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Stanislaw Lem / Photo: MN Archive

Sci-Fi Writer Stanislaw Lem on Down-to-Earth Issues

Created: 08.04.2004 15:40 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:40 MSK

Valery Masterov

The Moscow News Weekly (Warsaw Bureau)

If there were an instrument to gauge thought concentration, it would show an off-scale reading in a house on the outskirts of Krakow where an 83-year-old writer/philosopher has been closely observing the world. We climb to Lem’s study up a ship’s ladder, and from a pile of periodicals cluttering his desk he fishes out a parcel with Chinese characters:
“See, they are already publishing me in China.”

Didn’t you write yourself that the center of gravity is now shifting to Southeast Asia?

That’s right. They say the Chinese have so many greenbacks that they can regulate the dollar exchange rate. They also have their own space program, and have set their sights on the Moon.

Where do you get your facts?

I watch a couple of foreign TV channels, and I get lots of books, newspapers, and journals — from all over the world. The world is unsettled. There is no balance between West and East, the way things were during the Cold War.

Are you saying that it was easier to live in a bipolar world?

Not really. But back then problems were of a different kind, and they were more predictable. There was a balance of fear. Moscow and Washington understood only too well what the prospect of a nuclear war meant. But now the threat is spreading like a pandemic — Pakistan, India, China, North Korea... The very statistics are frightening. In a sleepy little town traffic is light, and the probability of vehicle collision is far less than in megalopolises, where millions of cars are trapped in monstrous traffic jams. Everyone is saying that trouble could strike at any moment, but no one knows exactly where. We have entered an era of international terrorism.
The Americans thought that in Iraq, they would meet with native residents very much as they did with Soviet Army soldiers on the Elbe River, at the end of World War II: All very nice and pally. Bush triumphantly proclaimed the end of the military operation, but that was only the beginning. Madrid is another conundrum� What happened there [Lem means the new, Socialist government’s decision to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq. — Ed.] is a big concession to God knows what terrorists.

Your latest book, Dilemmas (in Polish, DyLEMaty), opens with an essay on Putin after election to his first presidential term. Now he has just been elected to a second term. Are there any additions you feel you ought to make?

I would, rather, repeat what I have already said: He is wholeheartedly supported by the Russian people, and you can’t resist the people. Of course, there was an element of randomness in Yeltsin’s choice of his successor. All we knew about Putin then was that he had once been a KGB resident in the GDR. There, one could improve one’s German and learn anything — except democracy. Now the world knows a great deal more about Putin. People want order and stability while Russia has in the past few years been steadily developing, which is also admitted by Western experts.

In that case, your observation that “chaos in Russia would have been more useful to us than attempts to run the country more efficiently” should be seen as ironic?

Above all, with regard to Polish politicians. It is always possible to derive political benefit from a time of trouble. Yet it would be simply ridiculous if I were to become a political prophet for Russia. Russia is a vast country with a host of problems, including demographic ones. There is no way you can shake off intellectual sluggishness after 70 years of Communist rule. I do not anticipate any hostile moves toward Poland in Putin’s foreign policy. He has plenty on his plate already. Today, the West prefers to talk to Moscow directly, not through Warsaw. We cannot match Russia’s potential. And this is something that our overambitious politicians should realize.

Almost 40 years ago, your hero, Ijon Tichy, made an appeal to save outer space. Are his concerns still relevant, given some sweeping plans like Bush’s “space program”?

Bush is seeking reelection. His advisers remembered the effect of the first landing on the Moon, and proposed a repeat, but on a grander scale. So Mars came in handy. It will take at least 20 years to prepare a flight to Mars. Bush, however, is only concerned with the next four years. But the attempt to portray him as a forward-looking pragmatist has produced an impression.

But he’s been talking about the countless riches on the Moon and Mars.

There is nothing up there. And what about the money for these space adventures? Do you think U.S. Congress will come up with hundreds of billions on a silver platter? Besides, what is the dollar really worth now? In Communist-era Poland it could buy 100 zlotys: That was some money. But now it is worth a mere 3.5 zlotys. Today I am getting more dollars for new editions of my books from Russia than from the United States. We should deal with earthly problems, not with space chimeras.

Yet space has become an arena of rivalry between the great powers, and a hallmark of prestige.

This is not development but militarization, pure and simple. Moreover, it has nothing to do with the Universe: All that matters is within 300 kilometers from the Earth. Militarily, say, the Moon is not very important: After all, 400,000 km is way too far. As for prestige, it is not worth a brass farthing. What really counts is the speed of information transfer. Should a stock exchange go bust someplace in Hong Kong, the whole world will learn about this within two seconds. I am not an expert on economics, but this is what globalization is all about. As for space, it will be the domain of astronomers, astronauts, astrophysics, and so on.

What about Solaris then?

Excuse me, but this is science fiction.

Then perhaps there was no call to argue with Tarkovsky?

Frankly, I only saw the second part of his film. Still, Tarkovsky had a message to deliver. And then he had great talent, while this pathetic Soderbergh —

But you said yourself, didn’t you, that Hollywood would make a mess of it — and then gave your consent.

I did. And I got $500,000 for letting them botch the job. I don’t want to see Solaris: I have read all sorts of things about the film. Now the Americans are going to make another of my books into a film. But I have not given my consent.

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