Permission

The ugly savagery of PiS is not a glitch, but a feature albeit one that had to be recalibrated as they entered their second phase as the party of the petty bourgeoisie. Kaczynski constructed a tent and invited a special kind of Pole inside; spiritually empty yet devoutly Catholic, devoid of imagination yet obsessively preoccupied with conspiracy and paranoia, one who has chosen a profession where they have to work with the public whom they despise. During their wilderness years, PiS figured out that those they despised, the great unwashed, could be manipulated quite easily to serve the petty bourgeoisie whose ambition has always been to usurp the big bourgeoisie. The method of manipulation was remodelled. The old Bread and Circuses recipe jettisoned in favour of Money and Fear. Turn on the tap, then show them the bogeyman. Rinse and repeat. First we had immigrants and then it was gays, both were soft targets, guaranteed to mobilize the great unwashed into a voting frenzy. Kaczynski spotted what we in the media often overlook, that for many people the supposed successes and failures at the top do not matter. They are satisfied not by cerebral results but with an emotional pay-off, or as Guardian commentator John Harris puts it, “feelings of belonging, shared values and whether or not politicians reflect their idealised sense of who they are.”

PiS successfully aligned themselves with how the majority of people in Poland like to see themselves, patriotic, law abiding, defenders of Polish values. This was the spoken message and as a marketing campaign, you have to admit it does one hell of a job. As simple and effective as the “Coke is It” slogan from the 1980’s. Through their phoney culture wars they shunted liberals quite easily into a political cul-de-sac where perversely to not support Kaczynski, that most famous of bachelors and defender of Bishops, meant you were anti-family. To not support PiS, this very Soviet of organisations, founded at the beginning of the 21st century, discredited you as anti-Polish and subsequently anti-tradition. In PiS-world, everything could be flipped 180 degrees. To be decent and tolerant to another person’s sexuality or colour, in other words to be humane, actually meant you were a George Soros controlled android, a tool of the illusory Matrix and dedicated to the enslavement of mankind.

That was and is the spoken message, a manichean myth and very hard to dislodge. It goes some way to explaining PiS’s bullet-proof armour. Yet it’s their unspoken message which really resonates. Actions speak louder than words and PiS like Fidesz, are untouchable because they have subconsciously tapped into the base attitudes to which the majority of people are most comfortable. Look at Daniel Obajtek whom Kaczynski has dedicated so much time and money grooming; cunning, aspirational, he fits conveniently into Kaczynski’s pocket like a pet adder. He is the poster-boy for success. Obajtek is the message and the message is, “This could be you. You don’t have to work hard or be particularly smart. Just be prepared to shaft your own mother and we’ll make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.”

This is why PiS are the party of Poland. They have given the Poles permission to dream.

It’s just a pity those dreams are bad.