Study: Romanian teenagers believe life under communism was better than today

Despite lack of direct experience of the communist regime, over a third of Romanian teenagers, born after the fall of the regime in 1989, believe communism was better than the current regime, according to a recent study by Soros Romania. “We're taking about the young people who show discontent and lack of faith in democracy and in the market economy and who do not reject the idea of an authoritarian leader. The Soros research shows that to a great extent, the Romanian society fails in the deliberate effort to share information about the communist regime, as it was,” said Ovidiu Voicu, coordinator of the study.

Almost 40 percent of interviewed teenagers think the public health system was in a better shape during the communist period, while 33 percent think it is better nowadays. The main reason for unhappiness with Romania today is the state's incapacity to enforce the law. Over half of teenagers believe Romania is in a worst state than during the communist period. Communism is however not something much talked about – a quarter of adolescents say they never talked about it in school, with their teachers, which is surprising, as the topic is included in history textbooks, according to the Soros report. Around 65 percent of the interviewed teenagers say there was a higher degree of respect for the law during the communist period, and they also perceive their teachers as nostalgic for the communist period (41 percent). All in all, around half of the teenagers interviewed for the study could not answer to the question: “ Was the fall of communism good or bad?" editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: sxc.hu)