One of the ongoing tragic results of bad governance in Romania is that millions of its citizens have left the country to find a better life elsewhere.

According to this well-researched piece, Romania is now second only to Syria in terms of the percentage of citizens who are now living abroad. Considering that Syria is in the midst of a vicious civil war and Romania is a peaceful democracy and a member of the European Union, that is a truly staggering fact.

One of the many, many, many awful results of all of that immigration is the large number of children separated from their parents. According to the linked report, that number is at least 100,000 children and is likely to be far higher. This is truly a cultural disaster of epic proportions.

University and Out

As my long-time readers know, I spent a decade living in “Unicorn City” (Cluj-Napoca), one of four cities (Iasi, Timisoara, and Bucharest are the other three) with a significant university student population.

Over the years, I’ve watched these universities serve as a pipeline that endows students with language skills and academic qualifications before they disappear to the four corners of the earth to seek a better life outside of Romania.

It truly breaks my heart to watch people have to make the incredibly difficult and painful choice to leave behind their family, culture, food, and homes because of the deficiencies of their government.

Catch-22

Once large-scale emigration begins, it’s almost impossible to reverse. People leave because the situation is bad at home, and their absence makes the situation worse.

Programs designed to entice Romanians back home to participate in their government have failed miserably, largely due to the same incompetence in government that led to the economic conditions that drove Romanians away in the first place.

When all the doctors, the researchers, the linguists, the engineers, the programmers, the chemists, the musicians, the biologists, the artists, and the smartest people in the country leave, slowly but surely you get a society left with nothing but:

• Children separated from their parents;
• The elderly;
• Orphans and abandoned children (Casa de Copii);
• The mentally infirm;
• Criminals;
• The incompetent;
• Illiterate people;
• The very poor;
• Politicians; and
• Government workers.

This is NOT a recipe for a flourishing democracy and economy. It is, however, the “base” of the ruling PSD party that continues to defy morality and good will in its insane bid for power.

About the only reason why Romania is hanging onto any semblance of functionality whatsoever is because the universities are propping up the economy of the four biggest cities in the country (plus Bucharest is the seat of government). Without those universities, Romania would be a wasteland.

As it is, Romania is plagued by one scandal after another, almost all of which are predicated upon a lethal combination of incompetence and venal corruption on a colossal scale.

To all of my Romanian readers who have had to leave their homes, all I can say is, “I am truly sorry.”

Eu mi-am lasat parintii.
Mi-am lasat si fratii.
Am varsat multe lacrimi unii pentru altii.
I-am lasat plangand si am plecat de acasa.
Despartirea e cea mai dureroasa.

I had to leave behind my parents.
I had to leave behind my brothers and sisters too.
I’ve been crying non-stop.
With tears in my eyes, I had to leave my home.
Oh god, leaving is the most painful thing I’ve ever done.