The same applies to our advantages. We have a fast
internet connection (without taking into account whether
it is evenly distributed in the country), but not the fastest
one. We have a beautiful nature, but not the most
fascinating natural landscapes. We have an interesting
history, but not the most turbulent or the most important
for humanity (not including the widespread notion that
there`s always a Bulgarian involved in every major event in
global history – something we are often teasing our
Macedonian neighbors about).
The truth about Bulgaria is not that we are the smallest,
the most problematic, the poorest, the most corrupt, the
most miserable, the least innovative, the most affected by
the crisis or with the most problematic banking system.
The truth is that right now we seem boring.
Inconspicuous. Uninteresting.
Nothing special is happening here. Or am I wrong?
“The saddest place in the world,
relative to its income per person,
is Bulgaria.”
Titles of articles, such as „The Rich, the Poor and
Bulgaria”, where the quote is taken from, manage to
attract the attention of politicians, the press and ordinary
Bulgarians for one reason. Right now, we can differentiate
ourselves from the rest of the world only by the high level
of dissatisfaction to what is happening to us. Our self-
imposed sense of tragic fate is just a way to appear
important and meaningful in our own eyes. We have
branded ourselves (the original word derives from
“livestock branding”) as unhappy people, trapped in a
perpetual crisis, always last and always too late. This is
deeply imprinted in our minds.
We obviously have a very serious problem, related not
only to our wealth but to our state of mind. The statistic
shows that no matter how difficult the economic situation
is, more and more basic needs are met and the income of
the whole population grows each consecutive year. Yet we
still feel miserable.
Our main problem is not our material well-being. It is our
attitude towards our own lives – the compulsive feeling
that we ourselves do not participate in it but merely
observe it.
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That we are living a life created by someone else.
Determined by someone else. Arranged by someone else.
If you think that right now we are surrounded by chaos
without any vision, you are wrong. There certainly is a
vision – we are just not part of it.
A vision without people
The current “vision” for our country (the quotes are
intentional) does not include its citizens / voters /
consumers / taxpayers as a key element. It is built on the
relationships among a certain group of people, who treat
the country, its state institutions, wealth and population as
a non-renewable resource for specific purposes and
without any consideration for the overall development of
the country. Keep that in mind – they don`t necessarily
mean to intentionally harm us, the point is that we are not
even considered as a factor.
The usual suspects to blame include the constitution, laws,
institutions or political parties. But the problem does not
lie in them as such – as if a businessman can blame his
smartphone for not having good communication with his
clients. They are just tools – the real question is how they
are used and for what purpose.
Even during periods of economic growth our
development is not sustainable, because it does not reach
a major part of society. It is temporary at best and does
not stand on strong determination for development, but
on favorable trends in the world economy and, most of
all, on our membership in the European Union. We grow
when the Union is experiencing periods of growth
because we receive a substantial amount of investments –
as do all neighboring countries from Central and Eastern
Europe. In times of crisis, the investors fall silent. Even if we
go back to our best years, we managed to reach a growth
rate of 6%, with foreign investments reaching 40% of the
GDP. The statistic for the EU funds is similar – they are
currently regarded as the “engine” of our economy (in
2012 they constitute 65% of the GDP), but their impact is
(in)visible to everyone.
Rumen Avramov provides a short and telling description
of this “vision” - growth without development (the “growth”
part being optional).
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A vision like any other
There is another, standardized vision of the country that
can often be heard by politicians and analysts – we should
take advantage of our achievements to become a normal,
stable country with a functioning market economy, where
people live according to rules, harmony and
understanding. Here is an example:
“By 2020 Bulgaria will become a country with a competitive
economy, providing conditions for social, creative, and
professional individual realization through intelligent,
sustainable, inclusive and regionally balanced economic
growth.”
You can read dozens of variations of this idea about our
common future – they all contain more or less the same
ingredients, priorities and phrasing.
The problem with this “vision”? You can replace the name
“Bulgaria” with that of any other country. They all want to
be like that. This is the reason why this “vision” is also put
in quotes – because it is based on the lack of a genuine
idea about what we want to achieve. It could lead to a
certain individual success – of people, companies, even of
certain sectors of the economy. But it cannot harness
development on a national scale that can position us as a
leading entity in the world.
If you want to be more precise, you can use the phrase
a normal European country. Our membership in the
European Union has given us a wonderful opportunity to
talk about how we should become Europeans or
a European country, without fully thinking through what
that actually means and what are the real benefits of our
participation in the most ambitious integration process
ever.
Do we really have a role model in Europe? Who is the
European – the German entrepreneur, the English
gentleman, the Greek farmer or the Spanish unemployed
student? What is the model for a European country – the
ambitious and pragmatic Finland, or the painfully nostalgic
Italy? What are the European values, repeatedly questioned
in critical situations by both Member States and European
institutions?
An important part of this “vision” of normality is our
attractiveness for investors. That is why we advertise our
low corporate tax, fast Internet connection and the
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