“Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.”

In my younger and more vulnerable years I was very patriotic. I was convinced that Romania is one of the greatest countries in the world. There is a common thing any foreigner sees when meeting Romanians: they all complain and say how much they hate Romania. This is so obvious that one of my foreign business partners thinks that he would get wealthy instantly if only he could monetize this intense feeling. For years now I’m trying to understand why this happens – and I think I finally got it. Also, it applies to many other East European countries as well.

Read full article on Dragos Manac's blog

Propaganda and the school.

Every country is good at making up for itself a great history out of any sort of past. The history offers local models, heroes, patterns we identify with. Being a part of something great makes you great. When someone tries to take that greatness away you fight back. You defend your country because it has made you great as well, by association. This is a very simple way of turning weak people into strong weapons. We all feel the need to be part of something bigger. For many it’s the preferred football team or religion – and you can see the extreme manifestations of that. We even have Jane Elliot’s Exercise to prove how simple it is to turn people against each other based on shallow beliefs of superiority.

Romanians got their part of great historical achievements from their own history books. History is written by winners to justify the past and secure the future. The last big winners in Romania were the communists, and they wrote the current version of our history.

To see the people’s superior view of their own country and how inferior neighboring countries are – please visit http://www.u