities generally concur, I disagree with some of the notions Mrs Oręziak points out.

I personally doubt the government is a good guarantor of future retirement benefits. It only has different tools to dupe citizens, if in need, and by nature is less greedy and less costly. Besides, you cannot compare a pay-as-you-go system in which money collected in form of contributions from the employed flows to retirees as their benefits to a system in which payments are invested in financial assets, as returns on each of them depend on different factors.

I cannot agree if Poland had held on to defined benefit system, instead of shifting to defined contribution system, future pensions would have been higher. You cannot circumvent the proportion between the employed and retirees; you can only change the apportionment of income between the two groups. Poland needed the pension reform in 1990s, but it would have been sufficient to deeply reform state-run social security system to ensure it is balanced in the horizon of many decades but inclusion of private fund managers to the system was needed like a hole in the head.

It should not be taken for granted that the government will bring citizens a higher pension than risky financial market. The amount of pension in the perspective of decades will be the same from either source, because both financial markets and public finances are tightly tied to a country’s economy and pace of its growth. The only difference is that returns of pension funds are more volatile than increment of benefit from the social security – somebody who relies on pension funds is exposed to a timing risk (i.e. the risk that prices of assets in which a pension fund invested drop shortly before someone pensions off).

I also do not share the view the discretionary participation to pension funds, to which the government encourages, through system of tax deductions, is detrimental. The governments of almost all countries are not capable of providing their citizens with high pension benefits and it does not hurt to put in incentives for employees to save on their own. The different story is that the institutions which offer such financial services are usually far too costly and inefficient, so faced with a choice, I would never sign up for such plan. I am in the luck to have sufficient financial knowledge to look after my finances on my own.

To recap, the book, although I would not praise it without reservations, deserves two merits. Firstly, it is written in a simple, clear language, which is of paramount importance if laymen are to make up readership. It clearly presents causations in economic reasoning, therefore a reader finds it easy to follow and comprehend why something works or does not work. Secondly, the book is very factual. It contains more footnotes than pages so that reader can easily verify accuracy and integrity of the book’s content, which given the scale of controversies surrounding the topic, add a lot of value to the publication.

Restraint (powściągliwość, umiar)

The fortnight before the exam, the subsequent easing-off, the trip to Germany, the last weeks before job change – quite many head-on collisions with reality along the way. Haven’t come burnt and bruised out of them, however the recent two months have made me ponder upon true virtues of relationships with other people, when they are worth, when and how to foster them, what to appreciate in people and what kind of relationships to avoid.

One conclusion comes to the fore of my considerations; I have more and more respect for those who keep their distance towards the world and are adequately reserved towards other people. I particularly have a high regard for individuals who:

- keep a low profile,

- keep a cool head,

- are hardly ever thrown off balance, no matter how cards are stacked against them,

- do not raise their voice,

- do not bear a grudge,

- do not take umbrage,

- hold back from overly showing their emotions,

- refrain from profusely speaking about their private lives and sharing their predicaments with everyone around,

- do not wash their dirty linen in public,

- are not moody and hardly ever let other people know something is eating them,

- rarely boast about their achievements,

- do not flaunt nor show off their wealth or earnings,

- dress modestly,

- do not share every step they take on facebook,

- know where boundaries which should not be overstepped are,

- are humble,

- know what they are worth and do not strain to prove it to everyone around,

- do not judge the book by the cover,

- do not feel happy to see misery of someone they dislike,

- can find a common tongue with someone with who they are worlds apart,

- do not take for granted everything they are told,

- are assertive,

- have a moral spine,

- have courage to defend true values,

- do not pretend to be someone else than they really are,

- do not take liberties with other people, unless they are their close friends,

- are to some extent reserved towards other people

and on top of them are sympathetic, amicable, helpful, balanced, open and frank.

I hold dear the set of traits above and have the luck to have gotten to know more than a few people who fit the profile. I am pursuing to adopt all of them.

Back to relationships – I have began to strongly appreciate people who keep their distance when we first meet and at the beginning of the relationship, whatever the character of it is. The tentative approach to another man in a country of mistrust is quite natural, moreover getting too familiar with one another might actually spoil the phase of proper shaping the relationship. As people get to know each other better and if they are on the same wavelength, the distance between them will naturally shorten anyway. The pace at which it happens depends on many factors, but my experience has taught me, the longer it takes, the stronger and more durable the bond between people becomes.

There are several people you have several sorts of social relationships with – relatives, partners (spouses / girlfriends / boyfriends), close friends, acquaintances, workmates. I believe depending on the character of the relationship one should dose up the distance between them and the other person, because it… helps foster relationships. Maybe it sounds silly, but if I discern someone gives me more trust than to other people, our relationship is more likely to strengthen. I suppose many people have the need to be exceptional, be the one, be one of the only few, be the trusted ones and they feel the should pay back the same and so is their friendship reinforced. The precious restraint seems essential to let people recognise the true value of the relationship between them.

Tomorrow (over a week in advance of my last day at work) I’m staging a farewell gathering at work (which simply means I bring cakes, other sweats, beverages and folks show up to wish me good luck). This can serve as a good example. Over my four-year stint I was involved in several tasks reaching well beyond my job description; this also helped me developed a wide network of contacts with, as I counted, over two hundred fellow employees. Firstly, those who I had encountered incidentally, have not been informed about my departure. Secondly, those with who I wanted to share the blend of joy and sadness surrounding the job change, have been invited to the farewell. Thirdly, some of the invited, on account of the distance between us will not show up. Fourthly, the very symbolic moment of saying goodbye will speak volumes about the character of our relationships – with some females there will be kisses and hugs, with other women only hugs, with some men patting on the shoulders, with some workmates handshakes, some will be spared even a handshake. And fifthly, the closest workmates who I can call friends will deserve a more private, symbolic ‘goodbye’ which will mean only we will no longer work together.

Strange posting, isn’t it? Holds water?

Another divide line in the Polish society

Poles excel at finding divisive issues to argue about. Was imposition of martial law legitimate? Was the Smolensk crash an assassination or a tragic accident? Was colonel Kuklinski a hero or a traitor? What does the rainbow on Plac Zbawiciela symbolise and should it stay there?

The most recent area of disputes among public figures and ordinary people is the controversial decision of head of one of Warsaw’s hospitals who declined to perform an abortion to a woman whose child was bound to be born grossly disfigured and die soon after birth from severe deformations (it happened last Wednesday) and who did not refer her to another doctor who would terminate the pregnancy (as set forth in the doctor profession law). The story has been succinctly recapped by BBC, yet the short write-up focuses only on facts and does not broach a wide spectrum of dilemmas involved.

Clearly, there is a conflict between Catholic Church teachings and official legislation. For Catholics, life is indefeasible since the moment of conception until natural death and this precept cannot be compromised in any situation. The Polish law, passed in 1990s and until recently serving as example of give-and-take in lawmaking, allows for abortion in clearly specified situations, when pregnancy is the aftermath or rape, incest, life of mother is at serious risk or when child’s defects are abject and incurable. Actually the short list of exceptions to general prohibition of pregnancy termination covers situations when lesser of two evils has to be chosen. The law also states a doctor whose beliefs do not permit them to get involved in some forms of treatment (e.g. performing an abortion), is allowed to refuse to grant a patient’s request, but is obliged to refer the patient to another doctor. This provision also clashes with the Church teachings, according to which a doctor who abides by the law becomes an accomplice. No wonder strong is the line of defence of the professor who draws a comparison to a pharmacy assistant who refuses to sell a poison to a would-be suicider, but refers him to another pharmacy round the corner. On the other hand, the pregnant woman was bestowed a free will and the doctor’s role could have been to persuade her not to have an abortion, but he should have been confined to a firm refusal.

The ever-lasting problem with assessment of abortion, in-vitro and other similar issues is whether an embryo is a child or not. Once you take a stand on this issue, your perception of the problem is easily (not an apposite word) tackled. If you think an embryo is already a human being, an abortion will be a murder. If you see an embryo as a bunch of cells unable to function on its own that can develop into a human being inside a woman’s body, your approach will be more liberal…

The provision under which doctors can decline to engage in some forms of treatment is called ‘the conscience clause’. Oddly enough, professor Chazan is most often accused of lack of conscience in his demeanour. He does not deny his aspiration was not to commit a sin and to prevent a woman (whose beliefs could have been different from his and who was legitimate to have an abortion under the statutory law) from committing the same sin. He also owns up to being in violation of law. His rules do matter, but in his pursuit of moral superiority he failed to fulfil each doctor’s obligation of care to the patient’s welfare. Each situation when pregnancy is the effect or rape or incest, or as in that case, the child would be born dead or with deformations or other afflictions resulting in immediate death is difficult. To reiterate, the choice is between the lesser of two evils. Some women would definitely prefer to give birth to a child with mangled skull, undeveloped brain, lacking nose and with dangling eye (press articles describe such obnoxiously the child) and keep it company in its suffering until natural death. Some women would prefer not to go through the trauma of prolonged watching their child’s anguish or spare it the suffering. Technically, the delivery was to be accelerated and the child would die naturally during it, or shortly thereafter…

The interesting paradox is that a fundamentalist Catholic’s conscience reaches as far as refusal to carry out an abortion, is some cases comes up a referral to a hospice or psychological care centre. There is much bitter truth in accusation that life-defenders are interested in defending the life between conception and birth. What happens later or what happens to a matter, not to mention the intercourse by which a woman got pregnant is beyond the scope of their interest. The child is to come to this world and who is going to bring it up, whether it will have proper care, a normal family whether it will have guaranteed means for subsistence, who it will grow into, etc. The Catholic doctrine thus fosters values and ideas and gives little care about humans, their feelings, suffering.

There are several other, more down-to-earth questions that deserve to be asked when looking into the scandal…

Why did the woman who wanted to have an abortion, turn to the hospital in charge of which professor Chazan was and why, after being turned away, did not she seek help with any other hospital? This question, though asked frequently, is a kind of pointless, as each and every public hospital should provide the woman with medical service she is legally entitled to have and the ‘conscience clause’ can be invoked by specific doctors, not institutions.

Is the timing of the breakout of the scandal accidental? Is it a coincidence it was publicised shortly after several doctors and students of medicine signed so-called declaration of faith, surrounded by controversies?

Is it the coincidence the lawyer who represents the woman is Mr Dubieniecki, the ex-son-in-law of the late president Kaczyński? Is he just grabbing the opportunity to put in an appearance in the media, to boot in complete opposition to his ex-wife’s uncle?

Mr Chazan’s decision to break the law conflicting with his beliefs was an example of civil disobedience. A big pity he is inconsistent in his deeds to refuses be disobedient all the way to reckon with a punishment. As a man of honour he would submit his resignation and suffer consequences, including paying a penalty imposed on the hospital he ran from his own pocket.

Reaction of the church and Catholic journalists speaks volumes about their attitude towards humankind. Professor Chazan has been made a martyr, is depicted as a victim, while suffering and feelings of the mother of the defected child are far in the background. The doctor who has saved the life is a persecuted while the moralists do not give a damn about the prolonged ordeal of the woman and her unborn child. While reading internet forums, one can see commentators almost unanimously take side of the woman. Again we see a growing dissonance between official statistics saying 90% of population of Poland are Roman Catholics and beliefs of majority of commentators (not necessarily on leftist / liberal forums) who think Mr Chazan is a cruel, unsympathetic bastard.

The disparity between Church’s official teachings and folks’ personal beliefs is unsurprising. The Church has not moved with the times and some points in its doctrine are inhuman. I doubt the Church will ever change its stance on abortion, but I believe in 100 years in-vitro will be accepted by the Church, just in the same way as other medical discoveries have been embraced by the Church, with considerable delay. Cross my heart, I recognise the problem the Church has with in-vitro insemination, but do not understand the evil of in-vitro. If people want to give their love to children, but for some medical reasons cannot have them, why should the medicine be prohibited from helping them?

Formally, Poland is a secular country. In practice, fundamentalist Catholics are growing in power. There is nothing wrong about high percentage of deeply religious people. The reason for concern is that they attempt to impose their beliefs on other people, with little respect to their autonomy. Unjustified withdrawal from the performance of ‘Golgota Picnic’ in Poznań in the wake of protests is one of the examples. The play was staged in theatres or other closed buildings and no one was compelled to buy tickets and see the performance, but defenders of morality wanted to prevent visitors from entering theatres… Another illustration is a ludicrous objection of a priest from Warsaw against putting up figurines of bull and bear (associated with symbols of demand and supply on stock market) outside the edifice of the Warsaw Stock Exchange who interprets bull and bear as pagan symbols. The more hilarious, although absolutely serious, hence absurdly scary, instance is a protest against Sunday yoga classes in Poznań…

The constitution of Poland guarantees its citizens freedom of religion, beliefs and autonomy of individuals. I hold those values dear and I do respect views of dissenters. I do understand someone might think yoga is a demonic set of exercises enslaving people and pushing them straight on the road into Satan’s arms. But they should understand other individuals might have a different opinion and the constitution guarantees them the right to attend the classes they want… And oddly enough, the louder the lunatics bleat they are persecuted, the more they meddle into not their businesses… How come?

Flea market, Piaseczno

Learnt from a local newspaper last Saturday that a flea market would be held each Saturday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Piaseczno bazaar site. Being kind of fond of such events (my bygone best friend and I used to visit Bazar na Kole, the biggest flea market in Warsaw quite frequently, but since our friendship loosened and then broke off I do not feel like travelling to the other end of the capital on weekend mornings) I promptly jumped on the bike and ventured there. Before setting off from home, I grabbed the camera, but did not notice the device was suspiciously light. Indeed, after transferring photos from the trip to Germany to my laptop, with a view not to use the camera for a while, I had taken out the battery and forgot to put it in. I realised my oversight as I pitched up to the marketplace and tried to turn the camera on, unsuccessfully.

Quite eagerly, with complete and working photographic equipment, I decided to repeat the trip yesterday. To the right, flea market site – town bazaar in Piaseczno (targowisko miejskie w Piasecznie). The area, next to Radom line railway tracks, by ul. Jana Pawła II is a tad dilapidated. Looking at the pic, one could judge it was taken in 1990s, in times Polish capitalism was fledging. Indeed, you could sense the time stopped there twenty years ago… Little has changed in that part of Piaseczno since my childhood.

To the right – the only avenue in the flea market. Tuesdays and Fridays are market days here and the place is damn busy, as many older locals, shunning supermarkets, prefer to buy food produces from local farmers. On other days the area is desolated. Yesterday there were much fewer buyers and sellers than a week earlier. Maybe the commencement of holiday season and weather conditions (warmer, more humid air) lowered the number of visitors…

My inhibitions again held me back from taking photos of particulars stalls and goods put up for sale. My respect for fellow men’s privacy is stronger that willingness to document the sight of flea market for posterity. The range of goods than could be bought on the flea market covered: worn-out clothes and footwear, obsolete consumer electronics, computer games, films on DVD and CHS cassettes, music CDs, cutlery, tableware, tools, spare parts for cars, naff paintings, small pieces of furniture, much outdated newspapers and… books. I have nothing against exchange of books, especially if one wants to find a new owner for their tacky thrillers or romances, but several people were selling decent, brand new books their children had received as awards at the end of school year. Such disrespect for written word with the nation is inexcusable! And those were citizens whose offspring had passed with flying colours!

To the right – a bonus for me. A coal train heading up towards Okęcie on the electrified northbound track of the Radom line. Wagons are being hauled by two locos and their speed is much higher that the pace of trundle on Siekierki line. The photo was taken on 5 July 2014 at 11:05. Quite probably the same set of carriages, hauled by one loco only, was snapped by Michael some time later…

From the economic perspective the flea market should increase the social welfare. If a marketplace where goods can change hands is organised, it means:

- people who want to dispose of superfluous stuff can more easily get rid of it and earn some little money (and they are better off),

- people who need some stuff, not necessarily new, but cheap, or no longer available as brand new in traditional shops, can at reasonable prices buy it (and they are better off).

Supply and demand thus go up, resources in the allocated more efficiently, utility of specific market players and rises, so everyone is better off.

Entrance to the site for buyers is for free, the sellers (who are individuals, not entrepreneurs) in order to be permitted to trade, have to pay a stall charge (placowe / opłata targowa) of mere 1 PLN. Oddly enough for many the single zloty was more than daily takings from the sale and for most the single zloty was just a fraction of cost of fuel their vehicles had to consume to transport a bulk of goods to the flea market. Nevertheless, the whole initiative is not about making money. It is about pleasure; the concept is vague, you either get the feel of it, or explaining will not help…

The German break

As promised, some succinct impressions from the recent holiday trip to Poland’s western neighbour… Then giving way to has been going on in domestic politics.

The Lufthansa

Was my first encounter to the German airline and the impression is very positive. The class of its own, as my friend accurately summarised the operations of the company. I reserved the flights more than three months in advance and, tipped off by another friend that flights between Warsaw and Frankfurt am Main are served interchangeably by PLL LOT and Lufthansa and each flight has a pool of tickets offered by each of the airlines, settle for the German airline. Oddly enough, PLL LOT tickets are sold-out much earlier, Lufthansa tickets are much cheaper (I flew there and back for mere 512 PLN!), on top of that PLL LOT is loss-making, while Lufthansa fetches some, indeed meagre, yet still, profits. And chances of passengers clapping their hands after successful touchdown are marginal. On my way there some folks sitting in a row behind, in economy class as well, were weighing in clapping, but eventually gave up on their plan. Whoever has come up with such custom, has left me bemused. Even if the touchdown is impressively gentle, applause after an ordinary part of a pilot’s job implies lack of trust in pilot’s skills…

The airport

My colleagues who fly frequently tried to frighten me by telling the airport is dreadfully huge and it is easy to get lost. Utter rubbish. The airport is indeed dauntingly spacious, but signage is excellent and losing one’s way is virtually impossible, especially in arrival or transfer zones. The airport follows the trend of letting the passengers serve themselves to the extent which it is possible. Large number of self check-in kiosks and luggage drop-off counters combined with few open check-in desks and huge queues to them encourage passengers to do the check-in themselves. Before my return flight the whole procedure (check-in, shipping luggage and going through security) lasted mere four and a half minutes. Then I could enjoy the sight of bars of chocolates for dirt cheap EUR 8.90 – a snip, in the duty-free. The only drawback of the airport, serving vast number of flights are long times of waiting for the take-off or touch-down… Its other huge advantages are the proximity to the centre of Frankfurt am Main and admirable links to the local and country-wide railway networks.

The country

Once ‘The Economist’ described the German stance in EU politics as “stolid”. This epithet resounded in my mind throughout my journeys. It superbly fits the mark Germany leaves on a foreigner, no matter which visit to the country it is (mine was fourth). This very time I have grown weary of predictability and repeatability of the landscape, architecture, etc. Each town and city having a similar central train station, church, old town, sometimes castle, similar houses and block of flats. 

Little could impress me (such is my general mindset that fewer and fewer things can impress me – a disturbing sign?) and little would take my breath away, as the view from castle hill in Heidelberg (to the right) did. If any more is to be visited in this country, it is definitely Berlin (have ventured there so far, enough for a 3-day weekend and reachable by car or train), Munich and Bavaria land (a trip for a more extended weekend and it is more advisable to get there by plane).

Meanwhile in Poland…

On account of roaming around abroad I have missed out on the eavesdropping scandal unfolding. I have quickly caught up with both recordings of conversations between politicians (and businesspeople) and subsequent commentaries.

Michael in his post pleads he is outraged at the content and mostly form of dialogues between politicians and the nation is shocked by the released materials. I cannot renounce the feeling of indignation upon listening to the recordings, but I have not been taken aback by them. I could actually safely bet similar conversations have been held by politicians of PiS and SLD in times they were in charge of the country. What has been revealed is just the backstage of making politics, the murky underbelly no one would like to see. I would hazard a comparison to the most down-to-earth stuff – each and every one of us has to defecate, but no one would like to see a fellow man defecating. Politics consists of official part which can be witnessed by the public and of several unofficial talks that facilitate pursuing it. The other story is how the private and public spheres mix up, since if meetings and conversations are ‘private’ and the dinner during which they are held is paid from ‘public’ purse, something is amiss.

Michael is also disgusted by the foul language used by statesmen he considered gentlemen. Maybe this is a matter of upbringing, but I, born and bred in Poland, have long taken it for granted folks from all walks of life swear in Poland. Swear words flow from mouths of politicians, businessmen, scholars, doctors, rank-and-files and coarse drunkards. The old and the young, women and men, in the sticks and at the heart of capital, almost everyone swears. The matter of culture is only refraining from being foul-mouth when necessary. I pledge to avoid foul language when women are around, when I talk to a person I know does not swear, in official situations, but my more-or-less official or strictly private conservations with some of my workmates or friends sound similarly abhorrently as those eavesdropped in Warsaw’s posh restaurants. If my conscience is not crystal clear, I may not feel entitled to condemn anyone for using foul language. The prime minister Tusk who has once also pledged to swear like a trooper is not going to hold anyone accountable for the form of language used.

Now dear readers, I will stoop as low, as eavesdropped members of the government did and enjoy the off-the-record part of the posting. Needless to say, minister Sikorski is an ordinary lout (zwyczajny cham) who, no one can deny it to him, just mastered to perfection the art of feigned politeness. Overwhelming majority of my interlocutors with who I have discussed the issue, share my view that impeccable manners of Mr Sikorski are grossly overrated. What matters is how you behave and what you say casually, while what you pretend to do in public just reflects upon how good your acting skills are. Mr Sikorski definitely can skilfully play out a well-brought-up gentleman. Nevertheless, the recorded conversation between him and Mr Rostowski casts favourable light on his shrewdness and political wisdom and actually he scored a point with me for realpolitik-grounded view on Poland’s relations with the United States. The words of “worthless alliance between Poland and the United States” and us doing a blow-job to Americans are home truth. The very situation bears out, again, diplomacy is the art of lying and reaction of the US diplomats who reaffirmed strength of the strategic alliance with Poland also confirms this old adage. I seriously doubt Mr Sikorski’s revealed conservation will noticeably spoil relations between the US and Poland, I would not be even stunned to learn Mr Sikorski would have gained some esteem with his US counterparts for not being a starry-eyed sucker.

If it was not greed but lack of fear which caused the financial crisis, it was not lust for power but lack of humility which was a nail to the coffin of Mr Nowak’s political career which has now come to a bitter and irretrievable end. May his example serve as a forewarning for all young, up-and-coming guys lured to shiny world of politics, tempted by visions of expensive dinners, slick suits and official taxpayer-funded trips to distant places. The temptations to use political connections to pursue one’s own interests and to feather one’s nest are strong, yet we must not forget a politician is a public servant. Growing complacent and losing self-preservation instinct is the first step towards dragging oneself down, no matter if you are a top-rank politician or a rank-and-file worker in a corporation…

The one whose reputation came out probably the most burnt and bruised from the scandal is the governor of the central bank, Marek Belka. In the light of prevalence of the foul language in Poland, I can only draw a veil over frequency of using swear words by him. Deplorably, the substance of some parts of the conversation resembles a chat between tanked-up fifteen-year-old lads. I would never suspect Mr Belka of discussing lengths of several men’s penises…

Whose penis is shorter and whose longer is a matter of minor importance, although some claim those who have small penises tend to drive bigger cars ;-) The pivot of the conversation between the head of central bank and minister of internal affairs, highlighted in the scripts that first leaked to the media, had been the discussion how the central bank could help the government finance the budget deficit before the parliamentary election in 2015 and prevent victory of PiS. Cross my heart, from what I have read I cannot make out what the men meant and how the central bank could help out the government. The discussion, unclear, casual and full of understatements, has turned water to the mill of several journalists and politicians, many of who, as I noticed, not necessarily comprehend the heart of the problem. From my perspective, if we are to assess whether potential violation of law occurred, we have to take into considerations three situations when a central bank can have government bonds on its balance sheet. Here we go with a crash course!

Firstly, budget deficit financing may take place if the central bank buys government bonds on primary market, i.e. the central bank comes in when government bonds are auctioned off and purchases them while they are issued. Such reprehensible moves in all civilised economies are prohibited by law and known as debt monetisation. The central bank, as the only issuer of money, increases supply of money which is not accompanied by rise in output, hence expanded monetary base results in increased inflation and decreases real value of government debt. Upshot: the government is better off, everyone else is worse off and double-crossed by the central bank and the government.

Secondly, the central bank can purchase bonds on secondary market from commercial banks. From the government the operation means a change of creditor and does not directly aid the government. Such actions are kind of controversial, but have been widely undertaken by the Fed, the ECB (to the right, the building, where those bastards who slashed deposit rate below zero have their headquarters, fenced off to prevent bad people from trespassing the decision-making space), the Bank of England. The purpose of such moves is to remove from banks balance sheets securities and convert them into cash in order to enhance liquidity or encourage banks to lend money. The side effect of such operations is that increased demand for treasury securities from the central bank decreases yields and hence brings down borrowing costs for the government. Securities bought up usually have long maturities (more than 10 years) in order to avoid the roll-over (refinancing) risk, as if it materialised, the situation would easily evolve into variant one.

Incidentally, the ECB will soon move to a new, posher skyscraper, top-centre on the photo to the right, seen from the viewing platform at the top of Main Tower… If anyone is to ask where they had the money from to build such huge edifice, the answer is simple – as an exclusive money issuer they have printed it. Printing money is a very serious task, hence it requires appropriate premises…

Thirdly, the central bank may engage in Repo transactions with commercial banks. This manoeuvre is from a borrower’s (commercial bank’s) perspective a purely collateralised loan – i.e. a central bank lends money against government bonds, although technically it buys securities from commercial banks (spot leg) and agrees to sell them back at a later date (forward leg). Repo transactions are aimed at regulating liquidity in the banking sector and have nothing to do with financing government debt.

I gather the first variant is out of question, the second is a contentious measure, while the third does not require any further attention.

The excuse for mentioning the plausible aid of the central bank was the threat of PiS winning the election and subsequent economic disaster… I am far from supporting PiS and also not think their victory would be best for Poland but this is a step too far. We live in democracy and make-up of the parliament lies in the hands of voters. If they decide PiS is to glean the highest number of seats in the parliament, their choice deserves due respect! The very victory of PiS will not be a disaster. It is not the case which party is in power (although perception among investors does matter), what really matters are decisions it takes.

For the very end, let’s dissect the line of defence the prime minister Tusk has taken. He will not dismiss any of the eavesdropped officials nor will hold anyone accountable for use of foul language. All the recorded government members in unison claim the Polish state has been attacked by an “organised criminal group” and it will not succumb to it. The public is thus to be focused on culprits who recorded the dismal talks in restaurants, not on the substance of allegedly private conversations (which by the way show Mr Belka, Mr Sienkiewicz, Mr Sikorski and other ‘victims’ are just regular guys, behaving like ordinary Poles when they get drunk). The timing of releasing the recordings is puzzling. Euro-election is over, local elections are due in half a year, holiday season sets in. Are the recent government’s plan to prop up ailing coal mines in Poland by curbing imports of cheap coal from Russia the real reason? I firmly believe the waiters who admitted to have installed bugs have just grabbed the opportunity to cash in on knowledge they could come into possession thanks to microphones in VIP rooms. They are just cogs in a larger machine and the plan is masterminded by someone much more cunning that people who make the headlines these days. The only problem is that the purpose for which the machine is running, remains unknown…

Road hog wanted!

Woke up last Sunday, turned on the TV and beheld the film below on TVN24 morning broadcast.

Shot three days earlier on the streets of Warsaw and subsequently passed around online, the film showing thoughtless and direly dangerous feats of a young driver has become one of most often watched Polish films in the Internet last week. Media coverage has given the 24-year-old driver of BMW M3 who had showed off his driving skills a lot of publicity, probably something the guy craved for.

During his rally the idiot driver broke traffic rules several times and caused several seriously dangerous situations, putting lives of many innocent road users at peril. Oddly enough, his driving skills proved good enough to avoid accidents many times, however given his style of driving, the fact no one was killed by him could be only put down to luck, rather than to his mastery behind the wheel. I actually cannot deny him skills, as they were essential in not injuring anyone during his lunatic rally, which by no means can be construed as commendation for his misdemeanour.

The road hog is now the most wanted man in the country, however police fails to detain him. The reasons are two: there is no evidence the suspect Robert N., nickname Frog, sat indeed behind the wheel when the crazy rally was shot, moreover the film does not provide grounds there was any situation that could have led to a traffic disaster, hence for over a week the driver has been unpunished and the police could only kindly ask him to report to the nearest police station. He refused to do so, instead he sent in his barrister, who made a statement any attempt to induce her client to come to the police voluntarily is a provocation meant to catch him.

How let’s wonder who the hell this guy is. He is just 24 and already can afford to drive around in expensive sports cars and to hire a lawyer. He does have a job, but people aged 24 usually do not earn that much money and even if they happen to do so, and are not celebrities, they toil away so hard that they lack time to indulge in such dicey sort of entertainment. The boy most probably is a rowdy, spoilt son of a rich daddy. Daddy buys him cars, pays for all his whims and, if necessary, will get him out of troubles. And the boy feels he can go unpunished and derides at the weakness of the Polish legal system, helpless faced with an overt criminal…

Given the records which leaked yesterday and will be in detail described in tomorrow’s edition of one of the reputable weeklies, the helplessness of the Polish state should not surprise us. If the minister of internal affairs claims the Polish state exists only theoretically, jaw drops open immediately. It fails to impress me a representative of the messed up ruling party tries to strike a political deal, but when does the governor of the central bank, theoretically independent entity, eagerly engages in a conservation about essentially breaking the law, I get a little confused. According to article 220, paragraph 2 of the Polish constitution, the central bank is prohibited from financing the budget deficit. The rule that central banks do not engage in fiscal policies nor regulate cost of borrowing for governments is the thing of the past in the most advanced economies – may policies of ECB or Bank of England serve as examples.

The wiretapped conversation casts new light on recent announcements of plausible interest rate cuts in Poland. Lower central bank rates translate into lower cost of debt for the government. However, central banks should target price level, exchange rate and economic growth, not liase with the government. I was kind of shocked professor Belka, current governor of the National Bank of Poland would stoop so low. The proposal to further cut interest rates, bearing in mind the recovery will sooner or later give rise to higher inflation, is at best unwise.

I am looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds. Unfortunately, I will be offline holidaying abroad and keeping track of topical issues will be impossible. Nevertheless, I doubt the eavesdropped dealings in a restaurant would turn the Polish politics upside down. I doubt Mr Belka loses his stool, dismissal of Mr Sienkiewicz, minister of internal affairs, seems conceivable. Then the dust will settle and everyone will live happily ever after, until the next election. Until the next time when there is no one who would deserve your vote.

Next post in two weeks.

After the exam, again

Finish line on the second level crossed yesterday. Several months of preparations; run-up period spent at home poring over practice exams and revising and for the sake of peace of mind, being detached from work. Despite having decided to quit, I refused to let up and still attempted to save the Company from its own destructive forces. Sounds shitty, as it is. I had some time to think things over and examine the direction I am drifting. There are upsides and downsides. The crucial one is while I dive deeper into work, life begins to have one dimension. If I care too much about work-related stuff, all the other issues recede into the background. If the New Factory turns out to be n merciless time-occupier, the call for rethinking the priorities will be even more compelling…

Back to yesterday… Level I was a totally new experience. This time the challenge was not a novelty. Still, it is a men’s world (again, more than eighty percent of candidates were male), I did not feel quite old as in December 2012 (much fewer students) and I met some of my university classmates, most of who ended up in big four (the career path chosen by the biggest percentage of SGH graduates, the one I have shied away from). Besides the feeling is pretty similar. The (first and hopefully the last – I seem to have fared well) attempt to tackle Level II from purely technical point of view was no different than what I went through one and a half years ago. I approached the issue stolidly practically. At some stage of preparations, namely on Thursday, I reached a point of saturation. I could not take in nor digest any more knowledge. I had studied since September 2013 diligently and in the last moment odds to effectively catch up were marginal. I fully realised during the exam I would encounter at least one question that would bring me to my knees (and did not mistake), but on the other hand knew such questions would be few (also right). The practical approach is not to have ambitions to have one of the highest scores on Earth. The goal is to pass; as much and as little. The results are due on 12 August. Now the wisest strategy is to forget about the experience for a while and enjoy the summer while I can.

Back to my mindset. I have noticed as time goes by, it takes more to impress me. If there was something which really moved me in the last weeks, it was the confession by Justyna Kowalczyk who publicly admitted she was struggling depression. Some show her respect for courage to speak about the (shameful) disease publicly, some argue this is an example of washing dirty linen in public and she does not deserve any compassion. When I watched at her, read interviews with her, I realised she has no makings of a celebrity. Without any insight into her psyche, I could hazard a guess personal life (lack of partner, unreciprocated love) had the greatest impact on her problems. I suppose had there been somebody beside her, she could have had more strength to overcome symptoms of depression.

Celebrations of 25th anniversary of partly-free elections – fulsome. Reverent coverage of Mr Obama’s visit – fulsome. US president’s speech – insincere.

On Friday I went to cinema to watch Powstanie Warszawskie. Was not the best choice for putting mind to rest before the exam, but never mind. The film has taken its toll on me, but once I read most of the recovered scenes had been shot in the first days of the Uprising when there was supply of current water and people were not dropping like flies from spreading diseases, it turned out the picture of humanitarian disaster was quite mild compared to what Warsaw actually witnessed in the autumn of 1944. Two hundred thousand residents of Warsaw dead, almost the whole left side of the capital obliterated, survivors driven out of the City and the Stalin’s Army waiting on the east bank of Vistula, waiting for Warsaw to bleed its last. Gruelling…

Resurfaced to the right, departed to the left

A hommie [homosexual] is a natural being. They’ve been around for millennia and haven’t bothered anyone. While the gays are ordinary loots imported from abroad. Most of them aren’t even hommies. They are paid to pretend to be hommies. Those imported from abroad persons pretend to be hommies, for money, money paid to break up society and impute wacky principles.

When a woman has a pimple on her face, she’d rather stay at home. And so should the disabled do.

It’s not about aesthetics; there is one tenet in the society: who keeps company with the wolves, will learn to howl, hence watching, incidentally admirable, efforts of para-olympic sportsmen might bring about disruptions in one’s fitness. If we want mankind to develop, we should watch only beautiful, strong, honest and clever people on TV, not deviants, murderers, weaklings, losers, idiots and, alas, the disabled.

We might be happy the disabled organise championships. But what they do, has little to do with sport. You could stage chess tournament for morons equally well.

I belong to so-called secular right wing. This means I am Catholic and hold high the role of religion in the society, but I am against interference of churches (particularly the Roman-Catholic church) into politics. (…) Nevertheless, the Church not only trades in hope, but also convinces people to live in decency. The price for this is worth paying. The other story is whether we are not paying over the odds. Too fat priest is usually a bad priest!

Each kind of socialism, including euro-socialism, is a system based on slavery. And such system is economically inefficient, as evidence proves. Young people sense it and flee. Poles flee to the UK, the Britons flee to the USA… While politically mature Europeans deal with problem of number of votes Poland will have in EU Council vs. the number allocated to Germany. What’s the difference whether Europe is ruled by a socialist sap from Germany or from Poland? A socialist is a socialist, regardless of his political membership and should be returned to re-education camp. Topic closed.

I’d love to disenfranchise many citizens, not only women.

A woman becomes infested with views of a man with who she sleeps. After all a male was designed a such that thousands of spermatozoons go to waste; they morph into a woman’s body and turn into image and likeness of a man she belongs.

Women must not be too clever. The natural evolution mechanism sees to it. An intelligent being would not withstand keeping company to a babbling child for more than an hour. For such reason (and not only) men prefer not to start relationships with intelligent women. Their instinct tells them their offspring should have proper care.

The gist of democracy is that if sir and lady and I are on deserted island, then by majority of votes we can resolve that the lady will go to bed with sir and with me interchangeably. This is how democracy works. And if we have supermajority, we can sign it into the constitution…

How can a system, in which two drunkards have two votes and a university professor has one vote, last? It takes to be an idiot to feel good in such system.

The outrage about paedophilia is disproportionate. Lewis Carroll (the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) was fond of eight-year-old girls. Not just his neighbours, but also ladies from upper classes would send their daughters to his home, being thoughtful of the fact being touched by a man (moderately, within limits) rises up womanhood and helps rather than harms and makes immune to similar courtship in the future. Of course, coercing anyone, not to mention intercourse, or heaven forbid raping, should be severely punished.

I demanded that prosecutor’s office initiated an inquest into effecting paedophilia at schools. I would personally prefer that my daughter is taken care of by a paedophile (not rapist), who’d spank her buttocks, grope her breast, caress and kiss, than if she was to attend such lesson at school. Encounter with paedophile leaves the precious shame and erotic tension, while such lesson at school would result in irrevocable loss of ability to love.

If you had little notion about women, you’d know man always rapes a woman a bit. Women always pretend to resist. You should know when you can make a step, and when not.

We’ll sell [the European Parliament edifice] and turn it into a brothel. The building would excellently serve such purpose.

Jumping out of a window from sixth floor is definitely more detrimental than taking in heroine, however putting up six-floor high buildings is not prohibited.

You can tell all the quotes are example of a joyful oeuvre of a lunatic. No matter, whether the author of all those statements is indeed out of his senses, beyond all doubt he will be one of Poland’s representatives in the commencing term of the Euro-parliament.

The Congress of the New Right [Wing], under the command of its charismatic leader, scored over 7 percent of total votes in the Euro-parliament election in Poland held last Sunday. Having gone through several plights (totalling to more than twenty) in each consecutive election, out of the blue it rose as phoenix from ashes. Nevertheless, its good result should not come as a total surprise, as in the parliamentary election in 2011 it was not much short of exceeding the 5% threshold necessary to mark presence in the parliament (Polish or European). The party is ultra-conservative in social terms and ultra-liberal in economic matters, hence abjectly euro-sceptical.

The high score of JKM’s party could be attributed to low turnout (less than 24%) and general disgruntlement with current shape of political arena in Poland, monopolised by power-wielding ruling party and ever-lasting as opposition another party.

The Congress earned so many votes thanks to support from the youngest electorate. Voters aged 18 – 25 put a cross mostly against JKM’s grouping. If only their votes had been to decide who would win the election, the Congress would go first, PiS second and PO third. The Congress’ success is somewhat similar to emergence of Palikot’s movement in 2011. The party was riding the wave of anti-clericalism spurred by rows surrounding the cross outside the presidential palace post late Lech Kaczynski’s death. They attracted young, tolerant people by socially liberal agenda. During their presence in the parliament they proved in fact they had little to offer and hence in this election, despite allying with some of leftist politicians who had forsaken SLD, its score was below 5 percent threshold.

Many sociologists claim many people who voted in 2011 for Palikot Movement, this year cast votes for JKM’s party. Given the ultra-leftist agenda of the former and ultra-rightist of the latter, the turnabout is likely to prove the voters’ instability and immaturity. I doubt the Congress of the New Right has a cure for all problems plaguing Poland and the EU. Calling all politicians socialists, thieves, proposing to put them all to prison and establish full economic freedom, based on ‘survival-of-the-fittest’ principle would lead to a huge anarchy, rather than to common happiness and well-being. Nevertheless I recognise there are masses of people so fed up what the state of affairs around that they have reached the point in which they have nothing against current order being torn down and taking the risk of starting everything from scratch.

The prospects for the EU are bleak. If one-fifth of all seats in the European Parliament have been taken over by far-rightist euro-sceptics, it clearly signifies trust and belief in the European Institutions had been undermined. The EU is going through its deepest crisis since inception and it is a crisis of self-focus. The EU has reached the highest stage in an organisation’s development, namely its bureaucratic structure has sprawled so far and wide that it can easily waste all its potential on dealing with its own affairs…

The outlook for Poland is miserable as well. Two major parties are going neck in neck in terms of backing. PiS, for the seventh time in a row, enjoying the status of election runner-up, for the first time has seriously caught up with PO. If no major change takes place, i.e. PO will carry on wallowing in complacency, PiS is bound to win the parliamentary election next year (but unlikely to win the presidential election, as in the run-off voters of all parties are likely to unite against PiS). The other story is that it will be rather unable to find a coalitional partner, so endless squabble will become the daily bread…

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Predictably, the funeral of general Jaruzelski triggered disputes surrounding not only evaluation of his deeds, but also whether he should have been buried on Powązki Military Cemetary. Eventually it had been decided the funeral would have partly-state character. I personally found the setting thoroughly appropriate. Mr Jaruzelski was buried not among statesmen of merits but among his fellow soldiers with who he fought during WW2.

The sermon by the priest and president’s speeches were wise and balanced and suited well the circumstances and tragic biography of the general. State and church officials rose to the occasion on the funeral day, while those who gathered outside church and sparked row on the cemetery, did not. Most of those people are probably ardent Catholics and sometimes should be reminded as the general departed, only the God has the power to judge him. It does not mean we must refrain from mentioning heinous episodes from general’s biography. Anti-Semite purges in Polish army, commandeering fraternal aid to Czechoslovakia, responsibility for December 1970 massacre, ambiguous assessment of martial law as the lesser of two evils (or coup d'etat) are still drawing a divide line in Polish society – all those facts cannot be erased, nor forgotten, but in the name of mercy a Catholic should exhibit, sometimes it is better to shut one’s mouth.

Oscar and the Lady in Pink – book review

Prompted by the Soulmate, I read the book, which had recently gained the status of set book for fourth-year primary school pupils. The book, written in 2002 and published in Poland for the first time in 2004 (hence I had no chance to read it at the age of ten), tells a story last days of ten-year-old boy terminally ill with cancer. The Polish version can be read online; I encourage you do so, as the novel is short and reading it from cover to cover will not take you more than an hour and a half.

I find it hard to judge, whether such poignant story is an appropriate choice for children entering their teenage years, but beyond all doubt seeing the world with eyes of a boy who knows he is doomed to pass away soon is a heart-rending experience. How Oscar (the main character) perceives the little world surrounding him is a mixture of naïve childishness (he still knows very little about life) and astounding maturity (going down with probable incurable disease and then getting by with death sentence imprinted at the back of his mind leaves its mark on Oscar).

Induced by a volunteer worker (the Lady in Pink), he lives through his last days as if each day stood for a whole decade. He goes through adolescence, early adulthood, middle-age slump and old age and discerns ups and down of each of those periods from a child’s perspective.

The book broaches issues pivotal in lives for all of us: God (the boy’s parents are atheists and so bring up their son, while the Lady in Pink tries to introduce him to the Deity), priorities in life (find out what is really important, when you have so few days left), death (as inevitable part of life), sympathy (when every day to see people suffering and dying, it reshapes your perception of life and sensitivity to human suffering and death), relationships with other people (parents, helpless in confrontation with their son’s illness).

The boy is angry with his parents who simply don’t know how to cope with his illness, how to behave when they visit him, they approach him unnaturally, smile artificially what winds Oscar up. Finally, when he frankly cheers them up by saying “we will all die, but I’ll die first”, something breaks through. The novel as no other taught me not to mess with parents, as if they love a child, they want all the best for it, despite not knowing how to show it.

Despite being faced with a deeply moving story, I managed not to weep. I was close to tears, but held them back. My childhood was free of such distress, but after reading this I slightly fear such cruel fate can meet my child – and what then? Would I have enough strength to carry such burden?

PS. The inevitable moment I referred to on 29 January 2011 (see last paragraph) came to a pass today. General Jaruzelski died. Are we in for a political clash?

Racing for seats

Since the inception of the blog, before each and every election, I felt a sense of excitement; I felt the election was a meaningful event, a groundwork of democracy, an act by which when casting a vote, a citizen, by entrusting wielding power to authorities, plays a vital role in shaping a future. This year, a week before we elect deputies for the next five-year term in the European Parliament, I feel nothing except for indifference. But next Sunday I will visit the polling station, but only out of a civic duty, because I have been brought up to exercise my rights in democracy, not because I feel it makes sense.

The reasons for my joyless attitude are ample. I could go on about the general fatigue with politics, spurred by seeing politicians making politics rather than pursuing policies, but I will briefly (exam in three weeks, do not expect drawn-out contributions) focus on four aspects I fail to put up with.

Firstly, how big is the influence of Polish deputies on well-being of Poland and Poles? For sure higher than marginal, but nowhere as significant as this exerted by decision-makers in Poland. We need efficient and competent deputies to create good laws and foster interests of Poland in the EU.

Secondly, the reputations deputies from Brussels have earned, on account of their numerous privileges. No matter if they show up on sessions and committee meetings, take part in voting, they deserve sky-high wages, subsidies for running their offices and several perquisites (flats, hotels, flights, etc.). Many candidates race for a cushy job for five years that would allow them to set themselves and their families up for the rest of their lives.

Thirdly, the campaign which revolves around issues we have in Poland. This issue of subcontractors building motorways is a domestic problem and it will not be resolved in the European Parliament, as Mr Liberadzki (SLD) says. Problem of queues to doctors should be tackled by the ministry of health in Poland, not by guys in Brussels, keep it in mind, Mr Palikot. JarKacz, as the spokesman of his party, Mr Hofman, claims, suspends campaign to set off to southern Poland to monitor flood danger. Then JarKacz turns up there and keeps on running campaign, by saying the government is guilty of not modernising enough many kilometres of embankments… Platforma in its spot instead of laying out its agenda of what they want to do for Poland in the European Parliament, ridicules Mr Hofman for showing off the size of his penis, Mr Karski for damaging hotel equipment in Cyprus, while being under influence, Ms Pawłowicz, for her condemnable statements. Voters have heads screwed in and are capable of assessing how much (or rather how little) these PiS politicians are worth. What all parties stand for is a huge crying shame!

Fourthly, the candidates. Everyone who is alive, rushes for European parliament (or put it straightforward, for cash). Mr Kurski, infamous for speeding and absence on parliament sessions, whose presence in European Parliament consists in making politics in Poland, in on every second rear of public transport bus and on every third billboard, makes me want to puke. Parties presumably had serious problems compiling lists, as they had to put in former sportsmen (Otylia Jędrzejczak, swimmer – Platforma, Tomasz Adamek, boxer – Solidarna Polska) or celebrities (Weronika Marczuk, known as victim of anti-corruption bureau – SLD, Izabella Łukomska-Pyrzalska, known from centrefold of Polish edition of Playboy – Twój Ruch Europa Plus). What the hell are competencies of those people to sit in the European Parliament?

If I can advise who to vote for… In short – for those who are well-versed in the European issues and have track record of arduously toiling away in Brussels, not blowing their own trumpets in Poland!