Viridium.ro

December 22nd, and the anniversary of 18 years from the Romanian Revolution that led to the downfall of half a century of communism. Thinking of that Revolution always elicits some disturbing questions.

On top of my list is “Why did communists continue to lead the country after the Revolution?” Sure, the probability that one would be a member in the communist party was very high in December of 1989, and so was the chance that an activist in the party, like Iliescu, had access to the the tools that could secure his future position as head of the country. But it’s not like the opposition was not there — Doina Cornea is just one name that I remember there. Why didn’t the opposition prevail?

What about “Why was our revolution bloody?” All the other revolutions in the Eastern communist block were calm and free of casualties. “Velvet revolutions”, they said. Ours was a bloodbath. Why? Geographical position? Genetic material, maybe? It’s clear we’re mean people, perhaps not as mean as the Russians, but close — and close on the map too.

It is my distinct impression that, 18 years later, we’re still struggling with the ghost of the communism in Romania. And most of the progress we actually make, we make out of inertia — the quality of life improves as humanity learns more, and it is normal things would improve in an European country such as ours. I despise those who claim to be the driving force of this “progress”, as they are not.