Dr Michael Ritivoi Hansen

I was born in Romania during WWII and, I lived there, under the Communist rule until 1978; thirteen years

before communism collapsed under its own weight. I had no choices and I had to live in the only environment available to me. I had nothing to compare communism with, except my own common sense. I witnessed how my father and my four uncles, all coming from poor families, were raised to achieve higher education and professional success within our pre-WWII capitalist system and, how all suffered professional and small business setbacks under the glorious and “fair” communism. As they had to be and do as the communist system wanted, with what communism provided; their dreams withered. When my own dreams, as a young dentist withered, I decided to emigrate to the capitalist realm. Our borders had been heavily guarded against those who wanted to get out. Nobody wanted to get in. It took some creativity to succeed but, I did it! Capitalism seemed so easy to live in, even for a penniless, unlicensed, not speaking the local language, lonely person like me.