Last night, in Bucharest it was hell. Young people fought with the police, threw stones, torched a car and broke windows.
This is unusual for Romania, but it’s usual for the people doing it, because there are two types of people protesting: the football hooligans and the normal people. Unfortunately, the protest aimed at overthrowing president Băsescu got detoured into street fights with the police.
The situation in Romania is mixed. Half the people are living paycheck to paycheck, other 40% are living ok and 10% are living very well. The poor half is composed of a mix of doctors, firemen, teachers and people used with the state benefits (the famous “să ni se dea” – which translates into “we are waiting for the state to take care of us”). The people living decently are working people, almost 3 million out of a population of 20, that have jobs in the private sector, pay taxes and try to stay ahead. For them is hard due to high taxation, corruption, bureaucracy and being looked at as losers for not trying to cheat the system. The 10% are politicians and their friends, ass kissers, corrupt businessmen, who are protected by the politicians and the law (the notorious case of mr. Dinu Patriciu, the wealthiest man in Romania, who sold a business received as a gift from his political friends, and whose businesses are collapsing now due to his management and skills).
