Double, double, toil and (Romanian) trouble

Last month I mentioned that the witches of Romania were up in arms at an attempt by their government to tax their earnings. Some went so far as to cast spells against incumbent politicians, including dumping mandrake into the Danube River in an attempt to 'hex' them.

It seems that, emboldened by the fact that nothing happened to them, Romanian lawmakers are now going even further.

A month after Romanian authorities began taxing them for their trade, the country's soothsayers and fortune tellers are cursing a new bill that threatens fines or even prison if their predictions don't come true.

. . .

Witches argue they shouldn't be blamed for the failure of their tools.

"They can't condemn witches, they should condemn the cards," Queen Witch Bratara Buzea told The Associated Press by telephone.

Critics say the proposal is a ruse to deflect public attention from the country's many problems. In 2009, Romania needed a euro20 billion ($27.31 billion) International Monetary Fund-led bailout loan to pay salaries and pensions when its economy contracted more than 7 percent. Last year, the economy shrank again. However, this year a slight recovery of 1.5 percent growth is forecast.

European Union and Romanian officials say local authorities are hampered by political bickering and bureaucracy. The centrist government is unpopular, the opposition is weak, the press thrives on conspiracy and personal attacks, and EU officials say the justice system needs to be reformed. Romanians are jaded and mistrustful.

"The government doesn't have real solutions, so it invents problems," said Stelian Tanase, a well-known Romanian political commentator. "This is the government that this country deserves."

. . .

Bratara called the proposed bill overblown. "I will fight until my last breath for this not to be passed," she said.

Sometimes, she argued, people don't provide their real identities, dates of birth or other personal details, which could skew a seer's predictions. "What about when the client gives false details about themselves? We can't be blamed for that."

The new bill would also require witches to have a permit, to provide their customers with receipts and bar them from practicing near schools and churches.

There's more at the link.

I have to admit, I like the idea of making those 'predicting the future' responsible for the outcome of their forecasts. I don't believe any of them, anyway, so it ought to be fun to see them dragged off to jail, kicking and screaming, because their deceptions and falsehoods have finally been exposed for what they are. In any other field, we'd call their activities 'fraud', and prosecute those guilty of them; so why not witches, astrologers, fortune-tellers and other quacks, too?

On the other hand, those proposing the law are politicians - by definition, just as fraudulent a species as self-proclaimed 'witches'! Perhaps we should imprison them together somewhere, and see what happens. Will speeches overcome spells? Will political pundits' predictions outsmart the future-foreseeing witches? Place your bets - if you're feeling lucky, that is!





Peter