Draft Four: Why Romania fell for an outsider

And why even dangerous and false stories stick.

Romania’s presidential elections have been canceled by the Constitutional Court, because of alleged foreign interference. I’m not capable of evaluating the chaos of that decision making process, but what it means is that we’ll start all over, sometime early next year, and go through everything again. Whether Călin Georgescu, the far right sympathizer who invokes God and soil will still be on the ballot remains to be seen. But the story he told, and which was later strategically amplified on social networks (this is how some interference happened), bypassing most traditional channels, remains. And millions believe at least some of this story is about them. It’s one they needed, and someone else will pick up the thread unless we start telling different ones.

In the past 35 years, Romanian politicians have failed them, but the people have restarted the political class, Georgescu told his supporters in a 13-minute video on December 2, the day after the Parliamentary elections that were sandwiched between two Presidential rounds.

You have been told your vote doesn’t matter, he continued, but now you know it does. This is a new social identity – an identity of people that tell politicians their parties are hollow. The people’s wake-up is imminent, we are now in control of our identity.

For anyone who hasn’t heard a Georgescu rant before, this may sound empty, like much of what he says, usually in recorded speeches or in interviews with hosts that don’t challenge or interrupt him, which visibly throws him off his game. But it actually continued a story he has been telling for years, one that has reached millions through social media in the past few months.

Stories now rarely come to us fully formed – they arrive in bite-size chunks, mostly video cuts, that we use to build a world. We assemble pieces as if doing a giant Lego, and it’s not a problem if you missed a piece, because they’ll get recirculated. It’s also why a story like the one Georgescu told spoke to a diverse array of constituencies: from far right fascist activists who organize survival camps and praise leaders of Romania’s interwar fascist movement, to antivaxxers and people who believe the pandemic wasn’t real, to people who believe in a grand conspiracy of shadow manipulators, to ordinary citizens fed up with a political system that has not delivered for them, to Romanians abroad who feel abandoned by arrogant and lying opportunists, to people disconnected from current events, but scared by the pace of social and technological change, to reactionary youth – especially young men – who have decided feminism or the queer community are the source of all their woes.

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The story is simple, and it goes like this.

We, Romanians, have Dacian heritage, and their ancient language was the origin of the Latin language (not the other way around). This country’s unique natural resources have fueled us for 6.000 years, as we’ve been here since the world was made. We are everything, we have everything, always had – forests, salt reserves, fertile soil, and energy potential –, so why are we suffering?

Romania is now 35 years out of authoritarian communism and is not better off. This is unpardonable given that this country is the cradle of civilization. Our predicament, our daily life now is slavery, not freedom. Who has enslaved us? The same global oligarchic system that is wreaking havoc everywhere. It’s embodied by international corporations who profit from our labor, by Western neoliberalism, and manipulative financial institutions. The banking and financial industry are especially evil, they are “the head of the snake”, intent on destroying national states, depopulating countries, and erasing Christian values.

They have created a Matrix-like prison of illusions, where materialism prevails over spiritual fulfillment. Crises such as the pandemic and the ensuing poverty and economic instability, are deliberate manipulations to further weaken us, keep us mediocre, keep us enslaved.

Georgescu is not the hero of this story – not in his telling, at least. You are. We all are. The people. The people who will wake up and choose dignity, and sovereignty, and love. He is simply the messenger of God, a lever people can pull to wake up. He has seen these international institutions and forces up close, or so his CV says, and he is also a man of science, who understands business, and agriculture, is connected to soil, and water, and food, and energy, and he has a plan.

Yes, he knows you are skeptical – he even knows you have heard some similar things about putting Romania first, maybe from AUR, the by-now mainstreamed and normalized far right party. But those are the false prophets of the sovereignty above all else movement. Take Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s far right prime minister. She is a crook, just wants power like all the others. So does George Simion, the leader of AUR. Now, Putin, he is different, a true apostle of peace. Like Georgescu.

Of course there is a solution to our problems, and we can get there together. We can reclaim Romania’s sovereignty, starting with the land. Block the sale of farmland to foreign investors, protect forests from deforestation, and redirect the country’s resources – food, water, energy – into Romanian hands. Maybe ban corporations. Open mines, as we are sitting on gold. We will localize production, boost organic farming, and have an economy powered by small, self-sustaining communities and small entrepreneurs, all free from foreign exploitation. We’ll do this so well we will become a power player – the water, grain and energy markets everywhere will take their cue from Romania.

This goes hand in hand with a revival of Christian values that must guide governance and society. Faith in God, unity among all Romanians, and a return to simplicity are how we will defeat globalism and reclaim our sovereignty.

The only things standing in our way is a corrupt and hollow political class, that is already at the precipice. Let’s end their reign once and for all – this vote is our last opportunity for a social movement grounded in love, faith, and the strength of a shared noble heritage.

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If some of above sound like an incoherent mess, it’s because it’s not meant to be anything else. Georgescu is like a collage artist, cribbing together ideas and movements without any coherence. Although Putin is the name most often invoked in these past couple of weeks, think Trump: he makes little sense to most of us, but enough sense for a majority to elect him as president. He is also his own ideology, as none of the existing ones fit him.

And don’t think people are paying attention to everything in this worldview – maybe they like the humbleness and the mystical aspects, maybe they like the resource-sovereignty aspect, maybe they like Romanian exceptionalism narrative.

But we need to understand why this story sticks.

Partly it’s because it comes at the right time, when the “enemy” is easier to pinpoint. I have written a little about the socio-economics of Romania and the general mood, but to recap: we don’t trust politicians, and we don’t trust institutions, we feel that the West that we longed for didn’t deliver wealth for all, so we’d rather have outsiders blow everything up than go on like this.

It also sticks because it highlights a conflict and enemies that people resonate with. It’s a fight they feel is about them. Amanda Ripley, author of High Conflict says there are a few understories to most conflicts, which means that whatever we fight about, we’re actually fighting about:

• Respect and recognition;

• Care and concern;

• Stress and overwhelm;

• Power and control.

Many people in Romania – and elsewhere – feel like the state is trampling all over them. Georgescu exploits this. In his December 2 message he addresses various social categories individually, and plays on all the understories above, validating people’s grievances against the establishment:

• Politicians have divided us. Who are they to divide us?

• We need to cover the wounds with goodness and love;

• We have relied on the armies, and economies, and foodstuffs of others, and that’s where our problems began;

• Pensioners are the country’s wisemen, and they have been humiliated;

• People with disabilities should remember the word disability has the power of ability in it;

• No parent can ever be alone in keeping kids healthy. No sick person can continue to suffer because of political ignorance. Health is our priority;

• Everyone is worthy of dignity and respect;

• Romanians from the other Romania, outside its borders, be ready to return “for real”. Bring back the sadness and frustration so others can remember that no place is better than home.

Of course TikTok and other platforms played a role. Of course someone spent money on a coordinated campaign to make this story spread. Of course an infrastructure of distribution has been set up for years. Of course other state actors are interested in influencing elections in a region with a war next door. Of course flooding the zone – the feeds in this case – with Georgescu boosts his credibility and his anti-establishment creed. Of course a lot of money was spent for him.

But, most importantly, he was the right storyteller for a story many want to hear.

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They want to hear it so desperately that journalism and fact checking alone won’t change people’s minds.

Think of it this way: you have felt powerless, lied to and manipulated for years. You don’t trust almost anyone outside a small circle of family and friends. And then, suddenly, this guy talking about God, and unity and love, and restoring your dignity comes into your life. He isn’t even directly asking for a vote. He is just saying things that make you go: “Wow, yes!”

And so you vote for him, and he wins the first round, like the great outsider he portrayed himself to be. Actually, it’s you who wins.

Then, all of a sudden, all those institutions that had abandoned you in the first place, from mainstream politicians, to journalists, to intellectuals, to what have you, say: “No, this is a mistake, he is Evil incarnate”.

Do you believe them? Of course you don’t.

They show you proof he lies, he supports conspiracy theories, he believes climate change is a hoax, he supports political beliefs that have led to assassinations, he says he met aliens, he says chemo is poison and water is information. Journalists dig up his past – he has always been part of the system, his CV is made up, he has been telling the same story for years with little traction, his advisor is a militia dude, his whole political campaign is a string of dubious organizations paying for internet influence, we smell Russia, just like we do in Moldova, Georgia and other places. And more.

Do you believe them?

There is nothing harder than changing one’s mind. The pain of cognitive dissonance is hard to bear. Once we have integrated a story into our worldview, dislodging it is tantamount to losing oneself. There is nothing scarier than giving up a story, so you rationalize: maybe some of these things about him are true, but he exaggerates to make a point. Or he is indeed weird, maybe a little shady too, but it’s the message that counts, right? Plus, no one else cares about you anyway.

That’s why I say Trump is a better prism through which you can understand the immediate appeal of Georgescu: the story was so good, people might have stuck to it despite evidence to the contrary. And people are hurting, and they are angry, and they are fed up. Fact checking is just more humiliation and proof that someone is out to get you. (Trump is actually who Georgescu referenced when he said he’ll keep fighting once the vote was cancelled.)

“If you feel threatened, you cannot feel curious”, Amanda Ripley writes about what happens to our brains in conflict. “If you think the other side is more extreme and hateful than it actually is, you will vote for anyone, no matter how unhinged or divisive, to keep the other side out of office.”

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Let me tell you a different story, to drive the point home.

Earlier this year, mostly powered by online communities, another Romanian outsider rose to prominence – he had been in a larger party once, but stepped away, disappointed. He also believes politicians aren’t serving the people, they are neglecting their needs and their rights. Communities are suffering, they don’t have affordable housing, affordable healthcare, the quality of education is lagging, and the environment is neglected. Social media loves him, influencers spread his message. He says we can come together to send a message that we have a voice outside of the existing mainstream parties, and that’s him.

That outsider was Nicu Ștefănuță, a progressive politician who, in a largely conservative country, offered a vision of a compassionate, sustainable, and inclusive Romania. Close to 300.000 people voted for him, mostly Gen Zs, allowing him to continue his stint in the European parliament, this time as an independent. (Full disclosure: I voted for Ștefănuță because of this story, one I have been wanting to hear for many years myself).

In a way, you can look at Ștefănuță and Georgescu through the same story lens. It’s what anyone aspiring to lead does, and it’s a simple model: this is me, this is our common problem, this is the moment to act together on it.

What we’re responding to are not just the facts behind the assertions and the person. A story maps onto our internal landscape, our upbringing, our anxieties, our vulnerabilities, and our basic needs. It confirms our worldviews and makes us feel less alone in the struggle. It seduces us. In enthralls us. It’s a spell.

Yelling “it’s a spell” to someone who voted for Georgescu isn’t going to change much. Would it be enough for me to yell “it’s a spell” to convince you a vote for Ștefănuță might have been wrong? I doubt it.

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The annulment of the elections won’t change the underlying realities of modern day Romania.

It might even add fuel to the sovereign fire, with Georgescu having been made an example of, a victim to some degree. Civil unrest could be added to the existing political tensions. Another nationalist candidate – George Simion, that is – might pick up the story and try and reclaim his place as the leading figure of the far right, but also play the “at least I’m not so anti-European and mystical” card.

The next chapters will be written soon. What I hope we can do together, while we’ll likely also get terribly anxious and worked up over everything, is remember what story is being told, and that we can’t just wish it away by witty posts, insta screeds, and fact-checking. They are essential, but not enough in a segregated media environment of a country with abysmal levels of trust.

We need to tell a better story to restore trust, and somehow build from there. And it can’t be one that remains for too long at the level of utopian promise or simply in an anti- stance, but also one that is for something, and that delivers equality, agency, and restores some of the trust and dignity many have lost after years of political neglect.

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Side dishes:

Even though respectable journalism isn’t always believed (or is less and less trusted), we need it more than ever. And in Romania, once again, the best journalism was produced by smaller players, who don’t take state subsidies by the millions, and don’t serve a party agenda. If there is one small action you can take after reading this letter that is to donate to at least one of the ones below – they are far from being the only ones that did their job these past few weeks, but too many options are sometimes a bad idea. So let’s start here:

• Snoop

• Context

• Buletin de București

• PressOne

• Recorder

PS: Or you can ask you company to back some experiments we’re planning in 2025. We are two-thirds of the way to our fundraising goal.

BONUS: Watch this video from our 2019 The Power of Storytelling conference on the dark arts of storytelling.