Lech Walesa, the fly, feisty, mustachioed electrician from Gdansk, shaped the 20th century as the leader of the Solidarity movement that led the Poles out of communism. It is one of history's great ironies that the nearest thing we have ever seen to a genuine workers' revolution was directed against a so-called workers' state. Poland was again the icebreaker for the rest of Central Europe in the "velvet revolutions" of 1989. Walesa's contribution to the end of communism in Europe, and hence the end of the cold war, stands beside those of his fellow Pole, Pope John Paul II, and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
He was a member of the illegal strike committee in Gdańsk Shipyard in 1970 (Polish 1970 protests). In 1976, Wałęsa lost his job in Gdańsk Shipyard.
In June 1978 he joined the illegal underground Free Trade Unions of the Coast (Wolne Związki Zawodowe Wybrzeża), organized by Bogdan Borusewicz, Andrzej Gwiazda, Krzysztof Wyszkowski, Lech Kaczyński, Anna Walentynowicz, Antoni Sokołowski, and others. On 14 August 1980, after the beginning of an occupational strike in the Lenin Shipyard of Gdańsk, Wałęsa became the leader of this strike. The strike was spontaneously followed by similar strikes, first in Gdańsk, and then across Poland.
In September of that year, the Communist government signed an agreement with the Strike Coordination Committee to allow legal organization, but not actual free trade unions. The Strike Coordination Committee legalized itself into National Coordination Committee of Solidarność (Solidarity) Free Trade Union, and Wałęsa was chosen as a chairman of this Committee.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
In the category of Thinker/Philosopher team Historyectomy selects Khalil Gibran.
My Mom gave me this book ......
a few years ago at Christmas. She told me it was my Dad's favorite book when they were together (they've been divorced for 33 years). With that in mind, I read it and then immediately read it again. Honestly, it was the first piece of philosophical literature that I had ever read that I felt I could apply to my own life, either in experience or in practice. In fact, I need to read it again.
Gibran was a writer and an artist. He was born in present-day Lebanon in 1883 and spent most of his life in the United States. You can read about his life here....
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
Last edited by Displaced Flames fan; 09-09-2009 at 07:54 PM.
He might die by the time the draft is complete.
So many AK's, I guess everyone is busy.
Either that or they're waiting for more people to die.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
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In the political category, I select Josip Broz Tito.
He's a study in contradictions: an anti-war protest during WWI landed him in prison, and yet within a couple years he had become one of the most decorated young officers in the austro-hungarian army. When he was captured by the russians and put in a work camp, he was quickly elected leader of the camp prisoners. He held jobs as a metal-worker, a machinist, and a ship-builder, and consistently was elected to the heads of the unions wherever he worked. His was a version of socialism that sprung not from intellectuals meeting in coffee shops, but from genuine passion for the plight of industry workers. He returned to Russia (now the USSR) and spent a couple years working for the secret police.
In 1941, he became leader of the resistance movement in Yugoslavia, and, with Soviet support, eventually repelled the invaders. Tito was quickly elected Prime Minister, and over the next 35 years, managed a country that was among the least repressed of the communist countries in europe (with impressive freedom of religion, for example), while balancing the intense nationalist sentiments of the various ethnic groups that made up Yugoslavia. And though Soviet Russia had been an ally during the war, Tito kept his independence from the Soviet Union more than any other eastern european nation, often risking open armed conflict with the USSR. He constantly spoke of self-determinism, and was willing to cooperate with anyone, as long as it didn't sacrifice Yugoslavia's independence. Tito continued to be elected by overwhelming margins, until 1976, when he was declared president for life.
Another key contribution to global politics was his co-founding of the non-aligned movement, which we today think of as a rogues gallery, but which was very significant as a third option during an era when two nations were vying for influence over the entire globe. His allies in founding it were Gamal Abdul Nasser (key figure in the Arab nationalism movement), and key leader of Indian independence, Jawaharlal Nehru. Between them, they envisioned a alliance of nations that did not need to pledge allegiance to any other (neither superpowers nor colonial rulers). It became an important voice for third world economic development, as well as global disarmament.
Yugoslavia, unfortunately, did not survive Tito's death for long. It took less than a decade for the country to plunge into internal conflict, civil war, and eventually, dissolution.
(I know I'm still a round behind, I'll try to make it up later tonight)
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In the 13th round, in the category of Living, team Five-hole selects Richard Dawkins.
Dick joins my burgeoning cast of individuals who've been a thorn in the side of religion. He's a beacon of rationalism in an ever more irrational world. He defends the principles of reason and science which seem more and more under attack from the "spiritualist" movements, the religious / creationist lobby in the United States, and the irrational health movements.
He's often vitriolic, even undiplomatic, but you can't doubt his intellect and his conviction. His book "The God Delusion" has been a major influence in my life; it influenced me to go back to school and pushed me toward the research I'm doing / intend to do.
Beyond his torch-bearing for the scientific frame of mind, he was also a brilliant scientist himself: "Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, he made a widely cited contribution to evolutionary biology with the concept, presented in his book The Extended Phenotype, that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can stretch far into the environment, including the bodies of other organisms."
Go with the ol' fill 'er up method of finishing? A free-for-all for those of us still interested?
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
I'm at a disadvantage as I am having computer issues. Browsing/posting from my wife's iPod is a fate worse than death! The fill 'er up method works for me.
