"There is a lack of critical assessment of the past. But you have to understand that the current ruling elite is actually the old ruling elite. So they are incapable of a self-critical approach to the past"
About this Quote
As a journalist who reported from authoritarian states and post-authoritarian transitions, Kapuscinski is pointing at a familiar maneuver of “new” governments: keep the faces, change the slogans. The subtext is institutional, not psychological. He’s not saying elites lack personal virtue; he’s saying their incentives make self-critique structurally irrational. Admitting complicity threatens legitimacy, property, immunity, and the myth of competence. So the past gets repackaged as tragedy without perpetrators, “mistakes” without names, history as weather.
The line also carries a warning about what happens downstream. When elites cannot narrate their own record honestly, the job of reckoning migrates to dissidents, artists, and informal publics, where it often turns combustible. In that vacuum, revisionism and conspiracy flourish alongside genuine grievance. Kapuscinski’s bluntness is tactical: it refuses the comforting idea that better education alone fixes memory. The gatekeepers are the story.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Kapuscinski, Ryszard. (2026, January 15). There is a lack of critical assessment of the past. But you have to understand that the current ruling elite is actually the old ruling elite. So they are incapable of a self-critical approach to the past. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-a-lack-of-critical-assessment-of-the-155980/
Chicago Style
Kapuscinski, Ryszard. "There is a lack of critical assessment of the past. But you have to understand that the current ruling elite is actually the old ruling elite. So they are incapable of a self-critical approach to the past." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-a-lack-of-critical-assessment-of-the-155980/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There is a lack of critical assessment of the past. But you have to understand that the current ruling elite is actually the old ruling elite. So they are incapable of a self-critical approach to the past." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-a-lack-of-critical-assessment-of-the-155980/. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
