I beg to differ. Sure, some problems still remained even though the systems changed, but I find the situation has improved significantly in the past 15 years (I'm not counting the neo-communism years after the 89 revolution). There still are corruption scandals, but for better or worse people have learned they have their rights, and if someone breaks the law they can be held accountable, no matter who they are. And as bad as we like to think our political class is, the democratic process is not really being undermined. And economically, sure, the living standard is still well below the EU average, but the economy is functional. And if you're talented and hardworking, there is nothing stoping you from becoming wealthy. My grandparents were in a similar situation to the one described in the article, and the communist state persecuted them throughout their lives. Simply knowing for a fact that one's rights and property are respected can make a big difference in the quality of people's lives in my opinion. So yeah, I think there are systems that are inherently better than others. And while there still are things to fix in Romania, we've changed a lot in the last 25 years.