Roma are unable to live like normal people – 

if we receive social housing (flats) we will destroy them. 

we will make fires using the existing wooden floors 

Indeed – and that is because the fires made out of wooden floors are what we are born for and love to do. We love the challenge to rip these floors apart and try to set them on fire as we think is much better to sleep on the cement than wood (as it is well known we hate sleeping on beds). We also enjoy the toxic smoke that comes from setting on fire lacquered wood. We use this as a treatment for keeping everybody healthy in our families. 

 we  keep our horses in our  flats.

Yes, we do this because through a magical spell that can take place only in these flats we are able to transform regular horses in unicorns and Pegasus type horses much needed by the fairy industry.

The production of a Pegasus type of horse can be done only on the 4^th floor flat of an old communist apartment building in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Serbia and Hungary. Any other Pegasus horses are fake.

Did you ever see a horse in your life ?  In case you honestly believe that “work-shy people” will go trough the miracle of putting a horse into a social housing flat every day for years you must be absolutely nuts. What do you think will happen when the horses shits or pees ? Do you believe we toilet train them?

We do have our spectacular idiots. But I have a hard time believing and a long experience working and living in Roma communities that shows that even most of our idiots will try to keep their horses in a 18 square meters , 2.5 meters high room – the average dimension of a room in social housing flat. Despite not trying the thing with the horses I surprise myself being an absolute idiot regularly.

Abject poverty is what makes people live in appalling housing conditions and not the genes. Centuries of exclusion push people in living abnormal lives.

Education – Roma are stupider and do not value education the same way as normal people do

Yes, as any parent – Roma parents want their children to be functional cretins. We believe that the dirtier, hungrier and poorer our children are the best for their future. Because we are care free closer to nature free souls we prefer our children to drink dew and eat rainbows. We would much more prefer our children to be barefoot in the winter and feel the soul of Gaya trough their skin and beg than lose their spirit in the warm comfort of private schools and be corrupted by wealth and luxuries.

Research shows that students from the poorest quarter of population have a 8.6 percent chance to get a college degree. For the top quarter the percentage is 75.  Nine times higher. And this is in the US.

The fact that you do not see a link between centuries of slavery, abject poverty, exclusion and educational achievements it doesn’t make you either smart or pragmatic. Quite the opposite.

 Roma are magical and dangerous – they can spell different curses on you

 Yes we are magical indeed. That is why we embraced happily hundred of years of slavery and we enjoy so much the racism it is gracefully bestowed upon us. Being able to perform magic and spell curses it proved to be very productive as we are obviously overrepresented in the ruling elites. The fact that practically all Roma in Czech Republic were wiped out during the Holocaust and other hundred of thousands were killed –some concentration camps during the second world war or during deportation in Romania is another clear indication of our magical and fortune telling powers.

There was never any Roma minister in any country in Europe. We are the most unrepresented ethnic minority in all intergovernmental institutions. The most important people in charge of taking decision on Roma issues at the European level come from countries that have either no Roma or an insignificant number of Roma. When appointed in those positions they  had no experience whatsoever on Roma issues.

The fact that despite all the above-mentioned facts there is a good number of people that believe  that we Roma have some extra powers is indeed magic. Magically stupid that is.

Roma are work-shy and live on public money

Some of us indeed, live luxurious lives based on years, decades and sometimes centuries of stealing from other people and taking advantage of far too weak governments or inept welfare systems.  These individuals do their best not to pay taxes and find all type of excuses and loopholes that allows them to avoid assuming the same responsibilities as the common citizens.  They are famous for having immensely lavish parties celebrating new births in the family or a marriage where they exhibit weird jewelries and clothes.

Some are called or call themselves kings, queens, princes and princesses. Some of them have even more ridiculous names such as Lords, Counts, Barons. Most of them are presidents, directors, CEOs of different banks, political parties, businesses or are relatives of some of the above mentioned people.

A very tiny fraction of these are Roma. Pragmatically the amount of money we lose on crooks that happen to be Roma represent a completely insignificant contribution to the immense waste of money we throw at Royal families, bailing out banks, fuel the corruption of public contracts, allow tax heavens and loopholes in legislation to benefit our richest elites. The estimated “businesses” of the Mafia are estimated at over 100 billions per year alone.

There are indeed some Roma that are work-shy. This is a serious issues with many people that live in abject poverty including Roma. It needs to be addressed but it is ridiculous to think that this is even in the first 20 main problems for why European countries are struggling. The fact that Roma issues are used by many racists or inept politicians in order to gain visibility and power is shameful. And we should make it stop.

In an hour or so I will receive the European Citizen’s Prize for 2013. It changes nothing. The European Union needs reform urgently . The Commission is not there to keep procedures and prevent an imagined Hobbesian society where everybody is out there to steal the EU money. The Commission is supposed to change idiotic procedures that are in place and make Europe a much better place. There are amazing benefits that came from the EU and the Commission. Some of the smartest and best people work in the Commission but pretending nothing can be changed in order to keep their jobs and paying lip service to advance in a job that is mind numbing will make people to distance themselves from Europe. Hope that is not going to happen. And (sometimes stupidly) I try whatever I can to not let it happen.