> Pensions in Romania are a joke, ask your relatives that recently retired. Both my parents have decent pensions. It's directly proportional to your contributi

> Pensions in Romania are a joke, ask your relatives that recently retired. Both my parents have decent pensions. It's directly proportional to your contributions. Small lifetime contributions, small pension. Nowadays, a part of those contribution also gets invested, and my current net worth would actually allow me to retire right now. > Bribery isn’t less common, it’s just becoming increasingly inaccessible to common folk. Bribery being less accessible literally means that it's less common, but maybe we aren't speaking the same language. Local police is more corruptible, but try bribing DIICOT, see how well that works out. Also, in general, there have been many cases in which people got caught taking bribes, so, depending on who you try bribing, you can be kicked out of the room, or contacted by authorities. Colective was a tragedy. But it was also a hyped news story by all tabloids. My son suffered from Lylle's syndrome when he was 1-year-old, also treated at one of the hospitals where they treat burned victims. He was also born premature at 30 weeks with 1.2 Kg. My mother was operated for acute pancreatitis, which at that time had a 70% death rate. I have an aunt that's a cancer survivor. Both me and my father had several surgeries in our public hospitals. And I don't practice bribery. Take from this what you will. > "Our malls are full but industry is dead. We’re a consumer economy" Yet we are producing and exporting more than ever, with the GDP going through the roof, adjusted for inflation. What in the world is a "consumer economy" anyway? I hear these same words from my father, a common myth, but he has the excuse that he was a communist party member. What's yours? > "I also find it funny that you say we “avoided communists” and “home ownership is high” in the same breath. I wonder why home ownership is that high, and what policy lead to that." During communism home ownership was nearly zero, as everything was owned by the state. And nowadays Bucharest is in the top cities when it comes to affordable housing when reported to the number of average salaries needed to buy a home. City planning is poor, nearly non-existent in places, but Romania builds plenty of housing, which makes it affordable, with some exceptions. Do you still live in Romania? And if you do, do you know the country you're living in? :-)