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More from @Daractenus

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Apr 15

With the president of the United States now thinking of himself as Jesus, I figured I’d tell you about the very Trump like Chinese peasant who, after having dreamt one night that he was the younger brother of Jesus, started arguably the bloodiest civil war in human history. 🧵

Born in 1814 in an impoverished Chinese village, the sound of mind Hong Xiuquan would misguide his family into pouring all their meager savings into his education, in hopes of him dragging them out of poverty by passing the infamously difficult Chinese Civil Service Exams.

Having spent his entire childhood and teenage years preparing for it, he managed to completely fail the exam three times in a row, more or less bankrupting himself and his entire extended family in the process, which led him to have a rather understandable mental breakdown.

Read 10 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Apr 14

The greatest triumph of the incessant hurricane of lies coming from Russia, MAGA, and the likes of Elon Musk has been convincing a significant share of the world, including Europeans, to believe in a “decaying and collapsing” Europe that exists solely in their imagination.🧵

Nearly every single country on the European continent, the one that is supposedly "a totalitarian hellhole with no free speech", ranks significantly higher than the US in terms of freedom of the press, with every single one of the top 10 spots being occupied by European countries.

Things are so terrible in Europe from an overall quality of life perspective that last year, just like every other year really, European nations topped the charts of the happiest nations on earth, somewhat taking away from the "Europeans are on the verge of civil war" narrative.

Read 11 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Apr 13

I believe it is worth revisiting just how utterly tragic EU accession has been for some of the most recent member states to join, and, in doing so, explain why all local anti-EU actors, for all the backing of Donald Trump and Russia, will always ultimately end up defeated. 🧵

Since tragically joining the union in 2004, Poland has barely even managed to quadruple its GDP and start what is routinely referred to as "The Polish Golden Age", likely an achievement completely unrelated to the quarter of a trillion dollars worth of EU funds it received.

Joining in 2007, moment at which it famously topped world charts in efficient governance and standard of living, average wage in Romania went from a nickel and a smile to about $1200 net, with Bucharest alone now having a bigger GDP than all of Serbia and Bulgaria combined.

Read 8 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Apr 11

With less than 24 hours left until Hungarians head to the polls, I figured it is a good moment to take one final look at what Viktor Orbán has achieved in his 16 years of uninterrupted, near absolute reign in Hungary, by comparing Hungary’s performance with that of Romania.🧵

In 2010, just as Orban started his second reign, the country stood as the 53rd least corrupt country in the world, while Romania was ranked as 75th.

In 2026, after nearly 16 years of Viktor Orban, Hungary succeeded in being ranked as significantly more corrupt than Romania.

Pre-Orban Hungary could at the very least pride itself in having a minimum wage about twice that of Romania, even more, at various points in time.

In 2026, thanks to Viktor Orban's sovereign economic genius, the average wage in Hungary and Romania stands about equal.

Read 10 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Mar 24

Given that we all could probably use a bit of lighthearted humor right now, and since it’s been quite some time since my last “News from Romania” thread, here’s an all time best of collection of the funniest and most absurd real bits of news I’ve collected over the years. 🧵

Enjoying the location and not allowing himself to be disheartened by the fact that it was very occupied, a Romanian man built his house right on top of an apartment block.

Due to some obscure piece of legislation and the sheer difficulty of it, the house cannot be demolished.

After having built a brand new school in the village, a mayor made an appeal to his fellow villagers to come help demolish the old decrepit school. The entire community answered the call and, in a misguided zeal of enthusiasm, demolished both schools, old and new.

Read 21 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Mar 22

Over the past year, I’ve constantly asked myself how it is possible that 77 million people voted to have this abomination as their president for a second time. While I certainly don’t have the answer just yet, I think I’ve come up with a rather accurate how-to guide of sorts.🧵

First and foremost, it is essential to acknowledge that ending up in an autocracy or a full fledged dictatorship is something that can only happen to other people. Of all times and all places, you alone are lucky enough to find yourself in the one spot magically immune to it.

Of all things promised by the simpleton you plan to vote for, it is most important to keep in mind he obviously only intends to do the things you agree with. Every single one of those plans or promises you personally disagree with, he obviously can't or won't actually do.