Have you ever been to the planet they call Utopia?

Well, I have, but just for a brief period of time.

I was born in what was left of Utopia sometime in 1985, in the core of the lie that it was. The "fruit" came to be rotten and they were refusing to see the truth. Everything that Utopia was, was crumbling for 5 years already, when my mother struggled with me 4 hours in labour.

Utopia was all about the Party: it gave you work, it gave you shelter, it gave you food. Or at least that's what they wanted you to think

I remember perfectly though I was only 4 years old, the day that Utopia came falling down like a deck of cards.
And the cards were the people, each and every individual of this political machine that had enough of the lies. From one night to the other, Utopia's citizens, from friends became the enemy and were shot at.

"Everything is great!"
"Our economy increased with xx% and we are going to double the meat production in 6 months!"
"The Party gave another 20$ to each retired person!"
"Our beloved Ruler is visiting a the new Industrial Platform of Galați. The inspection of our Planet's most beloved son is of crucial importance for the development of the production!"

All lies. Just a bunch full of lies. Everybody was running on fumes. There was no food for the inhabitants of Utopia and the bitter winter of 1989 was hitting hard.

"Tell them to put another blanket on top of them!" was the straight answer of the First Lady of Utopia.

And they did. Still, they were eating soy salami for years now. And for years they were humiliated to wait in long ques, since dawn, for bread, yogurt or eggs. Meat was a luxury in the last years of the utopical planet, though the authorities were reporting overwhelming production in the media.

Waiting in line became a national sport

But Utopia didn't get this name through famine, of course. Though life in the last years of Utopia was characterised by the expression "living by the ration card", it wasn't always like that.

Utopia was established right after the Great War. People lived hard times during that period and the fact that these lands were not on the winning side didn't give it much choice. So it became Utopia.

At first, it was imposed. Through propaganda and force. A lot of people were not willing to give up their dreams, their hopes and their style of life in the favour of "the new man". Equality was regarded as an "utopia" so many regarded it as impossible, as unnatural and unorganic. But in time stability kicked in. Progress was made and reconstruction began in Utopia.

Times were changing and whatever was left of the old Regime was torn down in order to create new order, new reality and new priorities. The witch hunt that Utopia needed in order to be born has taken many lifes. Death was needed in order to create new life.

And it certainly did so.

Utopia became Utopia about 20 years later. The Golden Age, the time that gave its name was glorious, a society that seemed so well tied together that it looked like the mechanism of a Swiss watch.

Industry was booming and everybody felt they contributed to the construction of the country.
Agriculture was booming and while this meant lots of money pouring in from exports, food was on the table too. Infrastructure was booming. Everywhere around the country, ordinary people were receiving the gift of cheap electricity, new, modern homes, urbanisation and everything that came with it.
Tourism was booming as new resorts were being built along the shores of the Sea and the old ones were reconstructed and modernised in order to accommodate everybody. And everybody had their turn per year to enjoy.

Utopia had a new ruler, a "visionary" they called him. He was from the people, for the people. Forged in revolutionary detention he came to power in order to build that utopian dream that others had but never managed to reach. The "Beloved Son of the Carpathians", the pride of Utopia, the knight that rose from the flames of the unfavoured.

A peasant, a doer, a nationalist, a spy and a tyrant, all under the hood

Utopia officially didn't know what luxury was, everything was made for a purpose; turism was functional, never glossy but available

"the New Man" had to live in new urban areas with all the confort and functionality in order to be able to give 110% at the job the Party assigned him to

But a lie is a lie no matter how much glitter you throw around it. The foul smell of an infected carcass can be felt no matter how much perfume you spray around it. Utopia consumed itself and a lot of factors shook hands to bring it down both external and, especially, internal.

Utopia lived up to its dreams more or less 15 years. I guess that's the maximum number of years that social experiments of large dimensions can hold it's peak for. As time erodes and changes everything, this was no different for Utopia.

People get old, wheels clog, international context changes, country refuses to change because its ruler said so.
Utopia was a dream. It only lasts as long as you are able to maintain yourself in a state of sleep, of mediocre lethargy where you refuse to see the flaws in the fabric because it's easier that way.

I can still see vividly the night they announced on TV they managed to kill "the tyrant". It was 25th of December 1989 and Utopia was officially Dystopia. Main stream, international media was showing what Utopia really was:

a crumbling lie

We still have "Ruler issues" as now it is not only one, but many to fight.
Utopia is dead for 28 years now and we still sometimes feel its presence... like a ghost that just wont let you be. Old people have regrets and get melancholic about Utopia. I always wondered if that's just because Utopia represents their youth or because Utopia was so deeply inoculated in them that after all these years they just can't understand the fact that it was just an mirage...

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