Jan M. Malek: Without Poland, it is hard to talk about actual independence

I encourage you to read the interview I conducted with Jan Michał Małek in 1996 – even before the fresh constitution was passed and before the 1996 U.S. elections. Jan M. Malek died 2 years ago – 14 March 2022 in California. He was a Polish activist, supported, from the early 1990s, the publication and promotion of classical free marketplace literature in Poland, created the PAFERE Foundation, was a co-founder of the Józef Mackiewicz Literary Prize. He surely did many another good and beneficial things that we do not even know. In 2016, he was decorated by the president of Poland with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia and Poland for his full activity. I knew Jan M. Malek 27 years old, which is why I know what I'm saying erstwhile I say a actual patriot is gone. God remainder his soul...

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When you visit Poland now, what strikes you the most?

While surviving in Poland during the times of the Polish People's Republic, I took the pervasive atmosphere of lies badly. This caused my depression and was 1 of the reasons for my emigration to the West: first to France and then to the United States. Currently, erstwhile I come to Poland and get acquainted with the situation today, in turn, I feel the ubiquitous atmosphere of theft, doing in various forms. I meet primarily with theft towards citizens from the state. The state became the biggest thief. At times, this situation causes me to feel negative and depressed. It is the main obstacle to improving prosperity, to improving the material situation of Poland. Without Poland, it is physically hard to talk about actual independence.

What are you robbing your citizens of?

The state steals from the fruits of their work, and the worst part is that people most likely don't announcement it, and even – which is already actual paranoia – you ask it to bargain from them. The results of the fresh parliamentary and presidential elections prove this.

You are co-author of the appeal for freedom from theft. What do you want to pay attention to with these appeals?

The phenomenon of state theft is increasing. The State issues fresh laws, fresh regulations, thus limiting the business activity of individuals. This has a very negative impact on the economical situation.

The economical improvement of the United States in the early 19th century ranged from 10% higher, and at the minute there is only 2 to 3% government. Meanwhile, the countries of the Far East show respective times higher percentages of economical development.

I believe that Polish intelligence and, above all, real economists are faced with a immense task of raising awareness of the public, saying that it is essential to respect private property. Accepting and stealing is the main obstacle to building a materially strong Poland, in seeking prosperity and thus improving the existence of all human being.

What should we do?

Economic education should be widely promoted. People truly should know that the primary economical imperative is the 7th commandment "Don't Steal!". It is hard to talk about economical improvement in Poland if the rulers do not realize certain fundamental rights of economics and if the laws within the state do not support this.

So where do we start?

The basis of all rights is the constitution. The Constitution must be smart. This is obvious. For the Polish constitution to fulfil the right task, it should be based on the experiences of constitutional law existing in this field. The power of the United States and various Western democracies is, to a large extent, the consequence of their constitution. The United States has become the richest economical country in the planet thanks to laws based on a very simple constitution. So why not follow common sense and in the preparation of the Polish Constitution do not trust on the American Constitution. Let me remind you that the Constitution of Japan was developed after planet War II by the U.S. business troops and is based on the American Constitution. What are the economical effects of applying rights based on specified a constitution in practice, I do not gotta prove it. In Western Germany, after the war, a constitution was developed to any degree based on the American Constitution. In both cases, this was due to Americans' desire to decentralize power, both in Japan and Germany. This was intended to prevent the revival of fresh totalitarian systems that could endanger peace in the future. In the meantime, this caused, possibly unintentionally by the Americans, the fast improvement of these countries, thanks to which they became among the top economical powers.

I think that it is highly crucial in Poland to prepare a constitution that is clear, concise, without vague wording, which introduces chaos in the field of government and hinders the economical improvement of the country. The laws must be clear, they cannot be formulated so that they cannot be interpreted explicitly. What is more crucial – they should not change often. The Constitution should be a bill passed for long years, giving the country a sense of stableness and an chance for harmonious development.

Unfortunately, however, it will be said that a constitution of over 200 articles may be passed, which present godly wishes, alternatively of being based on logic, on common sense. Today's draft constitutions, whether left or right, are equally imperfect. If they were passed and if they were to apply, they would origin negative effects for Poland for long years. The function of economical education in society is so very important.

Jan M. Malek for Piotrkowski Time (October 1996)

What techniques do American Republicans usage to educate society, scope the widest possible degree of its crowd?

Republicans are primarily based on the activities of private institutions, including foundations that are by far private in the US. As media is mastered by the left, a number of years ago a strategy of direct correspondence with citizens developed. Various institutions with a Republican attitude, private foundations produce a immense amount of letters explaining a number of matters and directing them to the public, ask for support from various initiatives. They are besides appeals for financial support of a given action or a purpose. In the United States, the method of writing letters to congressmen is highly developed. If a voter wants to influence the formation of the law, he writes a letter to his representative. This is any form of force on the MP to act according to the will of the voters. They are very keen on the voice of their constituents.

Republicans have very serious difficulties in educating society, as do the right hand in Poland. She's missing media. There are radio stations run by conservatives. By listening to them, you can get a series of interesting information and a appropriate view of the world.

Today's left is not just property confiscation, taxation increases. What another face does the modern left in the United States have?

Under the guise of protecting individual groups of citizens, a triumphant march of the left takes place. You can see that, for example, in a substance of rent control. For example, in California, in the late 1970s, a law was passed that allows the introduction of rent checks by individual cities or districts. By this time, the mobile housing market, the alleged circular houses, had developed very rapidly. Many people lived in homes that could easy be moved from place to place. Those who wanted to live in specified a home had to first rent land under that home from individual who had prepared the area. After the introduction of rent control laws, the sale of these houses on wheels fell. On the another hand, the number of areas where these cottages, or alleged parks, were placed, has since decreased by 80% in California. This is the best example of how state interventionism, the implementation of left-wing ideas, caused in the United States the suppression of the improvement of the cheapest, for the poor, housing. These are the effects of foolish orders aimed at, as if improving the surviving conditions of tenants – the poor.

What another fresh spheres of life, according to leftist ideology, is the state presently entering the US?

The most striking example is the field of environmental protection. There are apparent overgrowths of tyranny in this area. For example, the protection of an owl species resulted in a ban on logging in large areas. This is, of course, a controlled logging, 1 that is essential for appropriate forest management. As a consequence of this ban, 30 people lost their jobs.

Another example is that a species of rodent that appeared in farmland caused these farmers to be banned from farming on their own. So it's a private property confiscation. It would have been unthinkable in the past. The Republican organization now wants to abolish these regulations, as they are nonsense.

It is besides interesting that in areas belonging to the U.S. government there is frequently much more contamination than in private areas. Similarly, in the erstwhile communist countries, where the economy was 100% state-owned, environmental contamination is much greater than in liberal-economy countries.

The Republican organization is officially asking to limit the function of the state in the economy and in those areas of life that I mentioned above. However, there is simply a strong opposition of the Democratic Party, including not only socialists, but even communists.

Can Republicans truly be the only hope to reconstruct normality in the United States? Is Presidential candidate Robert Dole a politician who will be able to make a extremist return in the economy and in American awareness?

Dole is evidently not an perfect candidate and very many Republicans are not satisfied with it. It is besides friendly for democrats, it frequently comes to different compromises with the left, which was contrary to the Republican agenda. In the Republican Party, alongside people with right-wing views, there are besides people counted among the left wing of this party. I'd put Dole on the left side of the organization center. It seems to me that any things he does not realize and, on the another hand, exaggerates the influence of Democrats in society. Meanwhile, most Americans are conservative and do not support for example "political correctness". Unfortunately, most American media are in the hands of the left. Many U.S. journalists officially show their belonging to the left, systematically practicing indoctrination.

Is it possible to reverse the course of past and completely reject socialism? Mrs Margaret Tatcher and Ronald Reagan, who are regarded as ruthless opponents of the left, have failed to end socialism.

Whether socialism is or is not depends only on people's attitude. Accepting socialism as a good thing is tantamount to rejecting the Decalogue. Socialism is in clear contradiction with the 7th commandment of “Do not steal!” It is worth noting that the left is always in favour of legalising abortion, which in turn conflicts with the command "Don't kill!" As far as people reject Christianity, socialism will invariably triumph and the greater misery people will experience.

Many people associated with the Church, including priests, urge that they follow the alleged 3rd road in the economy. Does that mean they reject the Decalogue too?

Many priests do not realize this basic fact that taking something by force is simply a violation of the commandment 7. And that's how socialism works. erstwhile we talk about the 3rd path, we mean the limited interference of the state in the economy, which already contradicts the imperative of "Don't steal!" – the first natural law of economics. Another natural law of economics is the law of request and supply. If, for example, the State comes out with an order prohibiting an increase in the prices of a certain product or service and adhere to a price that is below marketplace value, it imposes something that is illegal to natural supply and demand, causing distortions in the economy. We experienced it in the Polish People's Republic: erstwhile there was besides much price for a product, no 1 bought it and the warehouses of bubli were created. On the another hand, erstwhile the price was besides low, request was increasing and the goods were moving out. In these fields, it was not worth investing. If no profit could be earned on a given product, the production facilities avoided spending money on this purpose.

Piotrkowski Time (October 1996)

There are many misunderstandings about the concept of “right”. What is the right hand to you?

In my opinion, those who mention to negative rights, i.e. those who do not restrict the rights of another people to something, are legally represented. If we are to be equal to the law, the right of 1 man cannot be limited by my right. For example, erstwhile I build a home for my own, honestly earned money and want to rent it to people who have a voluntary contract with me to pay this flat at a fixed rate between us, no 1 can impose on me to give this flat to individual for free. It would be having individual with my money that I made invested in hazard of losing them. In the meantime, if individual tells me that this tenant to whom I, under a voluntary contract, hired an flat may stay in it without paying for it, it is simply a confiscation of my income.

In Poland the right pays besides small attention to the economy, besides seldom emphasizes the importance of private property for the successful improvement of society. The "communist Manifesto" clearly said that the essence of communism is the elimination of private property, i.e. deprived of the force of the full life of many people. The more aggressively individual is disposed to individual else's property, the more it is left. The same applies to political parties. The utmost right-winger, on the another hand, is the 1 who best defends property rights. In the field of moral-ethical right-wingers are those who trust on conventional values, consistent with the Decalogue, are patriots.

Let's change the subject for a minute. You're a native Peter. How do you view today’s Peters compared to the 1 you remember in your childhood?

The Old Town and a number of old buildings have been preserved. The damage, of course, to the buildings demolished during the 1939 war. I'm worried about the ongoing devastation of many homes. They're unpainted, plasters are off, they're out. Their maintenance is inappropriate. However, I must say that any advancement has been made, since many buildings look much more aesthetic than even 7 years ago.

It seems to me that in Piotrków many people could find work in the renovation of the tenement houses. It's not a hard job. The unemployed could offer their own services to building owners.

I must add that I always return to Piotrkow with large nostalgia. I am pleased that there is simply a truly right-wing paper “Time Piotrkowski” in my hometown. I know that it is hard to print specified a magazine. All the more reason for the editors of the magazine of perseverance and the best in achieving their goals.

Thank you for your upbuilding wishes and for your conversation.

Paweł Sztaberek spoke

The interview was published in No. 10 of the “Time Piotrkowski” magazine of October 1996. first title: ‘Seventh: Do not steal!’.