MK/MO: If you walk into a store these days, you can buy a t-shirt with Che Guevare that says '100% rebel.' Could Lech Wałęsa play a similar, mythical role for Poles who, like us, were born in the late 1970s and early 1980s?

Paweł Demirski: I wish it were so. I wish young Poles would stop fearing political engagement. Lech Wałęsa could by a modern icon for a new workers movement, a subject for discussion not only amongst intellectuals but amongst factory workers and corporations as well. It is a pity that it seems this scenario will not play out in real life. Wałęsa exists in their general memory, but he is a dead symbol, one that does not motivate them to change the world. Q: And you? Do you carry the myth of Wałęsa in your heart? You were born in 1979, so you were a child when Wałęsa lead Solidarity. PD: I am a citizen of Gdańsk, and the myth of Wałęsa was very strong in my home. I remember him; and I remember my father having stickers with his image. To this day, I am fascinated by Wałęsa as being a leader of a great social movement. I would love to see a movie made about Wałęsa; about a guy from a factory who leads a social movement against the government; but I would change the l