Traditional development strategies have not yielded their expected results in Romania. Efforts to promote democratic institutions, sustainable macro and micro economic growth, and community development have all been handicapped by the cultural legacy left by Romania's communist regime. Most economists agree that Romania's slow economic development must be seen in the context of its low social capital. Social capital encompasses the habits and values that make trust and cooperation possible. Forty years of communism drastically impaired social capital in Romania by intentionally decimating interpersonal trust, the capacity for self-organization, and the moral and civic values that make cooperation possible. One of the communist regime's principle strategies for total domination was social atomization, the intentional sowing of mistrust at all levels of society, which makes spontaneous social organization (affecting civil society and economic productivity) impossible. As Vaclav Havel states, "Without commonly shared and widely entrenched moral values and obligations, neither the law, nor the democratic government, nor even the market economy will function properly."

A 1999 World Values survey found Romania at the bottom of all European cultures in terms of interpersonal trust. Suspicion is Romania's national disease. The grounds for interpersonal suspicion are all too often confirmed by the persistence of a predatory (win-lose) mindset. Suspicion and a lack of values prevent the development of moral and social capabilities upon which the ability to self-organize rests. This is significant because it has been demonstrated that the level of trust, respect, and responsibility in a society determines both the healthy functioning of the economy and democratic effectiveness (see the Sustainable Development Wheel). Most economists agree that Romania's slow economic development must be seen in this context. Romanians rightly want a better standard of living. Yet on a large cultural scale, it is now clear that our standards for living (values) determine our standards of living (income). Only when the values of respect, responsibility, and mutual cooperation are internalized and consistently acted upon-only then can there be broad- based sustainable economic development.

Viata's goal is the imparting of positive values (including social capital) to the youth of the Jiu Valley. To see information about the external research performed on the Viata Program, click here.