A Lesson From Poland's Solidarity Movement
We can learn from Poland's defeat of Communism
One of the defining moments in my life was my visit to then-communist Poland in 1987. Ronald Reagan was president and I was a typical know-it-all, cocky teenager when I arrived there. I will never forget how it felt like we were entering a prison as soon as we arrived at the airport.
If you are old enough to remember traveling pre-9-11, then you remember not being subjected to searches and interrogations on your intentions when being found with bottles of anything larger than 3.4 ounces.
So it may be harder to draw a contrast to the treatment we encounter on arrival, but I remember the security officer doing a full body pat down on our entire family and a thorough search of all our bags as they checked to make sure we were not carrying large amounts of cash or any unapproved items into the country.
This experience rocked me since as an American, up to that point, you were able to travel freely without being considered as a criminal. Well up to 9-11-2001 at least. Since then, I sometimes think the security there was less intrusive.
Luckily, my father arranged a trip throughout the country. Along with seeing family in different parts of the country, we also toured various cities and saw religious sites like Częstochowa.
During this time in history, this was no easy task. It was not because smartphones and websites like Travelocity didn’t exist to help purchase hotels and rentals. It was because under a communist system, purchasing ANYTHING was strictly controlled and in most cases completely forbidden.
For example, you could not just pull into a gas station and fill up your rental car. Gasoline was strictly rationed and you could only get small quantities of it with special monthly coupons. It typically took 6 YEARS to purchase a vehicle so rentals were out of the question.
My father had been planning this trip for more than a year and was pooling these gas coupons from friends and families who didn’t need the monthly coupons they received. He also hired a childhood friend who was a taxi driver in Poland to drive us around the country. Taxi drivers had fewer restrictions on both paying for fuel as well as traveling, but we were still routinely stopped and checked anywhere we traveled.
At this point in my life, I was routinely traveling from New Jersey to Philadephia, New York, and Connecticut. Back and forth with no restrictions and never having to worry about how to get fuel or go through any checkpoints. So seeing this for the first time in my life blew my mind.
It felt like being in a prison. In multiple spots, I remember my father saying we were being watched and it was time to leave. All we were doing was seeing some historical and religious sites and trying to learn about their history.
But the defining moment of the trip was visiting the small town where my parents were both born near Poland’s northeastern border with Russia. Most of the town including where we stayed had no running water. You had to draw water from a nearby well. Some of the nicer farms had outhouses, but in the rest, you shared your restroom with the farm animals. Toilet paper was unheard of along with anything that resembled our supermarkets.
I went with my cousin early one morning to help him pass the time on the local breadline. We waited for over 4 hours in line to get a loaf that was as hard as a bat.
However, despite these horrible conditions, our family was full of resourceful farmers so we still had some wonderful meals. However, we could also see that they were saving up rations of meat for months prior to our arrival.
It was both a horrible and wonderful experience. Wonderful to see how people could still remain strong under such horrible conditions.
I returned home and kissed the ground. It was after that experience I became a US Patriot and started to study anything I could get my hands on to understand how something so evil as Communism could still be allowed to exist on the earth.
President Reagan's crusade to topple communism immediately resonated with me. So it was at that moment I became a Republican.
As I started following the news and global politics more closely, I saw the growing grassroots movement standing up to the tyranny of communism called Solidarity. The public face of the movement was Lech Wałęsa and its epicenter seems to be the Gadask shipyards since they started with demands for shipbuilders to have basics like food and safe working conditions.
But the movement quickly spread across Poland as well as Poles living in around the world. How could you see it spreading? Bumper stickers, shirts, hats, and flags started showing up everywhere. TV and radio programs opened with songs and speakers praising Solidarity.
As I was reading everything I could about Communism as well as reconciling it with US History lessons, it dawned on me that the core driver to communism’s successes was division. On the other hand, everything with the Solidarity movement as well as the US Revolution was about unity.
Solidarity = We The People
So the antithesis to what the globalists are trying to do to us is to organize together. Unifying under a single banner and building a movement that brings hope and strength to the people involved with it.
So how do we do it?
It starts with meeting face-to-face. Zoom calls are okay for quick meetings, but you can’t replace what happens when people get together socially in one place. And meeting face-to-face requires you to organize locally. Local groups can then elect leadership that can link up with other groups across the state.
Or you can jump-start the process by joining/forming groups like the Republican Assemblies or Liberty Caucus. The most important thing to look for is some state or national-level affiliation to help join forces with. Local clubs are great for meeting like-minded people, but unless that group can associate with other chapters in the state or the country your reach will be limited.
When you are organized, you can call on others to join you quickly from other parts of the state and nation. And this was why Solidarity was so successful. Even while based in Poland, advocates here in the US were calling on Congress and local media outlets to help.
This is the power of unity. This is the power of organization.
Think of it now when you may be walking around wearing a Trump hat and immediately someone says “I like your hat.” You have a new connection. But unless there is a way you can stay in contact, that potential is lost once you walk away from one other.
When the Polish shipyard workers stood together as an organized team under the banner of Solidarity, the opposition knew they were not going to be bought off individually. As well, the communists knew that attempts to arrest or kill their leaders would set off a powerkeg reaction.
The same goes here. Which situation will have more influence? Showing up to your local Supervisor of Elections with 5 people? Or showing up with 50-100 people? How about a flood of thousands of emails and voicemails that come in from extra members banding together from across the state and nation?
The vehicle I have chosen to organize with is The Florida Republican Assembly or FRA. The most important reason for me is how the organization puts God First. I personally think the only way we are fixing this issue is by replacing our current political class with God-fearing, moral people.
FRA offers a state organization model that focuses on decentralized local chapters typically organized in each county. Each county has its own leadership and focus, but we can plug in with each other at the state and national levels to push for legislation and share information.
The state assemblies also have a national umbrella organization called, The National Federation of Republican Assemblies, that helps you connect to assemblies in other states. For example, the Florida Republican Assembly is teaming up with individuals at the Georgia Republican Assembly to start standardizing hand-count ballot training.
That is the power of organizing and building larger networks.
FRA is not the only organization out there, but I am more biased toward a Christian-Conservative, family-oriented tribe. The Liberty Caucaus is also another great organization that has more of a Libertarian focus.
In the end, follow your heart to the group that best fits your interest. If you want to expand on the lessons of the Polish Solidarity movement, I would recommend you look for the following:
Find a group that has both local, state, and national reach to magnify your network.
Find a group that meets regularly FACE-TO-FACE so you can meet and network on a more personable level.
Find a group that uses branding like hats and shirts that can quickly communicate with others. This will connect you to people quickly from across crowded rooms. When we did our recent presentation at the Lindell event wearing our white FRA hats, we could be quickly spotted anywhere in the lobby.
I’m an introvert who really stayed to myself for the last 10 years focusing primarily on my family. But with my family and county’s future on the line, I fully recognize how important it is to go out and network with other like-minded people and organize together.
It’s undeniable, that there is power in numbers.
So Patriots! Let’s Assemble!