Lech Walesa, Polish President from 1990 to 1995, Nobel Peace laureate, and one of the founders of the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland that hastened the downfall of the communist regime, spoke last night to the 32nd annual Caux Conference for Business and Industry on the theme of “Globalization: Closing the Gaps”.

Lech Walesa, Polish President from 1990 to 1995, Nobel Peace laureate, and one of the founders of the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland that hastened the downfall of the communist regime, spoke last night to the 32nd annual Caux Conference for Business and Industry on the theme of “Globalization: Closing the Gaps”. ‘We are living through a change of era,’ he said, ‘moving out of a world of blocs, of systems and nations, into a globalized world of information, intellect and technology and moving to larger structures than the state.’

The former President spoke of the ‘urgent need to re-orient ourselves, and to use our time wisely and well’. ‘You can change a government in a night, and laws in the life of a parliament, but a change of mentality is vitally important, and is very hard to bring about,’ he continued. In the informal evening of questions and answers, he called for everyone to be active agents of change, instead of just complaining. ‘We need moral and spiritual values, ethics, and commitment. Laws alone will not keep man in his place.’ The next decade was crucial, he suggested. ‘Your children and your grandchildren will ask you what you did, and why you did not do enough,’ he said.

Poland’s historical experience was rooted in its geography, he continued, noting wryly that her two great neighbours, Russia and Germany, were tourist nations who had discovered that the shortest route to the other lay through Poland – and one time, they stopped off for 120 years!

He was asked what it felt like to be a living monument. He replied that he had spent 20 years as a worker, 10 years as a leader of a national union, and five years as President. Now he had more medals than Brezhnev, and if he chose to wear them all, it would take a crane to get him upright! But he had seen a fight that needed to be fought, and it had been worth it. Now, there were struggles for others to fight – and there were medals enough for all!

Mr. Walesa, when asked about fear, said that his endeavors were like steps on a ladder. On each step, there was fear to overcome, but after a certain amount of steps, the only fear left was that of God.

Somebody asked about the role of faith: “I wouldn’t be here today – I wouldn’t have seen a purpose in doing anything at all – had I not had faith.” – responded last night’s speaker. Walesa also underlined the personal responsibility each of us has, and especially the young people among us, to make good use of our talents and predispositions. He suggested that the coming decade is a most vital time for Europe and for the World, a time of great opportunities and chances that we must take responsibility for if we are to look into our children’s eyes without guilt.

‘Narrowing the gap between ideals and interests’ is the overall theme for the six weeks of international conferences which opened in the Caux centre of Initiatives of Change on July 8th, and which continue until 19th August.

Reported by Andrew Stallybrass and Joanna Margueritte

Conference Summary

For more information on the conferences at Caux, please visit www.caux.ch.