God Bless America

For the first time in 5 years of living in USA I’ve  spent the 4th of July with a small group of Americans.  As natural as it is to say Our Father before dinner, God Bless America was sang before tonight’s dinner.  No unnecessary introductions, just the song, a few skipped words, goose bumps and small tears.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

In Romania a similar moment, even in a small crowd celebrating our First of December,  would be cataloged as right extremism. In USA you  don’t get a denigrating label (as far as I know) for this. Some say this is because you have freedom, some say because it is not politically correct. It may be also because people cannot really see you. As an Orthodox Christian(but not only),  you still have to wear a mask in the  society. Yes, you are free to worship whatever but why are you so different? …and at one point you get tired of explaining. (Nobody cares anyway).  Depending on the  community, you sometimes need to wear a mask in your own church.

We, who came to learn about freedom first from books and movies,   often don’t expect that, once established,  freedom is not free.  We have to continually give something in exchange for freedom for “our people” being them our community, our county, region, state, world.  Compared to other prices like someone’s life, dignity or identity,  a mask is a small one.  However, to get to this price,  many people paid much more along USA history.  (It’s market economy 101,  a friend of mine would say.)

Will the USA be able to allow maskless people to simply be? Don’t know. All I know is that, at the moment, in Romania, even though the Orthodox communities don’t have a mask they might, just might,  get used to the “right extremist” box they are put in and act accordingly.

Having a Communist past, we are just learning about how our face looks like. Some look in the mirror for this, some on the window heading West. In any case we don’t like masks. What we don’t know is that we are expected to wear one and figure very fast  how to wear it properly in the European society. You see, very few people (if any) are looking for God’s blessing of the European Union. And in Romania … we used to ask for God’s blessing even before cutting our bread at dinner.

EU celebration learns to be Poli(sh)tically correct

Once upon a time, the story goes, that a red dragon was taken down in the land of Europe. In the same time a child was born…20 years later we are invited to celebrate.

During the celebration though, somebody from Poland raise the hand [and typed a question on EUTube channel] asking:
“Where is Lech Walesa?”
Well, this is “a story of child born in Berlin” was the answer. “Actually its about the child that was born on November 9th 1989. [If you cared to see the entire video clip.]“
Somebody else asked:
“And why was the child born on November 9th 1989 instead of June 4th 1989?”

At this moment in time, the host, EUTube, commented that the celebration is just what it is: a 20th Anniversary of democratic change in Central and Eastern Europe and is “about the child being born at the moment the Berlin Wall was brought down.”
[pause]
And…”Where is Walesa, Solidarity, 4th june elections? “
[pause]
There was some time for thinking, changing statements and after two weeks we are invited to a new celebration. The Polish typing now on EUTube about SOLIDARNOŚĆ are also invited…

What a party!
We thank the host.

We leave wondering if the somebody that asked politely “excuse me, where is Bulgaria???”  during the first 20th celebration  will also be invited in a near future for a special party like this. After all, the red dragon had many heads and many warriors fought him.

If you listen carefully, in nights when the wind blows from the East, you can still hear stories about the old dragon. Some say he still has some heads left, some say it’s only his ghost but many talk about him wandering in the land of Europe.

Is Moldova in Europe? Let’s say is from a different planet and enjoy our holidays

Young people from Moldova are human beings too!!!

Police  from Moldova, European Union and International organizations seem not to care.

When police treatments like this one are happening to youth walking on the streets in Chisinau, journalists are intimidated and threaten and international voices keep their silence because Russia is watching… you start to wonder how developed is the developed world?
How efficient is the Internet in making silent voices heard?
How ready is the world to hear them?

Did you hear what are those young people are saying?

We are many, we are young, we are united! We will go all the way!
You cannot control us!
We are sick of suffering a totalitarian regime, supported by fear and terror! Communism is guilty of the biggest genocide in history!
We do not want to be lead by those who killed and deported our parents and grandparents!
We ask for President Voronin’s resignation and the outlawing of the criminal Communist Party!
We do not want extreme solutions – we ask for the President’s trial under the Constitution! We are doing no one’s politics, and are paid by no one!
We have no political color – we are pure and transparent!
Down with the communist magnates who send us to work on the black market and steal our money right from the Western Union office!
The luxury furniture and the hardwood floors in the Presidency and the Parliament are bought from money exchange fee!
We do not want to go to Italy, Portugal or Spain! We do not want to go to Canada or Moscow! We want to work and be paid in our own country!
We want a state grounded in respect and trust, not in fear and blackmail!
Down with the fear, Moldavians!
[source]

Red flag

We have elections in Romania on Sunday. President Traian Basescu hopes for a Parliament representing “Romanians’ will not their indifference”. The old “red” PSD party is quite confident of its victory (alone and/or in alliances). Romanian intellectuals cannot figure out how come a party like this is able to trick people again in voting for them. (electoral bribe is very appreciated back home)

Romanian’s can still vote for a party that represent so vividly our past, even though the past was horrible. They can do that because that is the only thing they know. Democracy, freedom and such are just new propaganda words. (The reality looks much more grey.) Nobody ever took the time to help people gasp their meanings to help them think for themselves for a change, to empower them . “I’ll go to vote but it’s no use anyway.” is the best answer you will get from people about elections. Most don’t even go.

Illinois was an Obama state from the beginning. So when I met somebody who was going to vote for  McCain I was like “Why would you? It’s no use. The state will go to Obama” She said ” Because it’s my vote”.

We do not have that will in Romania. We are not educated to have one. Moreover, we are encouraged not to have one, but to remain in a contemplating position,  by bringing up old memories like red flags…

It’s scary how much this resembles the Communist gatherings where people were forced to come, carry red flags and “behave”. I  know, it is a big difference…now nobody is forcing them, now is their “will”…

Everything will be fine, I hear is freedom in Romania…