Lech (Solidarity)Walesa, former Polish president, to visit New York in support of Occupy Wall Street

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NY Daily News

By Corky Siemaszko

Solidarity hero Lech Walesa is flying to New York to show his support for the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

"How could I not respond," Walesa told a Polish newspaper Wednesday. "The thousands of people gathered near Wall Street are worried about the fate of their future, the fate of their country. This is something I understand."

A former shipyard worker who led Poland's successful revolt against Soviet communism, Walesa said "capitalism is in crisis" and not just in America.

"This is a worldwide problem," he told the Lublin-based Dziennik Wschodni newspaper. "The Wall Street protesters have focused a magnifying glass on the problem."




Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/occupy_wall_street/2011/10/12/2011-10-12_lech_walesa_former_polish_president_to_visit_new_york_in_support_of_occupy_wall_.html?mid=5007

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Mike Marsland/WireImage
Lech Walesa has warned of a "worldwide revolt against capitalism" if the Wall St. protests are ignored.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/occupy_wall_street/2011/10/12/2011-10-12_lech_walesa_former_polish_president_to_visit_new_york_in_support_of_occupy_wall_.html#ixzz1ahPro8wZ

[DoBotherMe]

1. What a coup for the OWS!

I bet the Unions show up to see Lech! I would love to hear him speak. Dana ; )

[livetohike]

2. Hopefully some of our leaders will understand it too and

act accordingly. Wish I could be there.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Whatever else he may be . . .

. . . he is a visible symbol of resistance to an unjust system.

I can't wait to hear how FoxNews is going to ignore this. They sure as hell can't spin it.

[Aerows]

19. Fox will come up with some way to spin it

Even if it is just via snide comments.

[Downwinder]

4. Hope OWS is still there when he arrives.

Otherwise a big black eye for Bloomberg.

[frylock]

5. solidarnosc!

:applause:

[Joe Shlabotnik]

6. I just hope the Occupiers aren't evicted before then.

Bloomberg to Walesa: "See, nobody here.... nothing to see her Mr. Walesa, might as well fly back home"

[tartan2]

7. Oh hooray, this just gives me goose bumps!

[Kingofalldems]

8. Oh Yeah! Freeper OWS haters dumbfounded over this

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Thank you, Lech!

[stlsaxman]

10. in honor of his visit...

[Kingofalldems]

11. Kick again for the anti-OWS repubs and their smear tactics

[DoBotherMe]

12. kick

[LanternWaste]

13. Wow! Just wow!

Wow! Just wow!

This man was absolutely pivotal in the fall of Communism throughout Central and East Europe. His union's movement was the major catalyst for bringing down regime after regime.

His is a wonderful voice of quiet authority.

[In Other News]

14. Excellent

Even if I still can't get his name pronounced right! ;-)

[Aristus]

24. Spelled out phonetically,

the closest pronunciation would be "Leck Vowenssa".

[SOS]

15. Kick

:kick:

[Blaze Diem]

16. Rec & WOW..Hero of the people.. Great timing

at a time when push is becoming 'shove back', Walesa arrives like a fresh, just opened XXX Super Duper Energy Drink.
Power to the OWS, the 99%, Carry on my wayward sons, help is on the way

[Better Believe It]

17. K & R

[Cal Carpenter]

18. Does anyone else see any irony in this?

Wealth disparity in Poland is INCREASING due to capitalism because that is what capitalism does.

This guy is a hard-core pro-capitalist. Why romanticize him?

Some context:

www.naomiklein.org/files/resources/pdfs/Wielgosz.pdf (sorry, it's a pdf, the only source I can find for it)

"The restoration of capitalism in Poland has created a social wasteland. The current ‘alterglobalisation’ phenomenon is more of a social scene (activist scene). than a social movement. Workers protests are truly dramatic and often end in riots (last July saw rioting in the streets of Warsaw during a Miners demonstration), but they lack co- ordination and a political tendency. Even when a wave of strikes and protests rises, as happened in 2002-2003, forcing changes in the budget policies of the ‘leftwing’ government of the SLD (The Democratic Left Alliance), they do not leave behind any lasting structures or representation.

In Poland today, Solidarity means almost nothing. In the eyes of ordinary citizens it is seen as compromised, corrupt and treacherous. It has become less and less of a point of reference for workers struggling to defend their liquidated workplaces. For them, more important It is the solidarity with a small ‘s’ that means more to them. "

[Edim]

20. Yes

I see irony. Many people from the former "eastern bloc" are pro-capitalist because of propaganda. They think capitalism means freedom, more or less. Simple confusion. They mean well, but are misled.

[Cal Carpenter]

21. I agree with you to a point

However I refuse to think that someone like Walesa is naive enough to be simply misled. He knows what he is doing, and he is trying to protect capitalism from what is becoming a worldwide revolt against it (see Greece, for example). He isn't supporting the revolt. He is trying to help squash it with platitudes. The OWS in the US is in its birth stages. We have a long way to go, but folks like Walesa won't help us get to the truth of how we got here, he will only help keep us muddled.

[Edim]

22. possible

I can't say anything about his agenda/intentions, I could only speculate.

I disagree that someone like Walesa is naive enough to be misled. Everyone can be misled. What is he like actually? I see on Wikipedia that he's allegedly a staunch opponent of abortion. So he seems to be misled about that.

[Riley18]

23. K & R

[gtar100]

25. K&R

[Safetykitten]

26. Nice!