Contempt & disgust >>> solidarity
& fear >>> anger >>> hope.
Some of you might know already about the
tragedy that happened one week ago in Bucharest – Romania. There was a fire in
a nightclub which resulted in 32 deaths and more than 130 people being injured,
at least 20 being in life and death situations. I wrote about it here and international media ( BBC, CNN) covered the event.
Prior to this tragedy, the general feeling
among (middle class) Romanians was that of contempt and disgust for
politicians, government, most public authorities – in general The System. For those of you who don’t know much about my
country of birth, it is a fantastic place that, unfortunately, is plagued by
oligarchy, corruption, imposture and nepotism. This is particularly in public
administration and government, though, to be fully fair, the private sector is,
one way or another, accomplice or at least involved.
However, for many (young) professionals from
the middle class, things were tolerable as long as there wasn’t any major
disruption in their daily lives.
After the tragedy in the Collective nightclub, where 32 people died burned alive and more
than a hundred were injured, the citizens of Bucharest (capital of Romania)
realized that, what used to be an acceptable / tolerable level of corruption,
was in fact, one of the causes of the tragedy. Fire safety certificates, public
business certificates issued with bribes, general negligence etc. were the
causes of this tragedy.
After 3 days of mourning during which there was
an unseen expression (attitudes and behaviour) of solidarity, Romanians took to
the streets. In an unprecedented show of public anger. More than 25.000 citizens
of Bucharest (that is more than 1% of the population of the city) asked for the
resignation of the mayor of Bucharest’s fourth district (where the nightclub
was established), the resignation of the Minister of internal affairs and the
resignation of the Prime Minister (which, by default implies the resignation of
the whole Government).
The next day, all three resigned. The outcome
was 35.000 people on the streets of Bucharest and 70.000 in the entire country
demanding profound change in public governance and manifesting against
corruption.
The next day, the President of Romania (the
last politician with a good level of trust) invited the political parties for
consultations in forming a new government. Moreover, he invited the civic society and representatives of the protestors for talks.
After these consultations and talks, there is
some feeling of hope.
Setting aside the factual very recent history
(talks with the civic society & protestors’ representatives took place on
the same day of writing this post), from a psychology point of view, it is
fascinating to see the evolution of public emotions and their recipients.
Before the tragedy there was contempt and disgust towards
politicians and politicized public authorities. Immediately after the tragedy
there was solidarity (altruism) with
the victims, their families and technical
public servants (i.e. doctors, first respondents, firemen etc.). There, also,
was a natural fear of death and
fire. Subsequently there was huge anger with
the political establishment. Now there is a glimmer of hope.
Contempt and disgust >>> solidarity
& fear >>> anger >>> hope.
P.S. Honour to the first responders and medical
staff who treated and treats the wounded. A huge Thank You to the citizens and governments of France, Turkey,
Belgium, The Netherlands, Israel and Germany (sorry if I missed someone)! These
countries and their citizens offered to help with medical services for the care
of the wounded.
P.S. 2. Apologies to my fellow Romanians for
not being on the streets alongside you.
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