Jan Malek efforts to promote freedom in Poland
"It seems that the main source of almost all contemporary economic problems, of many social ills and various forms of man's bondage is the usurpation of other people's property by people and their governments through redistribution." November 1993.
Mr. Malek helped translate over twenty classical liberal books into Polish, mostly through the Polish-American Foundation for Economic Research and Education (PAFERE) he planted the seeds to educate many young Polish freedom workers who have gone their own way to promote liberty in Poland.
Jan Malek efforts to promote free-markets in Poland directly and through the Atlas Network started in 1991. This year we celebrated 25 years of his involvement. He promoted the translations of many books, from "Our Enemy the State" by Albert J. Nock, to many of Ludwig von Mises works. The movie Lewiatan, also produced with Malek's donations and supervision, has over 34K views. The great professor Jan Klos did several of the early translations, first with the Liberal Conservative Think Tank, and then with the Polish-American Foundation for Economic Research and Education (PAFERE)
Mr. Malek also sponsored the publishing of free-market articles in the Polish Conservative magazine "Arcana." The Arcana group had published a book by Hayek, and another by Guy Sorman, but seldom covered economic topics.
Malek continued to prepare the ground during 1998 by publishing books which would reach the Church, such as Father James Sadwosky's SJ, "The Christian Response to Poverty." Sadowsky had become a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, and was instrumental in attracting Murray N. Rothbard to the "natural law" camp.
He also sponsored books on rule of law, like Bernard Siegan's "Drafting a Constitution."
In 2-24-1993, the Financial Times published a piece that then Atlas Vice President Carl Helstrom sent to Jan Malek, the piece stated "Poland has the most entrepreneurial private sector of the former Soviet satellites" and that "There is a sense that the worst is over and that a period of economic and social development lies ahead."
Jan Malek donations began to fertilize the ground. He bought the translation rights of "Planned Chaos" and "Cliches of Politics" found translators and publishing houses, always with his thrifty style (he encouraged publishing in Lithuania which at the time had cheaper prices)
"Please accept my congratulations for the interesting ""Highlights" newsletter that shows the dynamism of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and the dedication of the foundation to the cause of economic freedom." J.M. Malek, Feb 8, 1998.
Professor Jan Klos, who wrote some of the most superb essays and books about a free economy based on a sound concept of the human person, helped translate "Cliches of Politics" in 1995. Then he translated "Bureaucracy" by Mises. Some great philosophers have been talented translators. Professor Klos educated many bright Polish students who continue his legacy, each with his or her talents.
In 1996, Mr. Malek sponsored the translation of Bureaucracy, by Ludwig von Mises (a Klos translation). Mises argued that it was extremely dangerous to let bureaucrats and government experts monopolize policy discussions. He wrote that “democracy becomes impracticable if the eminent citizens, the intellectual leaders of the community, are not in a position to form their own opinion on the basic social, economic, and political principles of policies. If the citizens are under the intellectual hegemony of the bureaucratic professionals, society breaks up into two castes: the ruling professionals, the Brahmins, and the gullible citizenry. Then despotism emerges, whatever the wording of constitutions and laws may be.” In many cases, think tanks like PAFERE were created in order to put an end to the hegemony of bureaucratic and other ruling professionals.