Scuze pt. off-topic, dar mi se pare un articol interesant. ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Aboneaza-te la <mailto:[email protected]> ngo_list: o alternativa moderata (un pic) la [ngolist] Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email? http://www.vivid.ro/index.php/issue/98/page/foreword/tstamp/1245060028 Bucharest telephone conversation By Vivid writer: <http://www.vivid.ro/writers.php/writer/Andrew%20Begg/wrid/1/issue/98> Andrew Begg Posted: 15/06/2009 Eavesdropping on a telephone conversation between two foreigners about the country we live in A: Hi, how you doing? Are we playing tennis on the weekend?
B: Sure, let's, usual time OK? A: OK. Hey, you're back. That was a short trip. How was it? B: Oh, the States was great, but I was only there for the weekend. It's a bit depressing coming back here, and seeing what a mess the country is in. A: Yeah, well, we all know why that is, don't we? B: While I was in the States I looked at the qualifications of the cabinet team Obama has put together. And they are all exceptional people. Every one of them is handpicked, a complete specialist in his or her field. From their early school days right up to postgraduate studies, business school, law school - whatever - they've been exceptional. They've been brilliant, born leaders. A: A tad different from the people governing this country. B: Here, political appointments are based on cronyism and favouritism. You get unqualified people in very responsible positions, and they just can't handle it. A: Mediocre people doing mediocre jobs, with mediocre results. If your aim is so low, you're never going to prosper. The results are there to be seen. In the US, Bush was put forward by the Republicans through cronyism and favouritism, and look at the results there - he was less than mediocre, he made a huge impact but in a bad way. B: He sure did. Look at the ministry for health, for example. Such an important ministry, run by a doctor who hasn't ever practiced. What would he know about medicine, let alone running a ministry. What are his qualifications? A: Well, he is the Ferrari dealer in Romania. B: That's so typical! When you're here, you can kind of go along with Romania, forget how nice it is to walk on a sidewalk that isn't broken up or parked on, forget how nice it is not to be shouted at when you drive, forget that it is the country it is, but when you're in the States you really understand how far behind it is. A: You don't have to go to the States to see that. There was a time when Bucharest was compared with Budapest. Have you been there recently? The city is transformed. B: If I was a citizen I'd be furious. I'd be jumping up and down. Instead, they take it lying down. A: It's a scam, politics here, a complete scam. Its as if they all assembled in a big room right after the Revolution, with Iliescu at the microphone, who said, "OK, this is what we're going to do. They want us to have a parliament, so we'll give them a parliament. With political parties. Yes, yes . you lot over there by the window, with Cristi . you go and call yourselves - it doesn't matter what you call yourselves - call yourselves something, and you guys over there, call yourselves the Liberals, and they'll want a democracy so we have to have some Hungarians; you Marko can look after them, and my bunch, with Petre here will govern, and in a while we'll give them an election, which we'll win, but that's not the point - you'll only be an opposition to the people. But we will know, won't we? Winning elections is irrelevant because we'll all stick together and stay friends, we'll send our children to the same schools and barbecue together on weekends and everyone will think Romania is a democracy but nothing much will have changed." I really think that behind closed doors this is what went on. B: Well there have been some changes - people are richer. A: Richer? People are better off, and quality of life has improved: true. But the gap between the haves and the have nots is far too wide. Very few of the people who are very rich have gotten there legitimately, and millions are on the breadline. Have you seen all those Mercedes outside ministries? B: It would only take a good New York-based Big 4 accountant a day or so to figure out what's going on. Romania could be such a great country, but so much money has been stolen. Huge amounts. Tens of billions. And those who didn't steal directly are guilty by association. A: What else has changed? The Securitate is no more, so people don't live in fear of the dreaded knock on the door in the middle of the night. They had to disband the Securitate to make people think they were rejecting totalitarianism. But they still control people. B: You mean, through the bureaucracy? Right. The bureaucracy is there to confuse and frustrate people, keep them in check. It could be a tenth of the size and work more efficiently. But there's no incentive to make the bureaucracy more lean, more efficient. The whole idea is to maintain the status quo, to maintain everyone's confusion and frustration, paranoia and neuroses. A: Lech Walesa was here recently. What a pity Romania didn't have a Walesa-type character to identify with and look up to. B: It's a real pity. Their role models are the people who are constantly in the public eye - the politicians. Mediocre third-raters, and the media lap it up. A: The media are owned by politicians, so they can't be critical. B: Yeah. It's a hopeless situation, and its always going to be like this. A: It is. See you at tennis ok? B: Yeah, see you then, bye. Copyright C 2008 Vivid Magazine Romania
