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Comment by vladharbuz | Hacker News Reader

I'm from Bucharest, and I've always felt like, if you ask Romanians whether they're happy to be Romanian, most will reply in the negative, and describe being born in Romania as a misfortune. There's a popular song from a while back that goes “we weren't born in the right place”. [0]

The author describes the feeling of unity amidst unfortunate circumstances as bringing the Romanian people together and giving them “a sense of place, meaning, and pride”. I've never thought of this way, and I'm not sure just how true it is, but I'd like to believe there's at least a bit of truth to it. When I lived in Romania, I can't say I got that impression most days, but I'd like to be wrong.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5JBFYLII4g

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Agreed, it sounds like a romanticized version of what the author would like to be true. A bit like the 'noble savage' myth. Life in Romania can be pretty harsh. I lived for two years in Bucharest, have seen most of the larger cities and a good bit of the countryside as well. Romania has some incredible wealth, a very rich culture but also terrible poverty and with every change in government things seem to oscillate between bad and terrible.

It is frustrating because the country has enormous potential but unlike say Poland or Czechia it hasn't managed to really capitalize on that potential. Still, it is doing substantially better than its Southern neighbor.

For countries neighboring west so much, particularly Germany, neither Poland nor Czechia seem to have capitalized much. I find it more impressive how Romania progressed, given the cards it was dealt.

Yes, that is a good point, the further East the smaller the amounts of investment made. Of course Germany had its hands full with the reunification, which is effectively still continuing today. But Poland definitely benefited from its German proximity and Czechia to some extent (though less) as well. In part this is historical, the German territory used to run all the way to the Baltics (not quite voluntarily, Poland was frequently and heavily fought over by both the Russians and the Germans who used it as their personal stomping grounds).

Bulgaria is quite a nice country. I love it, love the food, the sights. Lots of virgin nature as people left for work elsewhere.

Would you say that the people unhappy in general to be Romanian are due to the economic situation in the country, from the breakup of the soviet union until now, as compared to some of the more prosperous/high-income countries in Europe? Or is it some sort of more generalized malaise?

It's obviously difficult to sum it up, but there are two main factors that come to mind. The first is the economic situation you mentioned, along with the fatigue that comes with the feeling of working a lot but still not being able to afford much. The second is a general feeling of distrust in the government and politicians, a sense that you're being ripped off by corrupt politicians putting money into their own pockets, and a lack of hope towards any of that getting better.

The knowledge that these problems are not as painful in more modern nations such as the US or Switzerland contributes to a feeling of "being left out". Not that the problems don't exist there, but the less you have the more painful they are. For example, old people in Romania often live on a pension of almost literally nothing.

I don't want to paint too gloomy of a picture though. There are definitely worse things than walking around Bucharest's old town with friends and a shaorma. :)

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