Why do the Bulgarian people periodically vote for some "savior"? Evgeniy Dainov sees one of the reasons in the media, which after 1989 created a sense of impasse, predicting that terrible things were lurking around the corner.
On election day, I indulged in some of the Bulgarian so-called "mainstream" media, which I otherwise avoid. And by lunchtime I realized why the Bulgarian people periodically vote for someone who would "fix it". Year after year, decade after decade, a large part of the media created the conditions for this to be a relatively lasting public attitude. It is a miracle that the search for "saviors" did not happen more often.
How the ideology of hopelessness was born
Even before the first elections after the fall of communism, which took place in June 1990, the newly freed media from censorship had developed their own ideology, which they spread throughout society. Before long, for most Bulgarians, it became the dominant picture of the world.
The newly freed media (then – mainly "press") did not radiate joy from freedom from the very beginning. Apart from the somewhat new newspapers such as "Democracy" and "Free People", none of the other publications broadcast a message of the type: "Hurray! We are free! Finally, our destinies are in our hands!". The exact opposite happened. The general message was along these lines: "What now? How are we going to cope? Something truly terrible is coming!". Every fall, the leading headlines predicted "a long and hard winter". Regardless of the season, the media announced that – like in a Hitchcock film – terrible things were lurking just around the corner. Commentaries, analyses and editorials often ended with the sentence: – "The terrible is coming".
For balance, the newly liberated media invented the affectionate, lackey nickname "Daddy" for the now deposed Todor Zhivkov, although while he was in power he was known only as "Bye Tosho".
And so the ideology of hopelessness was born. Its message, year after year and decade after decade, was this: – – – You are abandoned. You are alone and you are helpless. The future brings only horrors and there is no one to protect you from them. Each following year will be worse than the previous one. There is no hope and there will be none. And nothing depends on your own efforts. Whatever the big guys decide – that will happen to you".
The end result of this propaganda is obvious. Afraid of the future, convinced that no matter what they do, their family will be ruined, people begin to look for a protector. For some of them, you are their "big guy", some "Daddy" who will "fix" and "save".
The first attempt to find a new protector was the Tsar. The second - Boyko Borisov. Now we are observing the third attempt, which brought Rumen Radev to power. The Tsar did not make systematic mistakes. However, Borisov restored those relations of obedience and submission that were also characteristic of Bai Tosho's socialism. And too many people were happy to live in this time-retreat - warm, smelly and familiar.
And today? Does anyone care about the people?
I return to election day. Hour after hour I listened to how reporters wandering among the people frankly urged the most ordinary, worried people to share the ideology of hopelessness. Is the situation getting worse? It is. Are the people getting poorer? It is getting poorer. Was it better once? It was. Are all politicians lying? They are lying. Does anyone care about the people? No. Is there hope? There may be, but not right now…
And this is what people say whose pensions are being raised from an average of 422 leva in 2020, i.e. under Borisov, at an average of 977 leva in 2025, i.e. after he leaves power.
Nobody cares about the people…
Well, how can one not hope for the next Dad to come and fix things "for the people"?
In the soul of every nation there are all kinds of inclinations and qualities. There are virtues, there is also corruption. There is even (according to Plato at least) malice.
For over three decades, the mass media has been encouraging, bringing to the surface and supporting those qualities that do not result in a modern, peaceful, self-confident society: fear, lies, despair, malice, lackeys, greed, envy.
This road does not lead to the temple, as they said in an old great film. This is a crooked path that leads to an anthill inhabited by obedient ants.
Feudalism is no longer possible. We have too many citizens who do not want to get bogged down in this swamp. But as long as the ideology of hopelessness weighs on ordinary people, Bulgaria will constantly go back, will get off the highway to get tangled in the thorns around it and then, flayed and ragged, will return to it to catch up with the other nations.
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This text expresses the opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the State Gazette as a whole.