20100621

The time of learning people how to live has arrived

This post was entirely inspired by Arturo Uslar Pietri's novel Robinson's island. The words, though, are mine.

I am a conservative. At the same time, I'm a republican. A little bit of a contrast, perhaps, but that's the way it is, this is my creed.

I am a conservative because I think this political ideology is the only one capable of turning current Romanian groups of interests naming themselves political parties into real political parties. Conservative way of thinking is the only one capable of setting us apart from the communist period and its style of policy-improvising. I am republican, because I believe that all humans are born equal.

Somehow, para-quoting Arturo Uslar Pietri, and looking at the current state of events in my country, I say: we do not have a republic. We did not inherited it, we do not know how to create it. The Romanian Popular Republic - a product of the year 1948 - is a Stalinist creation. The Romanian Socialist Republic was created during the '60s, as a sign of independence from the USSR (independence of the Romanian nomenklatura from the Soviet one, not independence of the Romanian people from the Romanian nomenklatura); and it failed. The Romanian republic created in 1989 was no more than a USSR vassal. None of these three Romanian republics was democratic. The last one - the third and the current one at the same time - has its fundamentals based on people killed in the name of democracy, in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Twenty years ago, in June 1990, people - people trying to create a better republic - were killed in the University Square in Bucharest. Many important Romanian political figures still deny these events, even today. They also deny the events of December 1989. It is not an accident, because the truth would only make obvious the character of a state they created the way they wanted to. It only shows the shameful situation we find ourselves in at this very moment, because we tolerate them and we give them our vote.

People need to be educated. I specify: I do not speak (only) about the Romanian educational system, but about the need of Romanians to be educated as citizens of a republic. We completely ignore how to be republicans, and I doubt we know what citizenship of any kind means at all. The answer to this situation is the school (but not only it). Ambitiously, the school must not teach people how to read, it should teach them how to be independent, how to live in a free and equal society, a society free of prejudice, inequity and superstition, a society based on reciprocal respect. Did our educational system acquire that yet? Unfortunately, no. Are there any other institutions trying to do that (like the mass-media, for instance)? Again, no. On the contrary.

The first French republic failed because it did not know how to prepare society for the republic. and thus France turned back to monarchy. My question: do you think the Romanian society is ready for a republic? I highly doubt it. The need of a strong political figure as head of state is a mere expression of our mental need of a Voivod.

My fear is that we do not have the reflexes of free men. Most of us have been formed to be dependent upon the state, and this didn't change in the aftermath of the Revolution. The proof for this is to be found in the high numbers of people hunting for jobs in the state administration, but also in the numbers of those of our con-citizens early retired from work, or the numbers of those hundred of thousands who got pensions on false medical reasons.


I go as far as to say, assuming full responsibility for this, that Romania has kept a lot of characteristics from the feudal period (with one great feudal landlord: the state, a few smaller ones: the moguls; and the second line moguls: the local barons) and only acquired the appearance of a republic. Of course, there are many educated people and people willing to change things. The problem is: 1. they are not enough (and their number is constantly going down, due to emigration); 2. there are others who want to keep the current state of affairs (see my point about the landlords above). We are, nominally, a functional democracy, but for the reasons specified we fail to prove it so.

How can things begin to change? Well, in my view, the answer is about turning ourselves back to the old model of small family businesses. If properly regulated (unlike now) and supported by coherent policies, this change could transform the country within a few decades. Acquiring work experience and applied competences is in my view the best way to fight prejudice, errors, social barriers and all the weaknesses inherited from generation to generation. To be realistic, the probability of this scenario is low to very low. However, the fact that the Romanian state simply cannot hold anymore its current position as landlord no. 1 could lead to a situation where this might take place. At least I hope so. It would be only for the benefit of my country.

No more lies, cowardice and obedience, humility. Enough of that farce. It kills solidarity, society, citizenship and, eventually, everything we might want to call freedom.

No comments: