Polish people are perplexed by American politics

Donald Trump’s address in Warsaw on July 6, 2025, was his best as President. His prepared remarks carried the right tone and hit the mark. For once, he stuck to the script.

It was a message the Polish people were waiting to hear from America. It was a message Americans need to remember as “progressive Democrats” embrace socialism and communism and threaten to abolish our system which has worked for 250 years.

Trump called on the U.S. and its Western allies to confront common threats, declaring, “Our values will prevail, our people will thrive and our civilization will triumph.”

The President added (paraphrasing): We write symphonies, pursue innovation, seek to explore and discover new frontiers, reward brilliance, strive for excellence, empower women as pillars of our society and success, and treasure the rule of law and right to free speech and free expression.

Poland and the U.S. have deep, longstanding ties, including connections to Washington state. Polish leaders value America’s enterprising spirit and market-driven economy, and they welcome U.S. troops and military technology.

Educators along the country’s Baltic Coast adopted Washington’s free enterprise experience called Business Week. Polish students excel in math and science, but they want to be more innovative. Thinking outside the box and unleashing student’s creativity is “The Magic of Business Week.”

Washington Business Week, celebrating its 50th birthday, started in 1975 at the Association of Washington Business (AWB), is a series of week-long business “boot camps” 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.

Since its inception, Business Week has expanded to 22 states, Australia, Italy and Poland. Polish leaders first learned about the program through the sister-city relationship between Seattle and Gdynia. Civic leaders then embraced the idea, helping Poland Business Week grow in Gdansk, Gdynia and the tiny Baltic-region hamlet of Bolesławowo.

During the school year under communism, Polish teachers and students followed a very rigid academic curriculum developed and approved by government officials. But at Business Week, they learn how to unleash their creativity, which was suppressed by the Communist regime.

Poland broke the shackles of Soviet domination 28 years ago with the rise of Lech Walesa and the Solidarity labor movement. Free for the first time since World War II, Poland cast off its yoke of stifling government control and disastrous central government planning.

Today, Poland is a European Union powerhouse. Poles eagerly jumped into open markets where consumers dictate. The once dreary cities with drab government buildings now are modern and bustling with malls, shops and restaurants.

Poland and other eastern Europe countries ended communism in 1989. They were fed up with the system where government bureaucrats and politicians decide what products people should buy and how they should think.

The oppressive Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall, the symbol of oppression, came tumbling down. People behind what was called the Iron Curtain had been locked behind walls and barbed-wire fences with a mile-wide, mined corridor called the death strip. This strip was heavily guarded. Guards had authorization to shoot people trying to go through this strip.

If people tried to escape by hiding underneath railroad cars, they were scalded by superheated steam baths at border crossings.

The question Americans need to consider: “If communism was so great, why were people risking their lives to escape? Why were grocery store shelves consistently empty? Why were citizens locked up for expressing their views and religious beliefs?”

Government intrusion does not work, as the Polish people know all too well. It is oppressive and leads to shortages, higher prices and lost opportunities.

For example, friends in Kraków told us that under communism, they paid for a government-built apartment a decade before it was built and had no choice of location or design.

“Only when Poland abandoned communism were we able to buy a Mercedes and start our thriving tour-guide business. Nobody wanted to see the city in a crammed, uncomfortable and unreliable Yugo, but that was the only option available at the time!”

America’s economic freedoms inspired a revolution in Poland. Trump’s speech gave Poles hope that we’ve not lost our way. Those same inspiration and thoughtful speeches need to occur across the United States by all leaders wanting America to thrive for the next 250 years.

Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer and columnist. He retired as president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s oldest and largest business organization, and now lives in Vancouver. He can be contacted at theBrunells@msn.com.