Tusk announced that railways and highways near border crossings with Ukraine will now become "critical infrastructure." In doing so, the government effectively declared war on the protesting farmers.
I agree with everything written here. However, I also feel like we need to widen the perspective on this conflict, because this conflict is not only between the Polish conservative nationalists against the policies of the EU, versus the "avocado" eating, pro-EU urban liberals. It is obvious that the Polish government is just a servant of the EU policies, but are all EU policies bad for us? I'm a huge critic of the EU environmental policies, but there's a difference between attacking these policies from the right (global warming is a hoax, we want to keep using fossil fuels etc) and from the left (are you solving real problems or just pretending to do so by slapping the green label the regular, toxic capitalist expansion?)
Polish farmers have every right to protest and express their opinion/fight for their interests and I find jailing, intimidating and shaming them truly appalling. This is typical for the Polish society, which is intolerant and immature. But are the farmers' interests my interests? Are the farmers' postulates progressive? Do the farmers oppose military and financial aid to the fascist regime in Ukraine and the NATO war provocations against Russia, or are they just protesting against one single issue that directly hurts them? Do farmers understand that the Ukrainian grain flows because it used to be sold to Russia, which is now embargoed by the EU, including Poland, and that this, together with the flow of refugees is the direct outcome of their country policies? Do they understand the "free market" policies they generally support? Do farmers care about their fellow citizens' health when they massively spray the food with toxic pesticides and use petrol-based fertilizers? Or they don't care, because they are simply "kulaks" who care only about own profit? Polish farmers want to tell me they are not willing to limit the amount of toxins they discharge into the ground, water and air, into our food causing us irreparable harm, and that this policy is allegedly anti-Polish? They want to tell me that they are set on ignoring all tipping points of ecological collapse and demand more wilderness/forests to be turned into agricultural land for profit? Now they are befriending hunters who kill for sport in their plight. If they care so much about the low quality of Ukrainian grain, why is their grain so toxic and unhealthy for us? Why can't farmers all over Europe sacrifice their self-centered interests for the health of own population? It literally hurts me to see Ukrainian grain destroyed when it could feed starving Palestinians or Yemenis. But Polish farmers don't care about that, they only care about capitalist profit and are willing to destroy food to keep the grain prices up. This is capitalism in its full ugliness, with its vulgarity and lack of empathy, with its empty slogans and hypocrisy. I believe we can do better as a society.
I agree with everything written here. However, I also feel like we need to widen the perspective on this conflict, because this conflict is not only between the Polish conservative nationalists against the policies of the EU, versus the "avocado" eating, pro-EU urban liberals. It is obvious that the Polish government is just a servant of the EU policies, but are all EU policies bad for us? I'm a huge critic of the EU environmental policies, but there's a difference between attacking these policies from the right (global warming is a hoax, we want to keep using fossil fuels etc) and from the left (are you solving real problems or just pretending to do so by slapping the green label the regular, toxic capitalist expansion?)
Polish farmers have every right to protest and express their opinion/fight for their interests and I find jailing, intimidating and shaming them truly appalling. This is typical for the Polish society, which is intolerant and immature. But are the farmers' interests my interests? Are the farmers' postulates progressive? Do the farmers oppose military and financial aid to the fascist regime in Ukraine and the NATO war provocations against Russia, or are they just protesting against one single issue that directly hurts them? Do farmers understand that the Ukrainian grain flows because it used to be sold to Russia, which is now embargoed by the EU, including Poland, and that this, together with the flow of refugees is the direct outcome of their country policies? Do they understand the "free market" policies they generally support? Do farmers care about their fellow citizens' health when they massively spray the food with toxic pesticides and use petrol-based fertilizers? Or they don't care, because they are simply "kulaks" who care only about own profit? Polish farmers want to tell me they are not willing to limit the amount of toxins they discharge into the ground, water and air, into our food causing us irreparable harm, and that this policy is allegedly anti-Polish? They want to tell me that they are set on ignoring all tipping points of ecological collapse and demand more wilderness/forests to be turned into agricultural land for profit? Now they are befriending hunters who kill for sport in their plight. If they care so much about the low quality of Ukrainian grain, why is their grain so toxic and unhealthy for us? Why can't farmers all over Europe sacrifice their self-centered interests for the health of own population? It literally hurts me to see Ukrainian grain destroyed when it could feed starving Palestinians or Yemenis. But Polish farmers don't care about that, they only care about capitalist profit and are willing to destroy food to keep the grain prices up. This is capitalism in its full ugliness, with its vulgarity and lack of empathy, with its empty slogans and hypocrisy. I believe we can do better as a society.
Best Wishes,
Dorota