Nu v-au furat libertatea. Ați renunțat la ea, de Lucian Ciuchiță ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.108, 08/2026 ▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură! Abstract: In "They Didn't Steal Your Freedom. You Gave It Away", published in ALTCULTURE Magazine (no. 108, 2026), Lucian Ciuchiță delivers a scathing, uncompromising critique of contemporary social and political apathy in Romania. Addressing the public as an amorphous, easily manipulated mass, the author dissects the systematic erosion of national dignity and honor, arguing that modern servitude has been disguised in polite attire and false sophistication. The essay frames elections not as genuine democratic choices, but as the mere periodic selection of new administrators for an ongoing captivity managed by competing factions of the deeply entrenched security establishment. Drawing sharp existential and civic conclusions, the text asserts that liberty is rarely stolen overnight in a dramatic coup, but rather surrendered piecemeal through thousands of daily compromises, indifference, fear, and resignation. By exposing the illusion of political reform across four decades of recycled power structures, Ciuchiță holds the citizenry directly accountable for their present powerlessness. Ultimately, the piece serves as a bitter wake-up call and an indictment of a society that traded critical thinking for comfortable lies, reminding readers that a population that voluntarily abandons its responsibility and dignity inevitably ends up being treated as slaves.