Solidarity forever - Poland to hold discussions with banned union

THE RULERS of Poland have offered to talk to the ruled. Specifically, they propose to hold discussions with the banned union, Solidarity, leading to its legalization-though, not surprisingly, there is a slew of conditions: notably a two-year ban on strikes, and Solidarity's acknowledgment that it would henceforth b"part of the content of Polish socialism."

Lech Walesa responded by outlining the contrary view. The cause of Poland's economic and social woes is "the existing monopoly of the party and its union." The monopoly on power-"Polish socialism" -caused the Polish mess, and the solution is not to make the monopoly ,more comprehensive. "We will now have to try to alter the monopoly."

The way up and the way down are the same, said Heraclitus, who had not considered the ways up from and down into socialism. General Jaruzelski and his henchmen face, in a more acute form, the same dilemma that confronts Mikhail Gorbachev: how to reform a system that is both a failure and their only source of legitimacy. Solidarity, which has legitimacy precisely because it is illegal, holds all the cards. It should let the bidding run up as high as possible.