CRISIS IN POLAND 35 society. There is not the slightest doubt that the unending strikes in Poland that paralysed the economy and brought it to the brink of collapse in 1981 was a source of great satisfaction to the developed capitalist countries because of the hope of a destruction of a bastion of socialist stronghold. The choice of Lech Walesa by the Time magazine as the "Man of the Year" is not a reflection of its sympathy for the genuine demands of the working people of Poland but an instigation for the forces of destabilisation. Also, it was an expression of Schadenfreude. There cannot be any dispute over the contention that when the struggle of the working class started in 1980, it was a manifestation of its genuine aspiration. But when 1981 came, the blind nature of the struggle could achieve only one thing, that is, destruction of the social framework. The imposition of martial law was thus an extreme reaction to this extreme position. In the final analysis neither is at all desirable. Concluding Remark In the socialist system today there is an imperative need for understanding the nature and extent of the contradiction in view. This is all the more important for Poland with the working class, the church and private farmers as the principal social forces there within the framework of socialist relations of production. An important factor for the emergence of the contradiction is reliance on voluntarism to such an extent that it oversteps the historically given conditions. China also povides a clear example of unbounded application of this voluntarism. The 'Great Piolctarian Cultural Revolution' was an attempt to revolutionise the superstructure on the assumption that when completed, the b ise would automatically respond to the success of the superstructure. Again, a linear view brought unhappy results. Today, perhaps in China, it is happening the other way round. Therefore the question is: what would be the best mechanism for resolving the contradiction with the minimum social cost? It it high time that the theoreticians and practitioners of socialism made a beginning in their endeavour in the right direction; otherwise the final resolution of the contradiction might be contra-historical. 1 Jan Mujzel. "System funkcjonowania gospodarki: problemy jego dalszej ewolucji w Pol see" (System of the functioning of the economy: problems of its long-run cvoiut.on .n Poland), Ekonomista (Warsaw), 1/1980, p 10. 2 NATO Economic Directorate, Economic Reform in Eastern Europe and Prospects for 1980s, Pergainon Press, 1980, p 107. 3 Mujzel, op cit, p 10. 4 Ibid. 5 Mujzel (op eft, p 13) argues that the BEOs'main weakness was the lack of substantial decentralisation of authority. 6 Neal Ascherson, The Polish August, Penguin, 1981, p 109. 7 A. P. and J. F. Adams, Man versus Systems, New York, p 106.