The first anniversary of the death of Krzysztof Karon

A few days ago, a conference was held in Warsaw on the anniversary of Krzysztof Karon's death. I consider him one of the most important, yet most underappreciated contemporary Polish thinkers. Karon has provided the most insightful analysis of the threats posed to Western civilization by neo-Marxism. He also created the website www.historiasztuki.com.pl, where he presents his views, and many of his statements are still available on YouTube. Below is an excerpt from a review I wrote for the quarterly "Artysta i Sztuka" of the book "Historia antykultury," which was Karoń's life's work. I recommend it to everyone.

"The original cover, recognizable from afar, announces the equally original and revealing text hidden behind it. This cover, designed by the author himself, is an abstract composition – a white grid on a black background, which brings to mind a clear lecture on a dark and confusing topic. And this topic is the deadly threat posed to the human culture that has been developing for thousands of years by the anticulture that has been spreading in the Western world for decades. The first edition of Krzysztof Karon's "History of Anticulture" sold out instantly, and now the second edition is available in bookstores and online. (...) Krzysztof Karoń, with a certain amount of self-irony, presents himself as a dilettante. God grant us more such dilettantes! In his mouth, this term means only that he has no formal education in the fields on which he speaks. But erudition, broad horizons, independent thinking and the ability to create bold syntheses make Karon far surpass many titled academics. Perhaps The "blessed" lack of formal training in addressing such a broad spectrum of topics emboldened the author to attempt to create the "short history of everything" that is his book. This lack of ties to academic institutions also allowed him complete independence of thought, which is not so obvious nowadays, because pursuing an academic career and receiving grants or scholarships depends on subordinating oneself to imposed political correctness. (...) Karon also cites a document previously unknown to the wider public: Altiero Spinelli's "Ventotene Manifesto." This Italian communist (or even worse: Trotskyist!) created a manifesto in 1941 calling for a Europe without borders and nation-states, but with a single common army and currency. In Spinelli's new Europe, there would be no nation-states or private property, making the federal entity emerging from his manifesto a new communist utopia—a true Union of European Socialist Republics. Interestingly, the Italian Marxist is the patron saint of one of the wings of the European Parliament building in Brussels, as evidenced by the inscription "Altiero Spinelli" placed above the entrance to this part of the building; thus, he proves to be the ideological patron saint of European integration. (...) All of the information cited above is no secret; it is contained in official documents, press and television reports, and is also available on Wikipedia, although most readers of "History of Anticulture" have seen it put together in this way for the first time. Krzysztof Karon's credit is for piecing together the scattered pieces into a coherent picture."
(photos: the cover of Krzysztof Karoń's book and the entrance to the European Parliament in Brussels, dedicated to Altiero Spinelli)