Where is Moldova's real John Galt????

For those of you considering to come to Moldova, I suggest reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (yes, even more than Playing the Moldovan's at Tennis... I know, it's clever, but it doesn't really say anything about Moldova damn it!). It's as if we're living in that dysfunctional world where no one says what they mean, all the smart people left, and the regular guy is determined not to think to hard for fear of getting himself into trouble (or realizing that he's already in it). Just like in the book, the most common word on the lips of people living anywhere that seems an economic decline is "blame"... it's an important word, I guess. Without it, we'd never figure out who to punish since those who are guilty are never going to finger themselves. If blame serves the function of pointing the finger at the guilty, it seems that in a "civil" or "polite" society, a society in which you can't even tell your neighbor to their face you'd like to buy their chicken out of embarrassement of not having your own even if you simply choose not to have them (don't laugh, it's true), you certainly couldn't confront someone directly with blame. You can holler and scream, you can stand at your gate and yell in the streets, eyes to the sky. Politicians can point fingers (in the air) and make stern (directionless) comments. But you can't go up to the fella that's guilty and say "you're the guy who stole all the cows", or "you stole half of the vegetable crop", or "you took the smartest Moldovan's and carted them off to siberia", because that just would just be too direct and might hurt feelings, besides the fact that he's probably got the goods on you anyway. Ah hell, in the end, who cares, right? It's all in the past. And so, everyone blames silently, screaming in the public consciosness all of the sins of the past, hoping that they will arrive at the ears of a real person without any return address. Though no one is held responsible, everyone is left with a distorted sense of happiness you get from being the snitch, but it's just a whole lot of mental snitching. Everyone can point their finger, yet no one has to fess up. What an amazing system.

When I go back to the US, I'm going to take a long hard look at what it represents. I don't think I've ever really looked too closely, but I hope that if I do I'll find something that I'd like to live in. I hope we don't ignore responsability, victimize ourselves so that we can wallow in our self-pity, or ignore facts with the hope that they will go away (or don't exist) if we do so. I hope we're moving in the right direction, and that no one is defining that direction except the people who refuse to accept the fear, lies, and self-victimization.