Romania

Dimitrie Cantemir urges mankind to apply its gifts in the service of good, not bad deeds. He acknowledges that “the rich man will settle himself in the highest chair”, and warns against riches turning the heart to stone. In Opera politica, Mihai Eminescu, Romania’s greatest romantic poet, considers that poverty leads to corruption more often than wealth. He explains that poverty is a source of physical and moral ills, and in turn the cause of economic decadence. For him, the definition of true corruption is the promotion to high places of nonentities, earning money easily and without work. His view is that the reality of work alone resists all crises and upheavals. He draws attention to the fact each item of public expenditure is paid for by the perspiration and physical exertion of someone. A popular Romanian saying is that money is the devil’s eye. Petre Tutea qualifies this by saying that everything depends on how money is used. Alexandru Macendonski talks of the lure of money in the Divine Comedy with as title “Money”. Vasile Alecsandri describes money as the little wheels that set the world’s big wheel in motion. Nicolae Titulescu’s view is that there can be no monetary stability as long as there is a fiscal deficit, stressing the need to balance expenditures and receipts. He draws a distinction between savings (resulting from a reduction in expenditures) and sobriety (resulting from a reduction in consumption). His view is that destiny is the excuse of the weak and the doing of the strong. According to Emil Cioran, it is not the fear of effort but the fear of success that explains more than one failure. He chastises those who wallow in misfortune. As for the work of Nicolae Georgescu, it has inspired the degrowth movement.