This post might have borne a different title, to convey its message in a more accurate manner. And that would have been a phrase I've grown tired of hearing, over and over again: "There's nothing WE can do about it". Replace WE with any other pronoun, and you still get the same idea that seems to express one of our main features as a people: there's something terribly wrong with this world, with this country, with this city, with this person writing the post... but there's nothing you, or me, or they, or he, or she can do about it. Is it??
Apparently we are going through a time of crisis. Everyone is complaining about it and about its effects. Everyone is depressed, desperate, suicidal... Everyone, that is, who accepts the situation as it is and, embracing the comfortable concept of "there's nothing ANYONE can do about it", submits to their dire fate mumbling all sorts of hard words or complaints against, of course, the politicians, the bankers, the Muslims, the terrorists, the gay people, the Jews, the priests, the bosses, the African-Americans, and the Chinese, or whoever they can find responsible for this state of things. Which is, of course, plain stupid. And it makes me wonder whether the word "plain" is in any way related with the verb "to complain", which seems to be the favourite sport for us, Romanians...
I would suggest a radical change of attitude. A massive change of attitude, if it is to have any noticeable effect. How about we add new sports to our Olympics. Work would be one of them. Harder, if need be. Discipline yourself. You don't need to eat caviar once a week if you really can't afford it anymore. Be humble. There's nothing wrong in working as a carpenter even if you have an M.A. in French Literature. Work is still work, and if it earns you a living throughout this time of crisis, do not reject it as being "below" you. Stick to your family. Do not delude yourself that leaving to work in some other country will solve the problem. EVERYONE is affected by the crisis. In every country. And if you choose to leave, all you'll achieve is to steal someone else's means of earning a living, just because you're willing to work for lower wages. But you do leave behind a family that needs you, whether it's old parents or newly born kids. When times get tough, you need to stick together, as there's strength in numbers...
Sure, all this sounds wonderful, but doesn't apply to Romania. Or so they'll say. Romania is a country that many Romanians hate. They say it's poor, it's corrupt, it's full of gypsies and criminals of all sorts, it's dangerous, it's immoral (yes, Romania IS immoral in more ways than I can describe here), it's dirty, it's cruel, it's uncivilized.. And as much as I would like to say it isn't so, I can't. But I won't agree either with the people who claim and complain there's nothing we can do about it. Because there is. Change can be brought about, even if in very small steps. Even if the difference you make as an individual seems to weight only as little as a rain drop in the ocean, do remember that the essence of both the ocean and the rain drop is the same: water. And the essence of big changes and tiny changes is still the same: the willingness to DO something about it.
Apparently we are going through a time of crisis. Everyone is complaining about it and about its effects. Everyone is depressed, desperate, suicidal... Everyone, that is, who accepts the situation as it is and, embracing the comfortable concept of "there's nothing ANYONE can do about it", submits to their dire fate mumbling all sorts of hard words or complaints against, of course, the politicians, the bankers, the Muslims, the terrorists, the gay people, the Jews, the priests, the bosses, the African-Americans, and the Chinese, or whoever they can find responsible for this state of things. Which is, of course, plain stupid. And it makes me wonder whether the word "plain" is in any way related with the verb "to complain", which seems to be the favourite sport for us, Romanians...
I would suggest a radical change of attitude. A massive change of attitude, if it is to have any noticeable effect. How about we add new sports to our Olympics. Work would be one of them. Harder, if need be. Discipline yourself. You don't need to eat caviar once a week if you really can't afford it anymore. Be humble. There's nothing wrong in working as a carpenter even if you have an M.A. in French Literature. Work is still work, and if it earns you a living throughout this time of crisis, do not reject it as being "below" you. Stick to your family. Do not delude yourself that leaving to work in some other country will solve the problem. EVERYONE is affected by the crisis. In every country. And if you choose to leave, all you'll achieve is to steal someone else's means of earning a living, just because you're willing to work for lower wages. But you do leave behind a family that needs you, whether it's old parents or newly born kids. When times get tough, you need to stick together, as there's strength in numbers...
Sure, all this sounds wonderful, but doesn't apply to Romania. Or so they'll say. Romania is a country that many Romanians hate. They say it's poor, it's corrupt, it's full of gypsies and criminals of all sorts, it's dangerous, it's immoral (yes, Romania IS immoral in more ways than I can describe here), it's dirty, it's cruel, it's uncivilized.. And as much as I would like to say it isn't so, I can't. But I won't agree either with the people who claim and complain there's nothing we can do about it. Because there is. Change can be brought about, even if in very small steps. Even if the difference you make as an individual seems to weight only as little as a rain drop in the ocean, do remember that the essence of both the ocean and the rain drop is the same: water. And the essence of big changes and tiny changes is still the same: the willingness to DO something about it.
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