I have not written for a long time about Poland. It is not that I have lost interest due to not visiting the country this year. It was because Poland is going through very difficult, complex times and I did not feel qualified to write on the subject. And I have been scared and concerned about the country future.
I follow the events closely, though, hoping for some positive change. Not the “good change” that is currently implanted in Poland on many fronts. I will keep my silence on the subject, at least for a while, except the recent events and the last black Monday protests against the total abortion ban. Polish abortion laws are already one of the most restrictive in the world, and now things were going to change to forbid abortion under any circumstances including rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life or irreparable damage to a fetus. It was proposed that not following the rules would result in prison for mothers and anyone helping in removing the pregnancy. This also included incidental damage to a fetus. Like miscarriage or medical intervention to protect the mother’s life.
I just wanted to paint the picture of the context in which I was lead to find out about one of the young Polish actresses Karolina Czarnecka. She was very active in the Monday demonstrations so I looked her up. And I found her song. It is a song the young actress sang as an assignment at her acting school. Some of her friends placed it on YOUTUBE and the song immediately went viral, and it has over 23 million hits today. The song, to me, is a very convincing warning against mindlessly and joyfully getting on a death road through drugs.
I am aware of most likely losing the interest of my readers through translations that do not work well, but Karolina caught my attention to such an extent that I listened to this and others of her songs almost the whole day. Here is the song. One needs to share, so I do.
The song is about a shy, sweet boy, Jimmy who on his way to school met a dealer and bought from him three fixes. He even got one for free to close the deal in style.
The school principal was right to order Jimmy to share his good fortune equally with everyone. It was a wonderful and original gesture; any school should resist the evil of selfishness.
The chorus sings:
Heroine, coke, hash, LSD
This party is dreamt of at nights
LSD, heroin, coke and hash
Share with friends all that you've got
Now, Jimmy is in paradise with his friends and saints started to do drugs with the newcomers from the school.
Going back to the protest supported by the young actress, the Polish government after the eventful black Monday changed its mind and the current abortion laws will remain. At least for now…
That is a poignant post. The abortion law situation is puzzling for me as it is very legal here.
ReplyDeleteIt has been the situation in Poland as well, but it has changed some years ago to achieve a "compromise". It is a very restrictive law by comparison to most of the European countries. What upset me so much was putting lives of women in danger by refusing them medical help to protect an unborn child at any stage of its development. The big influence of church is one of the reasons for such restrictive laws but the others are just misogynistic, I think.
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