Guest writer Mariana Ganea asks how the rebuilding of Romania can be reconciled with the Romanian diaspora that is perhaps robbing the country of its future.

After more than 20 years since the fall of the communist regime, Romania is in a very difficult situation from a political, economic and financial perspective. As a person who lived through our revolution and hoped for a better future, I’m disappointed on many different fronts.

I understand that to build a new society based on democracy, free market and equal opportunity is a long term and very complex process. But after 22 years the results are unsatisfactory. More alarming still, in my opinion is the moral crisis, which extends across all social and professional groups. Romanians have lost the unity that existed in the communist times and after, in the days of the revolution and above all, the majority of population have lost their national identity and love for their country.

Of course, to rebuild or even build on a new basis the moral fiber of a people is very challenging and needs vision, strategy, human resources and time. The important thing is the human element which now, in Romania, is demotivated and many times humiliated. When we see every day the people who rule the country, when we see so many worthy people in humble situations and when we see that mostly life's winners in Romania are mostly poorly educated Yahoos with pots of money, it's no surprise that Romanians can be skeptical about modern life.

The majority of the elderly are surviving on next to nothing, with little hope of improvement, in this life at least. Older people live in fear of losing their jobs, rightly worried that they would find it very difficult to secure a new position. A few of them try to start their own businesses, but, as in many other situations, without the necessary and oftentimes corrupt connections, they struggle to make a success of their ventures.

Many young people dream of emigrating and as a result the Romanian state is losing its future and even more tragically, young Romanians are losing their identity. The loss of the well educated young people from this country is a dreadful and worrying thing. They go abroad to earn a little more money and respect as a human beings than they receive at home. In communist times movement of people was very restricted and the few that did move had to reimburse the state for their education. Now there is a lack of interest, respect and vision from our authorities making the economic conditions here attractive to young people.

If these well educated young people worked for a reasonable period abroad and then returned with their expertise, the future of Romania could improve. The reality is few return and they instead become like millions of other rootless people living by the expression “ubi patria, ubi bene”. If a nation loses its future, then it loses the chance to survive. A sensible question would be: How can Romania rebuild itself without its future?

It is an open question, why not join the debate?

By Mariana Ganea, Guest Writer

Mariana holds a PhD in Economics and she has been working in banking since 1991. Now, she is senior training consultant in banking and she is also freelance authorized trainer in soft skills and financial banking techniques. She studied banking techniques, communication, sales, NPL, coaching and transactional analysis. She is passionate about education, travel, history, politics, music, reading, movies, cultural events and photography. The views expressed are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of Romania Insider.com.