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In the taxi to the airport I asked the same question I always ask about responsibility for the Ukrainian war. This driver didn't want to tell me until he knew my opinion and I had assured him that I was definitely not an American. He did not know that back in England feeling is probably as bellicose as among Americans, with a lot fewer dissenters.
The truth, he said, is always in the middle and there is fault on both sides but Ukraine was Russian since the time of Peter the Great, like Belarus etc.
The Americans have surrounded Russia with American bases and now intend to plant them in Ukraine. Ukraine's mineral resources and gas are the attraction. In the same way America is provoking China.
Meanwhile Zelensky has treated the Romanian minority badly by forbidding the use of the language. When he was a comedian he made jokes at the expense of Ronanians.
Then he said something about Putin opposing the New World Order, but I was sleepy and my Romanian was not up to understanding him.
He mentioned Satan.
My driver thought the war had been predicted by Nostradamus and might prefigure the coming of the Antichrist.
Antichrist or not these times are very awry and His Satanic Majesty has been much in my mind these last ten or twenty years. I am not sure if he takes either side in the war, though, or perhaps he fights for both.
“…thought the war had been predicted by Nostradamus and might prefigure the coming of the Antichrist…”
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone who thinks those things might not be the best possible guide on current affairs? Just a thought.
He's interesting as an example of Romanian public opinion. Plenty of religious people wonder if these are the end times, including American evangelicals who support Israel. Some people think Pope Francis is the Antichrist. I certainly do not
DeleteRemember when Traian Basescu and Mircea Geoana accused each other of casting evil spells in the 2008 election? Mr Taxicista probably believed that too.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. I remember Mr Geoana accusing Mr Basescu using the colour purple as black magic. I can't imagine taxi drivers believing such nonsense.
DeleteI doubt it. I remember Mr Geoana accusing Mr Basescu using the colour purple as black magic. I can't imagine taxi drivers believing such nonsense.
DeleteMy, what intellectual snobs there are in Romania and beyond.
DeleteIs it intellectual snobbery to cock a skeptical eye at rank superstition? As a skeptic yourself I am sure you can understand the tendency.
ReplyDelete