AN ENTREPRENEUR`S CONCERN

I feel like a sociologically manipulated idiot when politicians of various colors encourage me to vote for or against the European Constitution in the referendum.

Firstly, because in order to understand the spirit and content of this fundamental document, contained within more than 700 pages, and evaluate their potential benefits for me, my region, Poland and Europe as a whole, I would have to be a talented lawyer and constitutionalist – two things that I am clearly not.

Secondly, I can’t afford to commission a professional opinion on the constitution from a minimum of two specialists because they would probably be contradictory, soaked in political drivel and written in legal code, which a common man like myself couldn’t understand in the absence of a third expert who could cook up a compromise opinion and present it in more or less understandable terms.

Only in the wake of these numerous and costly analyses would I be prepared to participate in a referendum and relatively aware of the consequences of my democratic vote for the house in which I live.

In a civilized country with a developed democracy I would certainly rely on the opinions of politicians concerning the advantages and drawbacks of the constitution, since they would enjoy my complete trust, if nothing else with respect to fundamental issues.

Any man who places his trust in Polish politicians, even with respect to the most banal and simple issues, is a candidate for intensive psychiatric counseling. In all honestly, I don’t believe more than 10 percent of society would even express that kind of trust.

Moreover I am convinced that a majority of “members” of the political class who are busily voicing their opinions on the pluses and minuses of the constitution haven’t even read it. Even if they have perused the document, intellectual and knowledge considerations dictate that they haven’t understood a word. In light of this, I ask the government to finance the earlier outline of expert consultations in order to engineer my conscious participation in the referendum. I believe several thousand zloty should suffice. Otherwise, even if I should find myself in the voting booth, I will refuse to vote so that my blind choice does not add to the overall turnout. I hope that most members of society – at least those who are thinking – will do the same, which means that as a result both the decision and the responsibility will be assumed by the parliament.

This position should be defined from the very beginning, since asking a farmer, locksmith or veterinarian for their opinion on the European Constitution in this way and forcing them to make an uninformed choice is pure manipulation and a escape for politicians eager to avoid responsibility. Personally, like I hope many of my fellow citizens, I will begin to trust politicians when they start doing what it is they were sent to do – making good laws. When they begin passing laws creating the conditions for the normal functioning and growth of the economy; when they finally agree on the different between a truck, delivery vehicle and passenger car; when they eliminate the regulation that says when I turn left on a green arrow I have right of way and not when I turn right on a green arrow (this regulation was likely passed under the influence of nationalists whose secret aim is to entirely rid our country of foreigners); when they do away with the law that requires me to drive no faster than 50 km/h in rural areas before 11 p.m. and 60 km/h after, which requires drivers and policemen everywhere to buy reliable Swiss watches in order to effectively apply and enforce the law.

In point of fact there is a long road ahead of us before cooperation between politicians and society will be possible. Not to mention the work that politicians must do on themselves, although it is a rather naïve hope that today’s politicians can ever reform and make peace with the logical pro-State and social thinking that the basis of life and social development is the economy. The pre-requisite for economic growth, in turn, are good laws, laws that are made to man’s needs and existing realities.