There is no way to build a future while the demons of the past drain all the powers of the present. It is our own fault because we cannot call it quits, learn our lessons and move on. With head held high.
"Accept it was meant to be and just move on." Have you said this sentence to loved ones and friends who have ended a toxic relationship? Probably yes. And why can't we say it to ourselves as a society, make sense of the past and simply close the pages that continue to divide us?
No, we are not slaves
Nearly 150 years later, we still cannot accept that we were part of the Ottoman Empire and zealously repeat that we were slaves, as if it gives us some pleasure or if there is any historical truth in it.
To inspire children to write the new page, we can explain to them Levski's timeless ideals and introduce them to Botev's talent, without teaching them unjustified hostility towards the Turks of today.
80 years later, we refuse to recognize that the Soviet Army did not liberate us, but occupied, robbed and subjugated us, and therefore we suffer for some monument that symbolized a change of facts, and today even legitimizes military violence. Bulgaria survived despite the blows of the Russian boot, the terror of the DS, persecution and censorship. It is time to tell each other the truth about this past.
35 years later, we refuse to accept that the change of regime in Bulgaria happened with a lie, the old apparatchiks deceived us and simply put on new clothes. And so we allowed them to continue to rule by mimicry. There is no way to build a future while the demons of the past have dug their teeth into the present and continue to drain you.
There is a place for both Gospodinov and Camellia, but not for the mutts
24 years after the end of the 1990s, we refuse to accept that mutrization and chalgarization drove the culture into the ditch, but it survived nonetheless. And that today in the public sphere there is already a place for both Georgi Gospodinov and Kamelia. As long as one audience understands that not everyone wants, can or should aspire to High Art, and the other accepts that success is not in a “Domby bar”, and silicone is not a value.
35 years after the end of the regime, we still haven't come to terms with the fact that the former head of the National People's Republic and the members of the Transition provided their families with a life and opportunities that everyone else dreamed of. It wasn't fair. But we can't turn back time. That is why we blame their children for being born into such families, even when they chose to be different. Privileges did not choose them, what they will do with them - they can choose.
Life is better in Bulgaria today. It's a fact.
17 years after we entered the European Union, we refuse to accept that there are no more Viden and Lucan winters, that incomes are growing, and Bulgaria has every chance to shoot up. That's why we keep grumbling and repeating "they ruined this country" in the same way as when you waited for bread with coupons. Especially in the big cities, the restaurants are full, although the prices are high, but the people are still dissatisfied. And "they are all mascaras". Although we can now afford to protest about values, not income.
4 years after we supposedly broke with the Borisov-Peevski model, we return to it again, seeking the comfort of the familiar evil. It's as if we forgot why we broke up with them and why we started to close this page.
And so again and again we return to the same toxic relationships that only bring us despair and sadness. However, it is not the partner who abuses us, uses us or simply does not love us who is to blame. It is our own fault because we cannot call it quits, learn our lessons and move on. With head held high.
This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial team and of DV as a whole.