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PiotrŻuk,PawełŻuk
Introduction.Managementoffear
amaninthemasssociety“doesnotformulatehis/herdesires-
theyaredrawnfromoutside.Whilebeinginthemasshe/sheloses
faithinhim/herself-thefaithwhichcharacteriseshumanbeings
(ifhe/shehaveeverhadany).Aslivinginthemasssocietyinstils
him/herasenseofuncertaintyandraisespowerlessness;itmakes
peoplecontinuallyfeelindefiniteanxiety.Thislifeseparatesthe
individualfromastronggroup,destroyspermanentgroupstan-
dards.Havingnoclearpurposeahead,themanfromthemasses
losesthemeaningofhis/herexistence”.
2
ThePolishsocietyisjustanexemplaryillustrationoftheMills’
theoreticalconstructandhasnumerousfeaturesofatypical“mass
society”.Inaddition,theeffectofdisunityandinsecuritystrength-
enstherecord-lowpublicconfidencewithinthePolishsociety.The
cultureoftrustalwaysreducestensionsandconflictsandstrength-
enstiesbetweenhumanbeings.InPolandintheeraof“realcapi-
talism”therehasbeenanatmosphereofcommonmistrustwhich
promotesauthoritarianbehaviours,repressivepoliticalprojectsand
enforcedapprovalstotoughentheprovisionsofcriminallaw,as
wellassupportspopulistsofferingblack-and-whitepoliticalvisions
oftheworld.
Medianewsonriskofterror,ongoingwars,militaryconflicts
threateningPolandorincreasingcrimeratesurelymakeitdifficult
tobuildthecultureofconfidenceandopennesstowardotherpeo-
ple.Arethereanychancestocreatemorerational,peacefulpolitics
whichrejectstheprimacyofexcessivespendingonarmaments?Are
paramilitarytrendsinPolandjustaninnocentplayoramanifesta-
tionofauthoritariantendencies?Mustwe-intheeraofdominionof
“security”over“freedom”-acceptfurtherlimitationsofourcivil
rights?Cannationalisticphobiasandartificialdivisionsevokedby
governmentsandreligiousleadersbereplacedwithrank-and-file
agreementsbetweenandamongpeople?Mustwebepermanently
accompaniedwithasenseoffearinourtoday’sworld?Areyouable
toimagineanyotherpoliticsthantheonecarriedoutthrough
manipulationofsocialemotionsand‘fuelling’concernsandpreju-
dicesagainstimaginedenemies?
TheseandmanyotherquestionsareaskedbytheAuthorsof
thearticlespublishedinthebook.Theyareverytopicalatthetime
whenunderthepretextofpervasivethreatssocialexpenditureis
cut,publicspendingonthe“securityindustry”isincreased,civil
rightsarelimitedaswellassurveillanceandsupervisionbythe
apparatusofrepressionexpanded;whenrelationsbetweenthestate
2Ch.WrightMills,Elitawładzy,IgnacyRafelski(ed.),KsiążkaiWiedza,Warszawa
2
1961,p.424.
