The bitter medicine heals best, but the fact that this democracy would be so unpalatable and inedible came as a complete surprise to us. The romantic spirit of Poles is felt most strongly when they fight, suffer, conquer unattainable peaks and despair over how difficult they are. Then, when it is time to put on work gloves and work clothes and clean up after the battle, one can no longer count on romanticism. It vanishes like a ghost in Dziady after All Souls’ Day has ended.
And anyone who is accustomed to working and wants to do the job, looking out through that metaphorical window at democratic Poland, wonders only where to begin cleaning up. Meanwhile, anyone who dislikes cleaning and work draws a thick curtain across the window and, in the privacy of their home, creates worlds in which they are still fighting romantically—and against whom? That depends, because there are those who will provide them with enemies in every color and variety.
I am one of those who take a mop in hand and clean, and at the same time one of those who curse those who made a mess, wrecked everything and walked away—swearing like a sailor.
I did not expect miracles, nor did I expect a rainbow to burn permanently in every city while the unicorns of democracy ran through municipal parks. For me, elections, to use a familiar comparison, are like riding the metro. There is no line that will take me right to my front door. You always have to walk a little, or even change trains.
I notice that my line—the Coalition of 15 October, which still gets me close to home—keeps changing its routes, because the successive breakdowns caused by eight years of PiS and Solidarna Polska damaging democracy do not allow for a smooth ride.
What enables me to use the line in this direction with satisfaction is the unblocking of KPO funds, the restoration of in vitro treatment, the recovery of the public media, Adam Bodnar as Minister of Justice, putting an end to the outflow of millions from the fund for crime victims, the beginning of the end of religion in schools, the abolition of HiT, and, above all, the fact that the Coalition of 15 October continues despite its drastic differences. This says a great deal about the strength of this unstable coalition formation—and about us.
There are many things I will continue to campaign for, things the Coalition of 15 October has failed to deliver, each time choosing democracy and the European Union, within which I feel like a free citizen of Poland: the place where I live.