INTELLECTUALS' NOTES FR.OM T H E UNDERGR.OUND
713
" Well , but what has R atiu 's bow-ti c got to do with democ racy and
j usti ce?" [ almost sho ut , indi gnant at all these sa rto ri al aestheti cs on the
min d of the R omani an peasant.
" We even liked it with th e C ommunists," my aunt intervenes. "W e
fended very well for oursel ves. We had eve rything we needed . And now ,
lli esc u gave us land as we ll. It was bette r at th e cooperati ve farm ,
tho ugh."
N o, there is not a trace of surrea lism in these di alogues. [ transc ribed
th em as exac tl y as [ could . But their truth is horrifyin g. Fo r a large part
of the Romani ans, th e idea o f civil so ciety docs not exist. The only thing
that matters is th e small pe rsonal arrangement , the small , barely wa rm
spo t. Passivity and li ving w ith evil have defea ted any kind of vitality.
[n the past two yea rs, a huge distance has di vi ded Czechoslovaki a
an d R omani a. Heading dec isively towards democ racy, the C zechs and
Slova ks clea ned up their country. [n R omani a, we are no t willing to
clea n up o ur own ho uses. [n Czec hoslova ki a, th e parli ament pro–
mul ga ted a law bannin g Communism . [n R omania, the parliament rose
up aga inst a fo rmer prime mini ster who attac ked - in hi ghl y moderated
te rms - th e Comllluni st stru ctures still ac ti ve in th e soc ie ty. In
Czechos lo vaki a, a president admired thro ugho ut the world tri es to es–
tab lish consensus and bring soc ial peace. [n R omania, a president elected
fo r th e " tranquility" fo r the people, fi shing in troubl ed wa ters, incites a
frac ti on of th e populati on , th e miners, to ethni c extremi sm and nati onal
disintegrati o n. [f Czechos lova ki a now has the chance to become the first
ex- Communi st co untry accepted into th e Euro pea n Community,
Pres ident lliescu has crea ted all the premises fo r R omania to remain the
last Sovietized country of Europe. Whil e President Have l's speeches are
models of Europeanism and truth , the public speeches of President lliescu
are sampl es of schemati zed Bo lshevism, offered in homeopathi c doses to a
population that has bee n fo rced into numbness by cold , hunger, and
Ignorance.
Such comparisons could go o n forever, but they lead nowhere . How
can one compare the greatness of St. Havel's statue in Vaclavske Namesti
w ith th e shanti es and Stalinist blocks o f fl ats found in downtown
Bu charest? How compare a people's dec isio n to elimin ate forever the
remains o f Communism with the guilty romance o ur brothers and
cousins entertain w ith the Nati o nal Salvati on Front? The answe r, deso–
late in its truth , is to be fo und in the reply, " [t suits us."
Why does the N ati o nal Salva ti on Front suit the R omanians? Fo r a
long time, [ tho ught it was beca use they did not know the truth. [ think
now that it is precise ly because they kn ow the truth too well. A personal
po ll proved to me that th e credible wing for th e average voter is the Ili–
escu wing and not Petre R oman's reformi st segment. What results from
