Money in a poor country and money in a rich country are two different things

Mr. Kapuchitsky, do you know what money means in a poor country? Money in a poor country and money in a rich country are two different things. In a rich country, money is a piece of paper with which you buy goods on the market. You are only a customer. Even a millionaire remains a customer. He may purchase more, but he remains a customer, nothing more. And in a poor country? In a poor country, money is a wonderful, thick hedge, dazzling and always blooming, which separates you from everything else. Through that hedge you do not see creeping poverty, you do not smell the stench of misery, and you do not hear the voices of the human dregs. But at the same time you know that all of that exists, and you feel proud of yourself because of your hedge. You have money; that means you have wings. You are the bird of paradise that everyone admires.

Ryszard Kapuścińsky, The Emperor

This, spoken by an Ethiopian, applies to some extent to Romania as well as Africa. Romanians are becoming very used to the sight of the rich in every newspaper, on television and driving sports cars round Bucharest but the Romanian rich are still not used to being rich.