More than 2 million Romanians resonated with the neo-Nazi and pro-Russian message of candidate Călin Georgescu. An obscure character, who built his image in the online space as the savior of the nation and the country, a little God who will bring Romania and the people out from under the heavy sole of the European yoke. However, the specialists I spoke with warn that we are on the edge of the abyss, at the darkest point in Romania’s post-December history: freedom, democracy, and European values are on the balance sheet. On the other, decay, going back in time and regressing on all levels. And the icing on the cake: Romania will re-enter the shadow of the great USSR.
Călin Georgescu is contested on all levels. Source: archive
If the independent Călin Georgescu reaches Cotroceni, Romania will enter the darkest period of its post-December history, and this could happen on all levels. Education, however, could receive the coup de grace. He would be, perhaps, the last bogeyman who would completely collapse the already stupid education system.
With the absolute truth in hand, the “New Captain” could bury Education for good
Marian Staș, an expert in education, told “Adevărul” that, hypothetically speaking, he expects the worst. “Speculating on the side of everything I have seen and heard in the public space, I expect the amplification of messages from the night of the mind, of the “New Homeland” and the “New Captain”. With direct reference to what fanaticism, mysticism and the interwar legionary movement meant. And when I say this, I rely on a marked presence of statements with the status of absolute truth.” the expert specified.
“Let’s not forget that the public education system in our country is an alas, almost dusty and mediocre to the core. A system with extremely few, if not non-existent, antibodies to such an ideological, messianic, fanatical and mystical assault.” says Marian Staș.
The specialist talks about an assault of an unusual intensity and which could be amplified, could grow exponentially once Călin Georgescu installs himself at the head of the country. “The more intense the message will be. Probably, we will be dealing with the treacherous strategy of the Chinese drop. I have no problem speculating, anticipating an Orwellian 1984-type reality.”
Referring to the mystical and religious speech propagated by Călin Georgescu, Marian Staș expects that in the Romanian school religion will become a real ideology. “I am referring to the reality put on the table by Vasile Bănescu, the former spokesman of the Orthodox Church, who warned about the propaganda and encouragement messages from some of the priests of this candidacy”.
Marian Staș raises a natural question that should concern us all: in the conditions in which the independent Georgescu paved his way to Cotroceni using a religious discourse, in the conditions in which he formed followers from among the priests, and Religion, as a subject of study, is mandatory in the common trunk, what conclusions could we draw regarding Future Education?
Education expert: “He who moves, moves dead”
Romania wants an education like outside, and I have taken some steps in this direction: the pilot schools in Romania, which brought a breath of fresh air to a system stuck in time and communist paradigms. However, the program, an innovative one, could, in the worst scenario we can think of, be stopped. “There’s no need for Călin Georgescu to come and hit the ground running, because the current set is fierce with its foot on the brake in terms of pilot schools. It is fierce with its foot on change, on transformation as such. But from now on, the night of the mind and the sleep of reason will truly give birth to monsters, for the “New Captain” in the “New Homeland”, the holder of the absolute truth, will have no combatants”. says Marian Staș.
“He’s got a huge inner voice screaming at him because he’s an extremely mentally and psychologically equipped guy. He has everything he needs in there, subtle frequencies that he uses evilly. And that will only lead to a grave silence. For he who moves, moves dead. Whoever moves in the front of alternatives, of critical thinking, of open minds, exactly what the school must do, will have a very big problem. Because the truth is only one, and he is the unique, singular and absolute holder of the truth”.
Marian Staș explained that the first thing you do when you are a fanatic and you are the new Captain in such a context is to “break the neck of the opposition, i.e. the alternatives, the things that are designed to work differently”.
The expert specified that the essential element of the functioning of the Romanian school is, unfortunately, the fierce centralization for all political reasons, of incompetence and possible imposture. The alternative is openness, decentralization, but this would be unworkable. The specialist makes an extremely hard x-ray of what the school could become under the leadership of Călin Georgescu, head of state. Staș believes that “the pedal and the pressure will, in fact, be on what means internal censorship. He will be the Ministry of Truth, and if this leads us, involuntarily, to the former communist regime, we must know that things are much worse than that. “This is about a fanatical, mystical exaltation, a connection between power and ideology. An even more dangerous dimension,” Marian Staș also specified.
Representative Filia: “Women will be sent to the pot”
Călin Georgescu, the one who declared that feminism is “a mess”, as having sparked a wave of indignation among the entire society. His statements are revolting, believes Andrada Cilibiu, activist within the Filia organization. “We are concerned about the role of women in society. Călin Georgescu tries to bring us back to the traditional role we had in the past and which we hardly dug: the woman who has to sit at the pot, listen to the man, be humble, she has no right to control her body they only have the role of making children. The scenario in which Călin Georgescu would become president is a scenario in which all the rights of women in Romania will be in danger”, said the activist for “Adevărul”.
The biggest evil that the independent would produce if he became president would not be a legislative one, continues Andrada Cilibiu. “However, it would legitimize the speech of several groups that declare against women’s rights, against sexual and ethnic minorities. This president would legitimize and normalize violence and hatred against these minority groups.”
We already live in a sexist, racist, patriarchal society, and Călin Georgescu’s message does nothing but amplify these ideologies. “As activists, we also fear for the future of our causes and the future of our organizations. We are afraid of a scenario similar to the one in Hungary, where many organizations had to leave, open their headquarters in other countries to defend themselves from the violence they were subjected to”. If we talk about the worst scenarios, continues the activist, “there is also the risk that we, as an organization, no longer have the right to operate”.
Student representative: “Without science, technology and innovation, we will move forward with God!”
Sergiu Covaci, the president of the National Alliance of Student Organizations from Romania, told “Adevărul” that in Călin Georgescu’s speech, science, technology and academic research are questioned in a mystical form, unknown to anyone. “Tomorrow we will ask ourselves if we are, in fact, real. What will happen to those who graduated from college? With those who already possess all this knowledge? What will they do if everything they have learned is now questioned?”, the student asks.
If Călin Georgescu were to become president, the most impactful thing could be “the destabilization and de-credibility of the university environment through discourses in which science is denied. We are talking about a discourse that will not encourage young people who leave high school to continue their university studies. Then, all the values that unite us as a community such as inclusion, supporting minority communities, everything that means equal opportunities could disappear”the student thinks. “Including mentioning and insinuating things prohibited by law, like legionary movements, all these things are not even harmful, they are toxic. I would like to believe that everything I have heard these days in the public space is not true”.
Economic analyst: “We could enter an economic crisis from which we would never get out”
Economic analyst Adrian Negrescu specified for “Adevărul” that Călin Georgescu’s program seems, rather, to be a composition, a report. He does not come up with any concrete measures that could help the economy. “Peace and love do not keep us hungry. I want to believe that beyond the religious and mystical discourses it also has concrete solutions. Because Romania has reached rock bottom, with increasing public debt and very large deficits. To have had at least some ideas in the so-called President’s Program, a viable economic plan. To know more about the economy than the water formula. The fiscal plan to reduce the budget deficit for 7 years must be assumed and put into practice, because otherwise we enter the category of Junk, which would bring us a crisis from which we would no longer be able to get out”. said Adrian Negrescu.
