Lech Walesa believes himself. You can tell by listening and watching him speak, even though you will have to wait for an interpreter to get the real words.

The founder of the Solidarity movement in Poland and the humble working electrician credited with helping bring down the Communist Block in Eastern Europe in the 1980s stood resolutely in front of a 250-person invited crowd at Minnesota State University Wednesday and told his story.

Walesa became renowned for defying the Communist government in Poland when he jumped over a wall to join his fellow striking workers. He was later elected the first Democratic president of Poland.

A talk from a historic figure like this comes rarely. MSU political science professor Doran Hunter and his colleagues at the university and the Caux Round Table deserve credit for bringing a leader like Walesa to a town like Mankato.

I wish I would have been able to cover Walesa as a journalist when he was leading the Solidarity movement. He’s the kind of politician who journalists just can’t get enough of. He admits his faults, has self-deprecating humor and doesn’t back away from controversial questions.

In response to an audience question on whether he would answer a controversial question, he said, the tougher the question, the better. Let’s get to it.

Walesa had too many good ideas for them to be saved on 250 people, and he implored his audience to start a discussion on his ideas and do something with them. Here’s my contribution. It’s a Reader’s Digest version of great ideas about freedom and world peace that carry more weight because they come from someone who has been the victim of oppression and who has paid a price for peace in his country.

n The countries of the world, says Walesa, need to come together under one simple set of rules and a world parliament that would be focused on resolving three issues: border disputes, ethnic cleansing and terrorism.

Walesa’s quote: “Whoever violates them, the whole world will be against them. No discussion, whatsoever.”

n The world we have where 10 percent of the people own 90 percent of the property “is not sustainable.” We have to figure out ways to share ownership, whether that be with the disaffected people of our communities or the employees of our corporations.

Walesa’s quote: “The situation is becoming dangerous.” If we don’t do something about this, the oppressed “will improve this for us.”

n The United States of America, its democracy and its freedom, are more important to the rest of the world than they are to its own citizens. When the world is ready to live together, Jew next to Arab, they will have a model. The United States will be an example of how to do it.

Walesa’s quote: “You are the ultimate refuge to the rest of the world. When calamity occurs, we know the U.S. will help.”

n The arms industry is in decline. Technology reduced the need for traditional warfare. Europe provides the example. The economies of the European countries are now so interdependent, there is no profit in fighting.

Walesa’s quote: “Fewer and fewer are winning fights.”

n Terrorism will subside by bringing the educational level up in countries that harbor and allow terrorists to develop. When they become educated, they will not be easily convinced to sacrifice their life for nothing.

n We need a global approach to ecology. Every country should be at the same discussion on how to preserve the world’s natural resources and prevent environmental disasters.

Walesa’s quote: If we don’t take a global approach to the environment, “we won’t survive.”

n He senses Americans fear globalization. We fear joining together with other nations and working together to important goals whether they be justice, world peace or environmental issues. We shouldn’t fear it, he says.

As the world’s only superpower, we have the ability to set the globalization agenda, to decide what issues should be global ones. He doesn’t see that leadership coming right now from the United States.

n Today, we need to incorporate values more than ever in our governments. Not religious values, but more universal values like freedom and justice.

At the beginning of his talk, Walesa told the story of a how a small, insignificant man in a small country did one thing that helped the world see a problem more clearly. The world saw the Communist oppression in Poland through the experience of one shipyard electrician.

Last week, a small part of the world saw the need for global cooperation more clearly, and it was again through the experience of one humble shipyard electrician.



Joe Spear is the managing editor of The Free Press. Contact him at 344-6382 or jspear@mankatofreepress.com.