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Poland: Land of the Free and Home of the Brave
Wilfredo Leon is widely considered to be the best volleyball player in the world. He is 6’8”, athletic, and explosive. He was born and raised in Cuba and has spoken of the difficulties of everyday life there. He had to work 8-12 hours per day, while not getting enough calories to train as an athlete after work. After a three-hour practice, if he wanted to bathe, he had to carry a bucket from his fourth-floor apartment to a nearby pond and back up to his apartment. He hurt his shoulder and was denied surgery. He finally left Cuba and is now the highest-paid volleyball player in the world.
And where did he emigrate to find freedom? Poland. For some reason, that makes me so happy. Isn’t it wonderful that there are places that have recovered from Communism? Formerly oppressed countries that are now free? Hungary is another example. There are others. Could Cuba be next?
Isn’t it wonderful that someone flees the misery of communism in Cuba, and finds happiness and prosperity in Poland? He has a wife and two kids, and says it is his greatest dream to win a gold medal for his country – Poland. He says this would be the greatest moment of his life. He loves his country and says so every chance he gets. And why would he not? Good for you, Wilfredo. And more importantly, good for you, Poland.
I hope America wins a medal. But honestly, I’m rooting for Poland.
I’m rooting for Cuba too. The country, not the volleyball team. I pray that one day people will dream of moving to Cuba to fulfill their dreams of freedom and prosperity. For Cuba, that seems like an impossible dream.
Of course, it did for Poland, too, until not all that long ago.
C’mon Cuba! Never give up! You can do it!
Published in General
Not likely.
Big difference between countries that had been somewhat modern when invaded by the USSR and other countries (less modern to start and/or where communism was brought in via revolution/rebellion rather than brute force invasion).
Yeah, it takes more than freedom to be free.
You make me want to watch the Olympics now.
About 20% of Cubans fled that island over the last six decades. That would be the equivalent of about sixty million Americans leaving this country over the same period. Nobody is emigrating to Cuba despite the alleged wonderfulness of Castro’s communism.
I look forward to a wave of Cuban Solzhenitsyns testifying about realities that blindingly stupid lefties in Che T-shirts consistently denied. I look forward to Miami increasing its role as the financial capital of Latin America—and with more free, growing Cuban wealth and less drug money. And unless the GOP is more brain dead than I often fear, the pushback against socialist BS will be invigorated.
Nice story, Doc. Thanks for sharing this.
My mom’s side of the family is from Poland, so I’ve always had a fondness for the Poles. They have some of the toughest geography in the world, not so much because of the land, but because of the neighbors.
I looked up Leon, and found this highlight video, which is pretty cool (about 4 minutes):
Armando Valladares, a guest of the Pineapple Gulag, wrote such a book back in 1985. Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro’s Gulag.
Poland is Awesome-land!
three bucks for a half-meter pizza and a couple of big beers…
Slupsk is a great town,man.
Our next stop once we can travel again. Wife mapped out lots of neat places there.
Thanks for that. He’s routinely slamming it *inside* the ten foot line. Great stuff.
I, too, have a growing fondness for Poland and Hungary. They are resisting wokeness more than anyone in the Western world despite pressure from the EU.
Well, let’s see where he is in a few years. Merlene Ottey left Jamaica for Slovenia, and then Slovenia for Switzerland.
I have a friend who’s 6’6″, and volleyball was his sport . . .
A rare and very difficult feat:
[Emphasis added]
For what it is worth, it is hard not to realize that the draining by the parasites and outside interests (and internal corruption, I may add) is already happening here in the rotting corpse phase of the late Republic. The likelihood of renewed Liberty grows dimmer and the depth of the illness on the other side grows worse with every $Trillion. At some point the muscle memory within We the People for such Liberty just will not be there anymore. I am reminded of this from the foreward of my copy of Witness:
Reminder: The current demise is “bi-partisan.”
Spent time in Gdansk and surrounding regions. Our office was Lech Walesa’s old shipyard office, ate several times at one of his favorite restaurants (no, I never saw him). Shopped at a supermarket, sort of a mini-WalMart. Enjoyed the stay. Gypsies were endured, and not being a permanent resident or small business owner, to me they were a pleasant nuisance.
Haven’t followed Poland more recently, so: Anybody know if they have taken up public education/indoctrination? What about state welfare? Is the law impartially enforced yet? Have they discovered the glories of a graduated income tax?
How are they with their neighbors (Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Belarus, Germany)?
As someone once said about Poland in reference to the EU, they were not impressed with the old totalitarians, and they are not impressed with the new totalitarians.
Especially since they were screwed by the Western “democracies” twice (Czechoslovakia more than that). Throw in nearly 50 years of the Cold War when Western “intellectuals” studiously turned their heads the other way while they were under the boot of the Soviet Union; well, it’s a miracle that they even talk to anyone from the US, GB, or EU.
I really love seeing all the love for Poland. Whatever y’all may think, I promise it’s 1000X better. I’m as patriotic/nationalistic as it gets (I definitely root for the US when we play volleyball or anything else) but I cannot fully describe how great it is to live in Poland.
I spent a short period of time living in Ukraine in 2017-2018. Before my time there I visited Poland (my favorite country in Europe.) To go from Poland to Ukraine was shocking. The fact that Poland pulled away from the temptations (and destruction) of communism and is now a thriving and free nation is a testament to the tenacity of it’s citizens. To put it mildly, communism is a hard stain to remove.
Hey, a brand new member! Welcome to Ricochet, Mikayla.
Welcome, Mikayla. Are you a contributor as well?
For a while I spent a lot of time working in London and a great many of the service people I encountered were from Poland and they were some of the most gracious and wonderful people I’ve met. And they seem to have a great deal of affinity for Americans.
Hello! Yes I am. I have a post that went up on the main feed two days ago.
Hello! I am happy to be here!