The title is a lyric from a Steven Patrick Morrisey
song called “I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty”.
That’s how I feel now. That I don’t deserve freedom. Because I don’t know how to use it, how to make the best of it.
I’ve been watching the news a lot lately. The president I voted for two years ago, very enthusiastically if I may add, has been suspended. Although suspending the president is a democratic measure, the situation is controversial. Were the reasons for the suspension reasonable? I don’t think they were, but it’s more than that. It’s more than being disappointed with a political situation, as important as it may be.
It’s like there’s nothing I can do. It feels like after 18 years after the Revolution we’re slowly going back to dictatorship. And I know it’s very childish to say such a thing. But don’t you feel it’s out of our hands? I mean there are so many telling of how they stood in the cold for hours to vote and now the liberals (who aren’t really liberals, they just call themselves liberals) have allied with the extreme righters and… Complicated.
I heard people say they’re not going to go vote next time. Not only do I think that’s bad, but I think not even voting every now and then is enough of an action to call yourself a citizen. I think we should express our opinions everyday, every time we have the chance. The minute we see people litter, being intolerant or unfair in any way, we should do something about it. Or one day we’ll realize that too many things have added up and it’s too late to change something. Or that the consequences of our passiveness are tragic. And blood will be spilled to get back what we lost.
…there are so many things happening which surely will affect us all but we can’t influence them more than we could influence a hockey game while watching it. The players are pushing each other or scoring and we can only hope it will end the way we want to.
But I think it’s supposed to be different. I think we’re supposed to do lot more. Because we’re free. And that’s the weapon we have. We shouldn’t be afraid to use it.
16 Comments
Deni
21/04/2007 at 12:01 AMI actually believe that young people are starting to stand up and make themselves heard. It’s not easy, but there’s been a great change in the last few years. (And I can vote next time :D)
cat
21/04/2007 at 1:34 AMyeah, we are heading toward a dictatorship…if basescu gets re-elected…
he started this mess, the parliament took a decision based on the facts, because he did brake the rules (guess that`s what happens when you`re trying to be a player and a referee all at the same time).
oh, i`m going to vote all right, just that basescu is just as bad as the rest of them
Corina
21/04/2007 at 3:08 AMThank you, Andressa. One of the most thoughtful posts you’ve written lately.. Congrats! Cannot really add more, since I totally agree with you 🙂
Florin Grozea
21/04/2007 at 3:39 AMEi vor sa nu votam, ei vor sa nu ne implicam, pentru ca sa-si faca de cap!
Dimpotriva, acum mai mult decat oricand, este momentul sa votam! Sa ne spunem parerea! Sa luam pozitie!
Asa nu se mai poate…
Iulian
21/04/2007 at 4:35 AMdin cate stiu eu , dictatura inseamna ca unu ii dovedeste pe toti , nu toti pe unu….. e aproape clar , si-a meritat-o.
Daca era baiat destept, isi dadea demisia si o lua de la capat , castiga iar , apoi se lua la tranta cu guvernul , il dadea si pe el jos , o punea de anticipate.Acolo o baga iar pe aia a lui cu Oligarhii , facea o magie , PD+PLD = LOVE , UDMR venea si el , il mintea pe Jiji , si uite cum conducea el Romania si ati fi cu totii bucurosi.
Sa speram ca el e cel care ne va scoate din “intunericul” creat de comunisti si Oligarhi….
andressa
21/04/2007 at 10:29 AMCorina,
I think there are plenty of things to add, only are too tired to do it.
Florin,
nu neaparat. Cred ca a boicota referendumul nu e o idee rea. E mai greu de falsificat rezultatul votului daca absenteismul e urias. Eu cred ca votez prin absenta.
Iulian,
daca e lovitura de stat sau nu, vom vedea. Eu nu il sustin pe Basescu pentru ca e un presedinte de vis, dar am citit raportul comisiei pentru suspendare si cred ca motivele sunt niste glume proaste. Gasca lui Voiculescu vorbeste de neconstitutionalitate, dar asta scrie pe fruntile lor cand suspenda un presedinte din asemenea motive. Submineaza democratia pentru ca a vorbit degrupuri de interese? Astia isi bat joc de noi. Asadar suspendarea e incorecta. Si creeaza un precedent foarte periculos.
Cat despre “Jiji”, cred ca glumesti. Nu l-as vota nici daca ar fi singurul candidat, nu l-as vota nici presedintele asociatiei de locatari, nu l-as vota si nu il voi vota in vecii vecilor.
putty
21/04/2007 at 10:30 AM(quoting Maxi Jazz, lead vocal of Faithless) Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction.
But oh, it’s so much easier to sit back and relax, waiting for someone else to change things and whining if the change doesn’t happen at all or if it’s not to your liking. So yeah, we’re free indeed. Free to complain, free to be mad at our leaders, free to hate the country we live in. Not free to stand up and follow ol’ Gandhi’s advice.
Lua
21/04/2007 at 10:32 AMAgreed.
Granted, i didn’t know that much about how these issues worked in Romania (not that i know that much more now, btw) until my husband (who’s romanian) explained it to me. It’s still sort of alien and hard to understand how such things can take place, even if democratically, like you say, and for reasons, that imo, are just insane. I’m not saying here that the model i have where i come from (Portugal) is better (it’s not!) but presidents can’t get kicked out merely because of political differences (apparently that is the case now, right? I mean, the real reason behind it?)
Moreover, although your constitution allows for such a move, the views taken by the parliament are not necessarily the views shared by every single average Joe out there. Thus, such a decision just strikes me as plain anti – democratic anyway.
Your views about the importance of voting and expressing opinions are spot on. I mean it so much so due to the poverty ‘of mind’ of my own countrymen who appear to think that going to the beach is their contribute to honor the good things their country gives them, not without detriment to try and change the less good things.
Best of luck.
P.s. I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while. Good stuff 🙂
andressa
21/04/2007 at 10:51 AMputty,
I have one thing to say to you: I liked the book “of men and mice”. 🙂
Lua,
glad you’ve been reading my blog. You are Portuguese, you said. Do you understand Romanian also? I should post more in English. I also realized that I haven’t once used the word “Romania” or “Romanian” in this post and now I wonder why. I started writing the post wishing to describe the situation to outsiders, but I forgot to mention which is the “inside”.
I definitely think the suspension is anti-constitutional. And it’s frustrating to see that so many people talk about Basescu’s charm, as if it were the subject of the discussion. The truth is that if you read the document that the parliamentary commission put together to justify the suspension you understand that this whole situation is ridiculous and if it weren’t dangerous I would laugh about it. We need to keep focused on the real problem: the measure is not correct and there are other means through which we can change the president if we want to. We just have to follow the laws. Or there’s no telling of what may happen in the future.
Thank you for sharing what’s happening in Portugal as well. A friend of mine was telling me that in Western Europe the press doesn’t write at all about the situations in the Balkans or Eastern Europe. The subject was closed when we entered the EU. Until then there were articles about corruption and immigrants. Now, it’s like we disappeared. And our press is just as shallow: there’s nothing in the papers about other countries besides the France and UK, and nothing from other continents besides America. What the hell?
stingo
21/04/2007 at 11:16 AMYou say that we have to vote, in order to call ourselves citizens. Being the recluse that am, I can hardly call myself a citizen of this country. I am SO disappointed with Basescu, that he managed to maculate even the faintest traces of political activism from me.
Of course, I shall continue to stand up for my rights, against racism, homophobia, bigotry, and so on. But politics per se is a lost cause to me. All politicians are the same, there are no better or worse politicians (the transformation of the liberals speaks for itself). All is hopeless.
🙁
andressa
21/04/2007 at 11:22 AMstingo,
is it all hopeless, really? I hope not. 🙁
But I must add something, not only voting, but also not necessarily voting makes us citizens. I think a good citizen contributes to the life of the society in many ways. Fighting against racism, homophobia, bigotry and standing up for what you believe in all the time makes you a better citizen that the person going to vote every four years and sleeping in between the scrutinies.
laura
21/04/2007 at 11:28 AMandressa, raportul comisiei pentru suspendare poate fi download-at de undeva? ai putea sa copy un link te rog? 🙂
andressa
21/04/2007 at 12:21 PMlaura,
http://www.hotnews.ro/arhiva_avt/3542.pdf
Lua
21/04/2007 at 5:41 PMHi
My romanian is very limited 🙁 (i still haven’t found the time to really start learning) but i can understand a lot of it. Thanks for the kind thought 🙂
Your friend is accurate but it really depends a lot on the connection each country has with Romania. The few times i was in Portugal it was clear that people are getting more and more familiar with Eastern Europe, Romania in particular, maybe due to the mass emigration. Unfortunately, not always on a positive note as it always happens when the issue is emigration.
There is still a lot out there as far as a negative view on Romania is concerned. I’ve just linked a programme in my blog this morning about it (http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/default.stm – click on ‘have you missed the latest programme?’). In the Uk (where i live), people are absolutely fascinated with the big bad corrupted boys from Eastern Europe who are coming to the Uk to rob our houses by blowing up doors (they haven’t conceived the idea of romanians using any other ways of breaking entry) and steal our jobs. It’s a sickening point of view that many share.
I don’t think things are necessarily easy for a romanian here, or for a portuguese by the way. So as long you have education you can have a clean shot at applying for the majority of things. It doesn’t always work out but i really believe we do have a chance. However, if you are a skilled manual worker the welcoming note is a completely different one. There is work everywhere. That is not the problem, It’s the respect that is lacking.
morbo
21/04/2007 at 6:08 PMnow i see why they brought a foreign king hundred forty years ago
Keos
23/04/2007 at 7:16 PMThis has nothing to do with dictatorship, andressa, have you seen Idiocracy ? This is about “prosti, da’ multi” (sorry for using romanian but i dont really know how to express this in english, the idea is that our leaders suck, big time, and the best part is that we have millions of them, in this country you kill one of those idiots(metaphorically speaking) and ten take his place, yea, we are that cool).