Mircea Cartarescu on culture and money

In an interview with Andreas Breitenstein, the Romanian author Mircea Cartarescu talks about communism, the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and corruption in today's Romania. Unlike many leftist intellectuals, Cartarescu does not see capitalism as harmful: "I do not share the belief that money is destructive. It creates and injects energy. Money is like blood: when it's infected the whole body becomes sick but when it's healthy the body thrives. A society based on money gained through honest work experiences a lightness of life which is the basis for intellectual and artistic achievement. Culture is a luxury. In the course of history intellectual life has generally thrived in those places where the economy was healthy."

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