Seeker Blog

For readers who wonder why Seeker Blog pays so much attention to Polish-Australian writer Arthur Chrenkoff, you only need to read this:

I’m having a deja-vu to the 1980s, when as a young lad stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain I watched with some bemusement the safe and comfortable citizens of Western democracies rallying for "peace" and protesting aggressive American policies, while around me people were risking if not life than certainly limb and their future marching for freedom, democracy and human rights.

While throughout major cities of Western world crowds - albeit much diminished since three or two years ago - have turned up over the weekend for anti-democracy rallies to protest the second anniversary of the start of the liberation of Iraq, one region of the world remained strangely unaffected by the "anti-war" and "anti-occupation" fervor: the notorious "Arab street" has failed to join the "European street" and the "American street" in condemning yet again Chimpy Bushhitler and his imperialist policies. The only significant exception throughout the Middle East was Turkey, where rallies in three major cities could only muster several hundred people between them.

Everywhere else, the second anniversary of invasion did not incite much public excitement - possibly because the local residents were too busy rallying against terrorism and theocracy, and for freedom, democracy and human rights. Here’s a round-up of the Middle Eastern action over the last few weeks, some of it very familiar, some of it you might have missed:

My personal bet is that you will be hearing a lot more of Arthur Chrenkoff in the coming years. A bit more his personal history can be found in this April 18, 2004 post (empasis mine):

Since you’re all here, a word about where I’m coming from. I was born in the then communist Poland (in Krakow to be precise) and I grew up in a stifling, oppressive, dreary society that (I’m paraphrasing P. J. O’Rourke from memory) didn’t kill you anymore, just bored you to death. In 1988 I migrated with my parents to Australia; it was a year before the Wall collapsed; and no, just like the CIA and all the experts, we had no inkling when we left that the communism wouldn’t be around much longer. I was then still a naive youngster who thought that the Cold War was a simple struggle between the communist world (where everyone but the elite wanted the other side to win) and the Western world, which was free, capitalist, and fiercely anti-communism.

Boy, wasn’t I in for a shock. Very soon I discovered that while I was correct in first part, the West, to a large extent, was either indifferent or quite friendly to the whole idea of socialism. In particular I was shocked to find out just how many among the Western elites (political, media, academic, etc.) thought that the communists were the good guys, or at least believed in moral equivalence between the free and the un-free world; how many thought that free market was bad and socialism in some form was still the way of the future; and how many were hostile and patronising to the values that I held dear.

Today the same segments that thought the communists were the good guys are now backing the Islamic terrorists, the despots and dictators (think Saddam) and the mullahs of Iran.

Now is it clear why I pay so much attention to what Arthur is writing? And for those who require the author to have credentials before they will pay attention, here are Arthur’s credentials:

Bachelor of Arts, majoring in International Relations

Bachelor of Laws, with Honors Class IIA

Doctor of Philosophy in Law, 100,000-words thesis on freedom of contract and government regulation

Editor of a student magazine at university

Teaching assistant at a law school

Admitted to practice as a lawyer

Extensive experience of working in politics and government

Experienced researcher, speech-writer and adviser - and, as you can see from the blog, I love writing.