Anne Applebaum has a thoughtful piece in the Washington Post (registration required) that pays a special tribute to the shipworkers of Gdansk, Poland who came together some 25 years ago and formed Solidarity to take on the communist masters in Poland. As most people know, the Solidarity movements under the leadership of Lech Walesa aided with the moral support of Pope John Paul II, as well as the political/economic/moral support of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, we able to cast aside their totalitarian overlords thus opening the doors of freedom to Eastern Europe and a death-nail to the Soviet Union and its satellites and relegating communism to the ash heap of history. Anyway, I found it heart stirring to read Applebaum's closing paragraph:
The festivities in Gdansk may not mark the end of this post-transition gloom, or of the resentment of politicians. But they do show that some kind of corner has been turned -- or at least that some Poles have found some blessings to count at last. To mark the anniversary, 100,000 people turned out for a pop concert on the grounds of the shipyard. Across town, dissidents from Burma to Belarus converged to discuss how they might foment their own peaceful revolutions at home. However much they disparage it, the generation that witnessed their country's transformation is finding that it's become a source of pride for their children and a symbol of hope around the world. It's been a long time coming -- take note, Iraq-watchers -- but despite themselves, Poles are starting to feel that Poland is a success.Now that's a testament of how powerful the concepts of freedom and Democracy are to people throughout the world. So congrats to Solidarity on their 25th anniversary, you truly made a difference during the Cold War.
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