The Polish people are perplexed by some Americans lack of appreciation for our market-based economic system where consumers, not government bureaucrats, decide what to buy, manufacture and consume.
For example, they do not understand why New York City voters would elect Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old socialist, as mayor when he advocates a network of government stores to replace the wide variety of retailers from supermarkets to corner grocers.
One trip to the Poland's Solidarity Museum in Gdańsk, the birthplace of democracy in Poland, would give New Yorkers an eye-opening view of what government-controlled stores looked like under Communism-empty store shelves, rationed products, and few choices.
In 1989, Poland broke the shackles of Soviet domination with the rise of Lech Walesa and the Solidarity labor movement. Free, for the first time since World War II, Polish leaders cast off the choking yoke of government control and central planning.
Today, Poland is a European Union powerhouse. Poles eagerly jumped into open markets. The once dreary cities with stark and drab government buildings now are modern and bustling with malls, shops, and restaurants.
Since the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, the U.S. and Poland have been like trains heading in opposite directions. Poland is expanding it opportunities for freedom and prosperity while America has been stymied by strangling government red tape, rioting and unsafe streets and schools.
Between June 2021 and October 2023, pollster Rainer Zitelmann surveyed 35,000 people in 35 countries about preference between government market control and capitalism.
In none of those countries was approval of the consumer-driven economy as high as in Poland beating the United States, Czech Republic, South Korea and Japan.
Poland and the U.S. share are deeply rooted bonds some of which extend to Washington State. For example, Seattle and Gdynia have been sister cities since 1993.
Educators and local government leaders along the country's Baltic Coast adopted Washington's free enterprise experience called Business Week.
Washington Business Week, which started in 1975 at the Association of Washington Business, is a series of week-long business "boot camps" and virtual programs where high school students get hands-on experience in what it's like to run a business, create new products, compete in the global marketplace and make decisions that change people's lives.
In the beginning, Polish students attended Washington Business Week at Central Washington University.
Then city leaders in Gdynia brought American teachers, business leaders and students to their country to start Poland Business Week. It has been a vibrant partnership.
Government intrusion does not work as the Polish people know all too well. It leads to shortages, higher prices and lost opportunities.
America's economic freedoms inspired a revolution in Poland.
Mamdani, New York City voters and those who rail against America's way of life need only to look at the transformation in Poland.
We do not need a command-and-control government.
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Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer, and columnist. Contact him at theBrunells@msn.com.
