Those who leave and those who stay (part 2)


Next time is now. Despite what French (but also British, Swedes, etc.) would think based on experience (so many Romanians in the streets of France!) there are plenty of Romanians left in Romania.

Because there are a lot of Romanians who (choose) to stay.

Who are they ?

There are 2 main reasons why Romanians stay in their home country : culture and wealth. So either they have an intellectual profession, or are very attached to Romanian identity, or have a good lifestyle.

Based on the above, I have identified 4 categories of Romanians who choose to stay :
  1. The Romanian who stays for the sake of  his family and friends, despite what other (Romanians) may brag about when coming back to Romania during summer holidays (cars, apartments, etc.), and despite moderate incomes. (As a reminder, average salary in Ro represents 23% of the average French salary ) - this is a majority !
  2. The Romanian who "has it". This Romanian is successful in her Romanian life, has an apartment, a car, and enough capital to pay for trips abroad, etc. While also having their family and friends close and their social network looking up to them. (I'm not talking yet about how some of these people accumulated their wealth - Romania is a recognised corrupt country - this is why the majority at number 1 protested in the streets last winter!) 
  3.  The old Romanians. They are the parents of whole generations of people who emigrated and only come back for summer (and weddings) or funerals. They are living in their family house or a brand new (and empty) house.
  4. The ones who thought about leaving but who either did not have the courage to do so, or cared too much about their family & friends to leave - while having some perspective to have a (relatively) good life home.
But the above should not hide the other reality, the Romanian who choose by default to stay, because they do not know one can leave: coming from a poor family somewhere in the countryside, their family wasn't able to pay for school and therefore their horizon is made by their present, which looks very much like their past and their future.

Which category are you? Given the opportunity again, would you leave or would you stay?

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