“It utilized to be a time”... Where does the longing for PRL come from?

The sentimental message "they utilized to be times", especially erstwhile referring to the context of the Polish People's Republic, contains much more threads than it usually seems.

It is easiest to interpret akin declarations by the prism of the divided memories of youth, which does not care about regular hardships and pains. And although this psychologically simple explanation to any degree undoubtedly explains the PRL's sentiments, it is definitely inadequate as a full explanation of the case.

Well, if uncontroversially admit the primacy of the spirit over matter, then it is fair to admit that the widely understood Polish culture stood as PRL on a sky advanced level than present (the music of Niemen or Comedy, the films of Hasa or Kieślowski, the journalism of Wańkowicz or Kisielewski, the poesy of Herbert or Różewicz, etc.). It should be immediately added that this cultural prosperity existed then, not due to the Polish People's Republic, but despite it, being, according to the "law of historical delay", the work of people increasing from pre-war cultural and civilizational formation, frequently additionally strengthened by the intellectual spirit and aesthetic opposition to the serenity of surrounding conditions.

In turn, the postPRL's cultural evidence is not a essential consequence of the economical leap in the transition period, but a reflection of the wider phenomena taking place throughout the world, which constitute the eventual culmination of multifaceted processes that have taken place over the past fewer centuries. The strict nature of the second is, of course, a subject without a bottom that cannot be developed here: who can guess it does not request any improvement here, and who can not guess it, no improvement here will help. It is crucial to be aware that consistent economical improvement requires very solid cultural and civilizational foundations, and thus, to the degree that it takes place in their absence, it is not their gravedigger, but the last remaining force of inertia under the laws of historical delay.

In summary, neither should a large amount of non-sentimental sighs be taken distant from certain aspects of life in the Polish People's Republic (not connected with its essential political and economical nature), nor should it be expected that the Polish People's Republic or quasi-PRL methods (nationalisations, "pro-family" publishing, building "national unity" through the consolidation of organization structures, etc.) will be able to resurrect these aspects to any extent. Both errors have a common origin in the single-cause perception of the past of the ups and downs of society, which underestimates both the complexity of the human spirit and the cunningness of the methods utilized to break it. The two, on the another hand, request to be well aware of the request to cultivate the first decently and not to succumb to the second.

Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski