N O W , L O O K H E R E !
(publicistics)
— — — — —
[ Remark: As far as the book is enormously big it is published here, by old habit, in small booklets amounting to about 50 (to 100) KB, containing normally from three to five papers. In this booklet continue the things for journals. To add also that the footnotes, again by established here habit, are marked with "
*
" and placed immediately after the paragraph in [ ... ] brackets. ]
— — — — —
Contents Of Section "For Journals"
Essay on the common sense
About the turn to the left
How much has to win a company in order to have
gain?
Our people again hoarded goods by higher prices
Too good is not good!
Are we free, or on the contrary?
Political gratitude
Neo-Malthusianism, or rational judgment
Myths about democracy
About the ownership and its future
Just
justice
In ovo e veritas
Oh, 'manci, 'manci -pation!
What we want to tell the world?
In Bulgaria everything is quiet
Political parties in Bulgaria
About the degradation of morality
Is it possible moderate communism in Bulgaria?
Essay on the common sense — II
... new for journals
— — — — —
POLITICAL GRATITUDE
*
[ * This material against the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) can be observed as politically engaged, but the truth is that not a single political force has rewarded the author for this his "engagement", so that it would have been more correct to call it
-engaged. In any case, it must be clear that if UDF has not hurried like "calf before its mother", as is said, to perform the transition to democracy, the communists, as they have begun with the perestroika, so for 10 years till the moment would have finished it and forgotten about. Yeah, but the dissidents would have been again left with finger in the mouth, right? And that's the point. ]
1. I thank to UDF so much,
That pushed they us just in the mud,
because, if in general each change is dangerous, then the most dangerous is the
one, and if there existed exceptions of this rule, then these are such cases where the transitional period is very painful but after it we expect happy "paradisiacal" live (like, for example, when we have toothache and the aching toot must be taken away). Only that by us neither the process of transition proved to be shorter than some
transition, nor the "paradisiacal" live has already come, when our average level is still roughly 7-8 times lower than what we had in the times of our totalitarian leader "Bai Tosho", and if there is a question on which all political powers have consensus then this is the thesis that under the totalitarianism was bad (in fact,
we give credence to UDF that there is nothing worse than the communism, then it comes out that
, at least for Bulgaria — from what follows that "the devil is not so black as they paint him", or that one should not believe to what UDF says, or, eventually, both things). Besides, about to the question of living in the paradise may be argued, be it because the notion "paradise" is not less utopian than the communism, be it because, if the democracy was the best thing on the world for all times and countries, it is not clear why we should have waited whole 25 centuries for to it come to us from Ancient Greece, when we are their immediate neighbours.
However it is, though, our people patiently endure shock after shock: be it in prices; be it of loose moral; be it of unpunished crime; be it of paid education of healthcare; be it on the question about possibility for personal enrichment on the background of poverty-stricken population; be it that selling us to wealthy Western countries we will have greater gain than if we associate with nations of similar with our affluence in economic aspect and/or with alike languages; be it because it is better, as our writer Ivan Vasov has put it, "to go wander in countries foreign"; be it the most heavy shock — of meaningless life, because the personal enrichment has never been something especially worthy for the generations, except for some eminent UDF ideologists; and so on. And it happened so that, after we have long ago "reached the bottom", we continue to dig deeper and deeper, "dumbfounded" by the myth about democratic paradise and having lost every orientation! But one does not know what is better for him until it does not happen even
, for what I, with all my heart,
!
2. To UDF my adulations,
That made us fools before all nations,
because if earlier all countries of the former Socialist Bloc were with more or less similar standard and hardly someone could have supposed that, at least in economic regard (i.e. judging by the devaluation of our lev) we will turn out to be approximately
(one thousand and two hundred)
worse, and not the Germans, or Americans, or Frenchman, etc., but the Czechs, who are also Slavs as us and the brothers Cyril and Methodius starting from our lands have gone directly to theirs, and they were forced first to solve some national differences, but they have "divorced" so civilized, that even the Western democracies have taken their hats off to them, while in Bulgaria (thanks to the UDF, of course) the term socialist (and if you like read it like "communist") still sounds obscene, though people all over the world more than 20 years now (at last) have understood that bad are
the communists
,
the conditions which have brought them to power, i.e.
, and have engaged themselves (much earlier) to reform it, because, wish we this or not, but the "ghost" of communism has gone around the entire world and for long time the socialism is reality on the West, only they don't call it so.
If the question was only in the moral aspect, i.e. what meaning put UDF-ists in the notion communist or socialist — OK, this is only human (saying that their human malice makes its way out) and maybe they are not to be blamed, for they don't know what are speaking and doing, but they simply have decided that when it is difficult to converge the communism to contemporary capitalism, then they can just return us
! And they succeeded! No normal person, when he decides to raise a new home, does pull down the old one not having at least a plan for the new, and having not provided himself with "temporary home", where we destroyed everything: governing of the country, trade unions, army, forces for maintaining of internal order, education system, healthcare, church, our relations with other countries, morality of the folks, and what else not, and continue to live "
".
Our democratic revolution, since our people fell in "delirium democraticus", under the influence of prominent dissidents (i.e. people who have not
themselves well, judging by the Latin origin of this world) and pop singers (maybe because the scenes for singers and for politicians are similar, were just the "show" good and brought it heaps of money), was performed according the plan of rural feudal revolts of Middle Ages — it was necessary to pull the king down, but who will take his place, we will think later. It was important to create
, and the order will come alone by itself; it was necessary to muddle the water, for to catch the tiny fishes (and the bigger, too). But if there were not our UDF the world would have never seen to what extent unorganized we are, nor our people could have perceived how bad a thing
the democracy be, and for all this I most enthusiastically
!
3. And UDF reached funny goal,
It sold for nothing us at all,
because, if there was necessary sometime to fix the rate of our lev (for it turned out that the free market is a good thing, just
for our lev), then it was hardly necessary to do this exactly when we have become so poor that there was nowhere more, and has begun never heard of before in human history thing: when our humble currency
and it fell down
, after the moment when, as a result of massive UDF demonstrations in January 1997 for
, called,
(?), meetings for "national salvation", it has reached absolutely unreal prices — inasmuch as each currency is a kind of "mint" (what the English speaking readers know quite well via their two meanings of this word) and its price depends first of all
in it, and what confidence can one have to a country where live people who can not sleep quiet if, either not set fire to some public building or other, or at least not smash a pair of windows on it (for there were left no more monuments for "repainting")?
So that, if, therefore, we should have sold ourselves at all, then it was hardly necessary to wait until our democratic lev has shrunken, even not to cents (one hundredth of a normal monetary unit), but to have become as "millims" (one thousandth, or one
-German-mark — but in Bulgarian "milinki" are a kind of small buns baked in a bunch), and only then to call the "auction", because the Money Board is just selling out of Bulgaria to wealthy Western countries, joined in international financial institutions but on the principle of
— i.e. where the profit is divided according to the invested money, and it doesn't matter which exactly part of Bulgaria is already possession of USA, which of Germany, which of Canada, and so on (in the same way as when one pays rent for a flat in a multi-storey building, or buys it, he is not interested which exactly part of the elevator is his own and can he fit in it). Something more, this was such a deal for which the currency was
paid in full, it was only
to be paid if there will be necessity of this, because this Board, by God, has no need for our money (neither is it a charity organization) and now it (i.e. the Western capitals which stay behind it) simply changes them, buying where finds some cheaper company, house, piece of land, et cetera.
As a result of this we are in the moment better only than Albania, but this is not clear how long will last, because since the Board has
on a less than one US dollar as minimal daily payment we have not big chances to "shine" with something good (now we are not more in condition to "beat" the dollar, for example, due to the fact that this is not allowed to us, else we could have done it long ago, by these low prices — compared with the international — of many basic foodstuff and other products) and it happened so that at the moment
we are moving
, what we call democracy! It is very easy to say that the communists have taken abroad all the money and ruined Bulgaria, and "Bai Tosho" has made our debts, but if one tries to scratch a little his head it is possible to "scratch out" the thought that our external debt under the totalitarianism amounted, in fact, to approximately three average for the country salaries (about 1,000 US$ per capita, by nearly 350 US$ average salary, because then one lev was equal to one US dollar — to 98 US cents, if we want to be more precise — and this was
, if we compare it with the prices on bread, milk, meat, transport, housing, etc, or with some consumer basket, how it is done), and now it has reached 25 (
) average salaries (about 2,000 US$ by average salary of 70-80 US$), or it has
for less than eight democratic years!
Not one of the many tiny private companies (where work less than 10 workers and it has less than, say, hundred thousand dollars actives) were built with democratic money and not with "totalitarian" (the other bigger companies, with the exception of left here and there state ones, are now foreign ownership). Neither the socialists wanted that we turned our backs to the single Slavonic great power (because
Russia was not a great power, and this
, the latter had never have changed the policy of the "whip" with that of the "carrot", as the English put it). But then, if there were not the UDF, our people could have never come to the thought that we can become so poor as we are now (I have in mind Bulgarian possession, not such that is in Bulgaria but is not ours), and grasp how bad it is when "you have not a cow but want to drink milk", and are left with the only possibility to "stay and look" (according to one our proverb), so that I thankfully
!
4. So after UDF has won,
Morality by us has gone,
because there are two things which make out of a group of people inhabiting one and the same territory a
nation
and these are
uniting
in two aspects:
in the
, i.e. the commonality of interests between all of them, independently of the differences on whatever parameters, the feeling that one lives not only for himself and for his personal benefits, the feeling about the
, on whom he can rely to do some work for him, not only to deceive him being a big swindler, the consciousness of national unison (not of ownership, for example), the wish to make our country a better place to live in, not just to look at the foreign possessions (goods, social structures, habits, etc.), for they will always remain
, in general, the wish to do something good in the relations between people, not bad one, not to spit on the others and contempt persons thinking otherwise (or just thinking
the others);
and
also uniting
, i.e. the consciousness that the human is just a fiber in the canvas of history, that life has existed before him and will exist after him, no matter whether we will call this rebirth, afterlife, bright future, or with other names, but this will be our own future and we must learn how to live in it and
it, it must give purpose to many "meaningless", from the point of view of the current moment, deeds and join the generations, not oppose them and divide, in short — must create one dynamical structure, standing on the already reached, not denying it entirely (for the reason that, in his narrow-mindedness, he can not understand its meaning)!
Without such unity can't exist a nation but only some gang, herd, or flock, where each one looks just how to "fill his gizzard" or to cheat his neighbour, while the development of personality is guarantied better when it is in the interest of society, not on the contrary. And this can't be reached without some
, i.e. without something
, because if an ideal can be realized then this means that it is not really ideal, it ceases to be more ideal! Such are the ideals of equality (when the very God has made us different then we can
be equal, else we could have been no humans but robots or clonings, what, however, does not mean that we should not create equal
for expression), of freedom (the absolute freedom is not only a fiction, but it is contradiction in the definition, because it hinders the others around us, so that the freedom is just one permanently changing point of equilibrium between our wishes and those of the others), of brotherhood (it is not only impossible, but also wide away from the best, because the closer are the links between given persons, the deeper are the contradiction between them), and so on. But without ideals one can not live, because, as far as he is not God, he
have before himself goals, in order to know where to move. And at the same time the UDF has just taken our human ideals of thousand of years ago, substituting them with some, not invented, but imported from the West, notion about
democracy
, which
someday
, by the simple reason that
— in a sense that in Bulgaria we have democracy since at least 1991, and this by the acknowledgement of the
, for this is a matter of legal settings!
If we want to be accurate, then we have had
democracy even under the totalitarianism, but not in the contemporary meaning of this notion, although, as far as everything in the world is a matter of finding of equilibrium in every moment, we may argue a long time about the point, was it the best one for our country — we can argue, but
prove
, at least because we have not had the so called "control group", i.e. there were not two Bulgarias — one really democratic, and one "totalitarianly-democratic" —, for to were able to decide where people have lived better! But we can still see (well,
we can do this, of course), that under our democracy, at least for the moment, we live worse, and this
because
some natural disaster has befallen us, or some other country has declared us war, or a civil war has broken (as it happened in other post-totalitarian countries), or some incapable dictator has sat for a long time on the throne (the truth is even such that not a Government has led till the end its mandate), or then, in the end, we have come to the democracy after devastating wars and national catastrophes (as it was when we have started to move to the socialism), not after prolonged period of the so called "stagnation" (i.e. peaceful and
development) and with quite normal foreign debt of three monthly salaries per capita.
This, that some people in Bulgaria don't like our democracy and say that it is
"real" democracy, is like the crying of a small child, when his (or her) mother spanks him for some bad behaviour and he yammers that then she is not more his mother, not because she is not such but because she in not good to him, according to his understanding, and, hence, she can't be his mother for a mother is always good. But who has said that the one thing is necessary related with the other? So, and to our question: if we do not like our democracy, then this is because we can not yet find the suitable for us democratic form of governing, due to the fact that the imposed to us by the West is not good for our country as a whole (and in addition to this it is not appropriate also for the individual). In any case:
democracy we already have
, but stating of this fact is not profitable for UDF, because if this is so, then
this Union is
necessary
in our political life. All parties in Bulgaria aspire for some democratic form of governing (even if in their names the root "demo" is not explicitly present), and this, what we
do not have more, are ideals and living goals, amalgamating us in a single unit, because we have forgotten the fable about Khan Kubrat and the bundle of sticks, have forgotten the slogan written above our National Assembly ("In the unity is the power"), have forgotten everything except how to beat our breasts and cry aloud that we are democrats!
And something more: if we take for granted that the socialism, and the fascism, and the communism, and the capitalism of past century (or the end of this 20th, if it comes about Bulgaria), and the present-day capitalism (because it, anyway, has drawn its conclusions, from the great economic crisis having begun in 1929, and from the World Wars One and Two, and from the existence of the world Socialist System and its
on the stage of peaceful coexistence,
its disintegration as outlived its time but having
, for if it were not so the wealthy Western countries would have never lent us a hand, or would have not changed the policy of embargo and cold war, or the "whip" about which we have spoken) are all different forms of capitalism, then it was obviously very unwise to move from the pole of centralized state economy at once to the other pole — that of the fragmented and small private property — only to become convinced that the power is in the joining of capitals, or that it is
, and when they are not enough (for it is not necessary to be economist in order to know that we are small, poor, and, due to its position at the crossroads of different paths, often plundered country) then the solution is only in diminishing of the number of owners! We as if have understood this (let us hope so), but after we have sold ourselves off to the foreign capital and have ruined everything what was possible to ruin, including the morality of the nation, but then: how else we
learned this, if there was not the UDF to make us do so many
in one go, for what I with my whole conviction
to it!
Let remain and survive in people's memory the name and deeds (if not as good example, then at least for
) of UDF, JDF (Joined Democratic Forces), BDF (Bulgarian Democratic Forces, maybe?), FDF (Friendly Democratic Forces, I suppose?), and what else succeeds them! Let every evil be for good, as our folks say and (help God) we become wiser at last, because when God will punish somebody He first takes away his reason! In the end, it is well known from ancient times that there is nothing new under the Sun and the world has always moved forward because of the collision of good and evil, and then (if we wish to be just)
for our future movement to the good, so that
for this, that it teaches us what is bad and what we
, if we wish to be good!
Because
the good people are
our followers, but just those
who think first about the
and then about themselves; those who are glad when the others are glad, not when they alone benefit in detriment of the others around them; those who know that life is unjust and
it has to be done just; who know that right is not the stronger (he, in fact, is
right, he is just strong) but the weaker, and even the stronger (when he is strong) must work for the weaker, not vice versa, and that our world is sufficiently complicated for to allow to each one to look only at himself without taking the others in consideration (then he simply does not think about his future). It does not matter whether one comes to these truths by the way of belief or by the way of judgement — the important thing is for the person to be good! Otherwise we not only lose ourselves as nation (though with 13 century of history), but in addition to this must
return to the socialism, yet this time as slaves of the wealthy countries! Because, want we this or not, but
the future belongs to the socialism, and the democracy is
!
The world can not ahead proceed
Ignoring doing of good deeds,
So that the UDF, its belly,
Will burst in pangs of bitter malice.
**
[ ** How it also happened, it dissolved itself bit by bit, approximately about the year 2000. But, in the end, guilty are not only the leaders of UDF, guilty is the entire Bulgarian population, which has called them, raised them up, and still endures them. (The case is more or less similar with the question: why the prostituting women paint themselves so, that from a distance could be seen that they are, I beg to be excused, whores — well, because the men like such types of women!) ]
January 1998
— — —
NEO-MALTHUSIANISM, OR RATIONAL JUDGMENT
*
[ * Published on page 27 of "Continent" newspaper from 28 Aug. 1998 creatively modified, in order to fit in one big page. ]
Exactly two centuries ago in England was published one brochure of Thomas Malthus which was significant chiefly for his cardinal conclusions about the difference between geometrical progression, with which the humans propagate, and the arithmetic progression, with which the production of foodstuffs grows, and by this situation up to the current moment all people on the globe should have been dead for long time like a swarm of locusts having eaten to the roots all grass or green bough on their territory. Like almost every assertion, based on
of some temporary dependence but without taking into account the possible changing of the tendency (or the trend, as it is modern to say now in Bulgaria, because this is English word and, hence, seems more fitting to be used), this also turned to be erroneous, because, as one old Christian proverb says, "man proposes though God disposes", and it has happened so that "God" has allowed also in the sphere of production of food and other essential goods the geometric progression to begin to function, as also has "taught" the humans how to make condoms and other contraceptive means, which are to break the geometric progression in the population growth, but, somehow or other, we have still not died like locusts (yet it is not to be denied that we have very successfully tried to do this in other,
, way — with the help of nuclear weapons, for example — and this danger is not entirely eliminated).
Yeah, but this is formal interpretation of the warning of prof. Malthus, and if it has turn wrong then this does not mean that his
were erroneous, and these ideas are that there
have become
just
too many people on Earth
and they have begun to hinder one another pretty actively, because their "hunting territories", if we use this zoological term, intersect. The new moment, on which we shall dwell here, is that people can hinder one another even when their hunting territories are very rich and reasonably fixed (what is yet far from being achieved on a global scale), so that they again come to some insurmountable obstacle, and this time it is the
of human intellect, reaching of which brings the people "out of the rails" of their set from centuries behavior, because the main moment, which has baffled the expiring 20th century, was, to put it in one word, the
!
It has begun in the beginning of century with the conveyor of Ford, has continued with the automated and robotic systems in manufacturing, with the penetration of industrial methods in agriculture, has allowed creation not only of powerful and super-powerful weapons, but of weapons for
(or for "holocaust", in order to convince the readers that the author also knows some "modern" words), has expressed itself in applying of industrial methods in education and sciences, what has transformed the latter from creative activity in real productive force, so that now in almost every area we speak about
, was created a whole arsenal of substituents or "ersatz" products, be it of food, be it of clothes, or for entertainment, because they are susceptible to automated production, was destroyed nearly entirely the creative element in various traditionally creative activities like arts, sciences sports, (as also sex, if you want), and the single place, maybe, where the multiplication has not yet entered, is the reproduction of population, but as far as for a long time now they are talking about cloning, and the successes of genetic engineering are really impressive, there is nothing surprising if the near
these things get out from the pages of science fiction literature and enter in our life.
All this has destroyed basic time relationships between the effort for producing of something and the ready product, between the action and the result, and the humans, as far as they are not gods, have become confused and decided to kill "a bit" each other, hopping that in this way the things will better themselves — similarly to the model of "healing" used for many centuries via bloodletting, what nowadays may seem to us ridiculous and unscientific, but this is the bitter truth (and, maybe, in the same way will look to the future people our "attempts" to solve our problems applying brute force and mass destruction, if, "help us God", the mankind will continue to exist in the future). While in the deep antiquity in each tribe there was special person responsible for preserving of the fire, and if it extinguished they have often killed that keeper, then much later, with the discovery of flint, the things were significantly improved, but even before a century the making of fire has still taken important place in the life of people, where now one simple lighter, that may be used for making of fire thousands times, costs (and is valued) as one egg of hen, i.e. as the strain of the hen to lay the egg (if we do not bother with the "effort" of the cock to engender it, of course). Similar changes have taken place in the area of transport and communications, have emerged the mass information means or media, which have also confused many human habits, and the capabilities of the so called thinking being have increased so much, that this poor being, which, in fact, is
thinking but just
, as long ago have remarked some more clever human exemplars (but does this only
for reaching of the goal, according to the author), was not simply confused, but right away "dumbfounded" during this ending century.
But enough on this question, and this introduction was necessary for us in order to be able to predict the main problems of the next century that already "knocks on our doors". These problems, according to the author, are two, namely: artificial or extrauterine birth, and control over the population growth. The first one is dangerous with this, that it will break one important tie of mankind with the nature, will diminish the emotional contact of the mother with the child, and will alleviate up to such extent the life of more delicate half of the people, that they will again become
and will begin to think what else they are to do now (when are not do this, what was destined to them since the life on Earth has emerged) and in consequence of this all sorts of revolutionary cataclysms will arise. But as far as this problem is contained in significant extent in this of the birth control the author chooses to predict that
the main problem in the next 21st century
will be the question of
on the globe! We will try to have a good look at it, but
through extrapolation
of the tendencies, what is, as we in Bulgaria say, like to "make ones account without the innkeeper", but from the point of view of some
, because the main misconception in the disputes with Malthusians was,
the globe feed all this future avalanche of people, where the question must sound as:
and will this lead to increasing of integral human happiness, what, exactly, has to be the single goal of mankind?
And so, let us begin. According to approximate and, maybe, controversial calculations the population on Earth in the II-I millennium BC was about 50 mln people, and to the beginning of our era has reached about 100 millions. This is one quite decent and sufficient number of people for a civilized society, what gives the
for computation — based on human history. Later this number until roughly the year 1800 has still not exceeded one milliard, where in the current century we, definitely, have overdone the things when have jumped over 5 mlrd (plus or minus ten years here don't matter). But this was still possible to endure if people have lived nowadays so apart as in Ancient Rome, for example, but at the end of our century comes one more "scourge" for the mankind — the world computer nets, which add the last touch to the means for mass communication, allowing quite accessible
mass information. And here, really, the globe turns to be pretty densely populated, because the important thing is not how many people live in one place, but
how they
can
in the process of their work or entertainment, where in this aspect is useful to remind you the biblical fable about the Tower of Babel (though we in Bulgaria, and also in Russia, write and read the town as "
" — due to our Slavonic alphabet), which reduces to this, that overly united mankind is not "in accord with God", i.e. it is not acceptable for the people, because violates the balance with the environment, shortly put. The new accent here is not only in the power of mankind (and its unreasonableness, which unavoidably accompanies the unlimited power), but in the psycho-physiological characteristics of human individual.
Now we will motivate
the approximate
optimal population
on Earth in the limits of
that around
the
new era
using the well accepted decimal system of counting. We will begin with this, that one maintains usually up to three circles or
of contacts with the others around, namely:
a)
of
first range
, these which include persons of the order of 10 in the first degree or only a ten of persons —
very close relatives and acquaintances
, which everyone knows (or at least thinks that knows) best of all, can predict their behavior, and is emotionally tied with them;
b)
of
second range
or 10 in the second degree, i.e. a hundred of persons — relatives and acquaintances, which one knows by name and physiognomy, works or lives close to them, and, if not else, greets when meets them, but is not rightly to say that knows them well and does not experience any special feelings for them — this is just the environment in which one lives and tries to express oneself and
make career
;
c)
of
third range
or 10 in the third degree, what means a thousand of persons — people, about whom one has heard something, or has seen them, but not only that he/she does not know how many children the particular person has (and has he or she such at all), is he (or she) married, and so on, but very often does not know, either the name, or the physiognomy, or does not relate one with the other — here enter all publicly known "stars", of whom the given person is interested (were they footballers, pop singers, politicians, or from the highlife), as also other
casual acquaintances
;
d)
of
fourth range
or 10,000 are now too many people, for to be accessible to an averagely taken intellect, and, usually, with so many acquaintances can boast only one-two percents of the population, so that it is not worth to take them into consideration. Speaking about ranges, and using the decimal logarithmic scale, we can not be very accurate, so that the given number can be multiplied by 2, 3, or even 5, what means that if somebody has acquaintances of second range, say, 350 persons, then they are not yet of third range. We can call this human phenomenon "
rule of the small numbers
", where is obvious that, the more deeper are our contacts, the more limited is the number of people, with which we maintain such contacts.
The next moment is to define the approximate number of
areas of human knowledge
and interests, in which we maintain contacts, but in such manner that they are well
, i.e. that they have approximately equal number of people, who can communicate in the given area. The nomenclatures of human professions, as also the indexes of most of the libraries are of the order of several thousands, and these are
areas of human knowledge. In some specialized libraries, or in given scientific institutions, may happen that one of these areas is detailed in tens more areas, but such narrow specialization does not change our sectioning because these subareas are usually very narrow and unbalanced as to the scope and number of persons who work in them. Similarly exist also very broad areas — for example of football fans, which on the globe are, probably, more than milliard people, but this is not an area in which people communicate in order to compete with one another (such could have been the area of very footballers of national or world range, the participants in which are, naturally, some hundreds, or at least as much are those, with whom one good footballer can compare himself). In other words, we are interesting in such areas, where the people, directly speaking,
one another, because this is their "field of game" and in it they compete with the others :hunters", fight with them, express themselves, or make career. Saying "communicate" we do not mean that people speak about the weather, or about sports, or about horses, as the English like to do, or about women, as men like to do (or about men, as for their part do the women), or about politics and politicians (because, the more
is some area, the more people think that they are the most experienced and know how to better there the things), but communication with purpose to
there.
So that let us accept for easier calculations (because when some information is fuzzy and inaccurate the best thing to do is to simplify our calculations), that the areas of human knowledge are thousand, as the number of people who compete in them (not interfering too much with each other) are also thousand. In this way we take the ceiling for contacts of second range, as also one increased nomenclature of basic professions. So we get a sufficient population size or order of one million people. Taking now into account that we presuppose (though till now have not explicitly stated this) that these are areas in which people
, not just perform necessary for the society activities (like production of goods, services, healthcare, education, maintaining of internal order, an so on), and assuming that with creative activities in society are engaged, usually, from 3 to 5% of the people, but, on the other hand, with the strengthening of productive forces and improving of technologies on the current stage, their number may be expected to grow, then let us assume that the creative workers in the future society will reach ten percents (or 1/10 of the population). This means that we must multiply the got million people by ten and so it turns out that the optimal number of people becomes 10 millions. But as far as our figures are with precision of an order, and can reach until the next decimal order, it comes out that the optimal population on Earth must be from 10 to 100 millions, or, if we take some middle point, then
these are 50 millions people
.
Only such society could exist without big disturbances and disorders in the future, because when one satisfies his (or her) basic needs for food, shelter, and continuation of the gender, what remains to him is only the concern about expressing of his personality, and, eventually, improvement of the individual (what, however, is a thing that is not available for everyone, and the majority of people, after finding for themselves, as is said, their place under the Sun, more often than not substitute the strive for reaching of new qualitative development with bigger
affluence of things and pleasures). And as far as with the real entering of mass personal communications in life the
whole world is becoming one state
, where takes place the competing fight between people for expressing of their personality, then this number of 50 mln applies to the
planet! In this manner we get another,
, way for proving of our optimal number, because 50 mln is the number of population of one middle-scale country (like France, for example), and where the countries are bigger people rarely communicate outside their state or province, while smaller countries (like our, for example), are usually satellites of some of the bigger ones, and in this case the competitive struggle happens in the arena (or a part of it) of its "older brother".
In the above calculations we have deliberately overlooked one important moment — the linguistic barrier, which is the next lesson from the fable about the Tower of Babel, because the language is used mainly to isolate or unite some ethnical or territorially limited group of people, and, hence, it must confuse our calculations. But this is not so for two reasons. The first one is that the international personal communications just
the state's borders, at least in regard of the areas of knowledge, and we are witnesses how in almost every science is now massively used the English language, and there is not a single international scientific, cultural, or sporting event of more significant range where English is not, if not the only one, at least one of the official languages. This applies also to each profession, in the industry, in the transport and trade, then in the area of entertainments, such like music, sports, discotheques, games, tourism, and so on. Of course there are still francophones, "teutophones", and others (and they
exist) but on the level of everyday communications, where is no fight for expression of personality. It can quietly be accepted usage not of one single language but of 5-10 more acknowledged world languages, but, not only that for this purpose exist translators, the good computerized translation, at least in the areas of various sciences, not in fiction literature, is not more myth but a question of pair of decades. The second reason why the language barrier does not change our calculations is the fact that the linguistic dividing just
with our dividing in areas of knowledge, because there are no problems if, say, the doctors for heart surgery, or aviators, or footballers, etc., were from different language or ethnical groups, yet this does not divide the arena for their fight for expression — the world "state". Besides, we have made our calculations based on 10% creative workers from the population, and the left 90% quietly can divide themselves even in 1000 language groups by roughly 1000 persons in each of them and still remain in the limits of acquaintances of second range, where their common number will again not exceed the prognosticated 10 millions of population.
There remains only to propose some
for reaching of such drastic diminishing of human population and this is certain limitation of birth. Some statistics show that in order to have effective coefficient of reproduction of population equal to
, i.e. for to remain in the next generation again the same amount of people, is necessary that on 100 marriages were born 265 children, where are taken into consideration not only birth rates and death rates, but also the possibility for conception in the family. We set ourselves the question: what must be the effective coefficient of reproduction if in
family (a thing that is not at all easy to be reached, for the population growth in the Third World is still very high) were on the average
? This is a task of school course and is solved applying the simple rule of three, i.e.: to 2.65 corresponds 1.0 , then to 2.0 — how much will correspond? The answer is 0.755, what means that after one generation we will have population size of 75% of the current one, or diminishing of 25 percents. The continuation of one generation in Ancient Rome was about 20 years, but with the aging of population and prolongation of the period of education this time grows, so that now the average length is about 28 years, but for our calculations suffices if we accept that one generation is 25 years, because this gives by
one percent diminishing of the annual population growth
, what, really looking, is nothing dangerous and is quite normal situation in many developed countries for numerous years, and this by itself, in natural way, not because they speak there much about lessening of population (or some measures are taken, if it was spoken about this), but even
that every state finds such tendency for something bad and takes measures for encouraging of birth in such cases. The whole "trick" is that this must become a
in the world!
As far as it is practically impossible that we will do something in a world scale before the earthly population becomes 10 milliards people (or after some 10-20 years) the expressed here means that from 10 mlrd we must go down to 50 mln, or one
decrease of 200 times
of the population, or to 0.005 of 10 mlrd (what is five pеr mil). So that now the question sounds as: 0.755 to what
gives 0.005, and the answer is — about 19, what can easily be proved using also a common calculator and multiplying this number by itself until it diminishes to five thousandth (but this can be done much faster typing 0.755 and pressing only the key for multiplication and then this for equality, what imitates rising in square, so that even on the third time, i.e. on 2 to the 3rd degree, or 8, we will have lessening to 10%, in the forth time, i.e. to 16th degree — to 1%, and later we will jump over our goal). By duration of quarter of century for a generation this will give less than
five centuries
time for reaching of the necessary population, or, as long as our calculations have been approximated, then in the worst case till the end of the next millennium, but never faster than at least two centuries, because the faster processes are the most dangerous. This is shown in the following table:
On one hand on this table should not be looked very seriously, because it is some extrapolation, but on the other hand — it is important, because this is not continuation of an existing tendency (for it has not yet begun), and it rather shows what
be the direction in changing of the population, if we do not wish to grasp at the so called
(or the last resort, in Latin), i.e. at the military solving of the most important problem on Earth. By this, obviously, we should invent also some new term, because the genocide or holocaust have never till now given decrease of to at least 10% of a given population (however "black" may sound similar statement), and here it goes about 5 per mil. But if it is so, from this follows only that our imagination is very weak, for during the whole outgoing century the mankind is simply suffocating on account of the impossibility for personal expression by this heavy population and boom of information, and by this high unemployment level, for the reason that by the enormously increased capacities of new technologies nobody needs so many workers (or at least there are not needed
such, but only people who can press the buttons and turn the handles, yet one wants that the work was pleasant for one), and more and more people look at their profession nowadays only as means to earn their living, not as way to get satisfaction of the process or the result, how it should have been, but this just moves the stress for self-expression from the productive sphere to that of the leisure and entertainment. Only there the situation is the same — exceeding of information ceiling for acquaintances of second range, as a result of what one again can not express oneself. Earlier (more or less up to 18th century) people have found pleasure even in this to make fire in the fireplace, to gather together to sing and dance, to make themselves some new dish or drink, to dress in some unique attire, to kill an animal, even to go to war, where must win the braver and stronger. Now everything becomes increasingly standard and impersonal, more and more technological and emotionless, ever more
(and present in the shops) even before one has set itself the goal to make it, and this does not bring the necessary satisfaction!
Numb. of gener. 0 1 2 4 8 16 18 19 20 After (years) 0 25 50 100 200 400 450 475 500 Coeff. of decreas. 1 0.755 0.570 0.325 0.105 0.011 0.006 0.004 0.003 Popul. (mln) 10,000 7,500 5,700 3,250 1,560 111 63 48 36
TABLE 1. DECREASING OF THE POPULATION BY 25% FOR GENERATION
The important moment, however, is to recognize that if the mankind will not make the
decision of this question, then this does
mean that it will not be solved in some other way! After we have defeated the epidemics of plague, cholera, etc., have arisen the devastating wars, where died not only those who want to fight, for to show that they are stronger, but more often peaceful population that wants only to live; have emerged the cancer and the AIDS, as means to decrease the average lifespan and population number of more and more aging population. Like locusts multiply most actively when there is enough food, but shortly after this it turns out that the food has finished and they begin to die, so also people have immoderately increased their population in the last pair of centuries, what has generated new problems with the meaningless life (when there is not moderate competition and possibilities for personal expression or career), with the imperfection of
form of social government, with the drug addiction, which has grown tens and hundreds times compared with the situation in the middle ages (because opium was sown on the East since deep antiquity, but there was not such demand on it), with the homosexuality, which, still, turns out, maybe, to be the best reasonable solution on the background of universal unreasonableness (?), with the mass (again) pollution of the environment, not with "ecologically pure dirtiness", as it was for millenniums, but with "
", as it happened in this century, and so on, and so on.
So that, if we do not behave reasonable, the nature (or God, if you like it better so) will find some way for establishing of the equilibrium on Earth, like, for example: mass infertility, by which will be born nice and intelligent children, who, when they grow of age, will exercise sex more scientifically than their predecessors of the beginning of new era, but will need no contraceptives because will be able to become pregnant only once out of thousands times, maybe; or will be changed the proportion of newly born boys to girls form 18 to 17, as it is now, to, say, 21 to 4, what will mean that the boys will be five times more than the girls; or the birth rate will be quite in order but in each next generation the children will have
than their parents, and when the fingers become more than a dozen this will cause serious difficulties with the pressing of knobs and will hinder the general affluence; or the drug addicted will become somewhere about 70% of the population and will declare all the others as abnormally developed and subjects to compulsory addiction; or the percentage of suiciders in the near future will reach 1/3 of the population and this in reproductive age; or similar to these variants. In any case some way will be found, which will generate possibility for limiting of the competing individuals to the number of appropriate for the humans level of contacts of second range, or to several hundreds of persons, because nobody wants to live in a situation when for to express oneself in our world one must study for half a century, in order to shrink the area of competition as far as possible, and even after this to have only one chance out of tens of thousands, not to draw out the big win, but to find at all a decent place under the sun.
This is just a necessity. And what is necessary it sooner or later happens, or as has put it our
(around the capital Sofia): "What is needed, it requires itself alone", no matter how it will be reached! In view of this, despite the unreasonable acts of mankind as a whole, there are all chances to suppose that after a pair of centuries the population on Earth will reach again one milliard people, and after this will continue to decrease further, until falls also below hundred millions. Let us hope that this will happen in a reasonable way.
July 1998
— — —
MYTHS ABOUT DEMOCRACY
The millennial human history has proved many times that when people have not enough knowledge about some phenomenon they begin to invent all sorts of delusions, beliefs, or myths, for to complete with them the motivation for their actions. Some of them are useful because they provide easy explanation of complex facts, or also harmless, or bring some satisfaction and momentary happiness, like for example: the fairy tales about evil witches and wizards, which make children to be obedient; the myth about Santa Clause, who brings them presents; crossing oneself or knocking on wood, for to drive the devil away; the belief in afterlife, where will be recompensed all injustices on this world; the righteous God, who does everything out of love to us, although this seems doubtful; the notion that the Earth is center of the Universe and even the Sun rotates around it (more so because each one sees this with his own eyes); and others.
But there exist also such myths which are definitely harmful for the humans, at least by prolonged use, and their harm is revealed fast and causes turbulent reaction, as, for example: the fables about the blue blood of aristocrats, by which they differ from the common people; or bloodletting as healing method used for sufficiently long time so that to undermine people's faith in the abilities of medicine; or the narcotic intoxication as way for reaching of happiness; or the chaos as the best regulator in nature and society; and so on. With the time many of harmless myths became dangerous, or are rejected by the people with accumulation of more knowledge.
Similar is the case with the
democratic myths
, which, little by little, begin to be recognized and to confuse us, and many people now ask themselves the question: is the democracy really a good thing, when one thing is what is hammered in our heads by politicians and media, and quite another one what happens in practice. For this reason it seems correct to reveal some of these delusions in order to reach to their core, because the knowledge is
at all
to contradict to the belief (as many people naively think), in the similar way as a child, after becoming 5-6 years old, stops to believe in the tales about Santa Clause, but this does not hinder him (or her) to listen to them with joy; or how under the totalitarianism all liked to use, in the right place or not, the phrase about the "deserves of Party and Government", although they were surely convinced that if somebody has lifted the barbells higher then this has happened not because the Central Committee has strained together with him; or also all like the coloured eggs and Easter cakes, but this does not necessary mean that they believe in the immaculate conception of Virgin Mary or in the resurrection of Christ (all the more because there are no exact data proving his existence); or to add also that one will not stop playing lottery after he finds out that with the bigger sums he plays the more sure he will lose the half of his money (or even more than two thirds of them — it depends on the regulations of totalizator); and other examples. In other words, the
wish to
forces us to throw light on the myths about it, not the desire to humiliate it (though by perfunctory reading one can get such notion), or rather the conviction that earlier revealing of some misconceptions could make us look more favorable at them, while their belated realization may lead to more stormy reactions.
One part of these myths are "necessarily inherent" (as the economists say of some kind of expenses) to the very real democracy and in this case they are widely spread also on the West, while some others are born on local ground and show their intoxicating effect only on Bulgarians and some other nations from the former Socialist Bloc, but no one of them is entirely innocuous for the common person for to be neglected. Without pretensions on particular exactitude and completeness of presentation we will choose the beloved by Christians number of twelve. So that, let us begin.
1. The democracy is ruling of the people
Maybe the widespread mass delusion, even on the West, is that the democracy is ruling of the people, but it is just ruling of the
, or of persons
by the people. If it were ruling of the population we should have had situation similar with that by the choice of court assessors in United States, for example, who are chosen amidst the common people, and by this is looked that they
acquaintances or related in whatever way with the given lawsuit, in order to be maximally impartial. This means that if in Bulgaria the voters with tertiary education are, say, 15%, then as many percents must be they also in the National Assembly (our Parliament); if the part of voters in the interval of 18 to 40 years are, for example, 30%, as much must be also the Members of Parliament in that age limits; if 20% of the electors by us are of Gypsy origin, then the same must be the percentage also in the highest democratic institution; and so on. In other words, the
Parliament must be
, but such thing neither existed somewhere, no somebody thinks to implement it!
But even if we reject such extremities then there are no problems to ask the people about nearly
via some kind of phone cards (like those for phones, or for ATM machines for taking money from an account), where everybody wishing to express his /her meaning must be in position to do this within a month by simple choosing of one out of 5-6 alternatives. This is easy to be done and would have been a real ruling of the population — about the question of prices on bread and milk, for example, and about the legalization of prostitution, and about the fight with criminality, and pro (or contra) the Money Board in Bulgaria, and about what only not. Yeah, but, again, nobody even
to do this, because such questions must be thought profoundly, not like by a gathering in the pub.
2. The democratic choice is the right method
If we give some thought to the method of choosing we will come to the conclusion that it characterizes with this that:
people who do not
(i.e. they don't know the subject area of government and management, as it's said now)
choose persons who they do
(i.e. they have no personal or professional contacts with them), and by this they
do
for their professional qualification and length of service (i.e. there is no higher, or even secondary, specialized education for politicians, there are even no age restrictions, as some relative guaranty for live experience)!
Something more,
this method is
, where are chosen persons capable to do a given work, like for example: by appointing at some post in a given company, in the sphere of education, healthcare, army and police, and so on. Not out of theoretical considerations, but out of practical experience is clear that the persons chosen by such incompetent way will not be able to perform the necessary work,
but
in spite of this
the
in question
does the work
, as the millennial human history shows it! There are only two variants when persons chosen in this way can do the work for which they were chosen, and they are:
a) they alone do
(or at least its most difficult part) but some of their assistants; and
b)
alternative candidate
could have done the same work
(as they also do it, when their turn comes). Such trivial and uninteresting solution, which is always present and makes the procedure of choice meaningless, is called in mathematics "
" — it
a solution, but is not at all necessary to be the best one. The democratic choice, of course, has also its advantages — psychological, and a possibility for easy change of the rulers — but this is
a correct
of suitable persons, no matter that this myth is widespread in the Western democracies.
3. It is chosen the best party or politician
This is the next widely spread on the West myth, despite the fact that there are no reasons for such conviction but rather on the contrary — the democracy
on the presumption of
, because if such party has existed, then after its choice every other choice becomes absolutely redundant or formal (as it, really, was under the totalitarianism)! Even if it is possible to choose a good leader or party in the
, then, as it is well known, every power corrupts the person (due to the worsening of his feedback with the society, which is necessary for correction of his behaviour), so that his change, or his moving in opposition, is
for his preservation as normal, i.e. averaged individual with adequate reactions. Besides, by the democratic choice in the Parliament are represented, together with those of the "good" party or coalition, also those of the "bad" parties that build the opposition, but both MPs receive
and bear
in the governing (or at least it must be so), and in the same time there is no other choice where the losers are rewarded on a par with the winners. This is done in interest of the discussions (in which the truth is born) and for this reason the opposition is necessary by the democracy, but there is no point to consider that one party is better than the other — just they all perform
, but are equally important!
4. This is a good form of governing
Another widespread myth is the statement that the democracy is a good form of governing, while in reality it is good predominantly by performing of some
,
in the very governing! The multiplicity of views, although they lead to finding of the truth in various questions, most frequently confuse and slow the taking of necessary decisions, what is expressed in this, that
the democracy is
quite
. When is necessary to act it is in such extent bad, in which it is good when it is necessary to discuss and tackle the question; the taking of decisions in presence of opposition and their bringing to fulfillment is much slower and more difficult than in conditions of autocracy. This must be well known and obvious, but it isn't so, for which reason the people often want from the democracy things that it is
to offer them, due to its nature.
For better illustration of the dynamics of functioning of democracy is useful to apply the simile of this movement of the parties in the time with the common
of the kind of a beam fixed in the middle on some a bit elevated place, where on both ends stay both wings of the Parliament, and if there exists a center, then it stays in the middle and puts pressure to one and then to the other side. This party, which at the moment is on top, has risen there
because it is the best, but because
or has "fallen in the mud", so that the ruling party has to be just grateful to the opposition for rising it to that high level! This is very important to remember and understand, as by the politicians also by the population, for the overused boasting can bring nothing else except self-obliviousness, while the goal of democratic government is this oscillation never to cease.
5. Under the democracy exists freedom of the media
The existence of free media under democracy is the next bluff for the population, because the majority of them are financed by the big business and in this case they work according to the imposed to them strategy, which is reduced chiefly to maximal gain (what not at all means maximal information and impartiality, although in some cases such exceptions can happen), and the left ones serve the ruling institutions, were it because of their official duties, were it out of :sympathy" to the strong of the day. Following the example of the West now also by us in each decent organization exist the so called public relations services, and the media are, in fact, such services but at a national level. We can argue for a long time on the question of their objectivity in presenting of the information, but the truth is that
their existence is
in order to bring to the masses some complicated political decisions in such way that they will not provoke stormy reactions in the people, what means that concealment, silence, or whatever other milder form of lie you choose, are
for them!
The classic simile in the case is with the good physician who does not tell the patient all truth, if this can worsen his health condition. So or otherwise, but
the media are
, and can not be such at least for economic reasons, and, moreover, they are just
to fulfill many propagandistic functions (to a great extent similar to the situation under the totalitarianism!). Like we this or not, is another question, but for the moment this is the best solution, which is used all around the world, where some degree of objectivity is obtained on the basis of
of different media, which, providing for different layers of population, offer them what the audience
to find in them — this is not necessarily the truth, but at least a
to it. The solution, naturally, is trivial (but for that reason hardly achievable) and it is in this, that the
that they can listen to the truth, not to the political manipulations of this or other party.
6. Democracy means market economy
This myth is as if more spread by us than on the West, but this is explained with the fact, that in the Western democracies people have not had the possibility to live under some planned economy and because of this they don't know that it can also be bad, and see only the drawbacks of market one by them. But anyway, this is a big delusion, at least because some form of market has existed even since the times of Babylon and, hence,
as political form of ruling! But even the statement that the market is better than the planned production is sheer delusion, because
it can be advantageous
only for those,
who can
, i.e. for the
producers or buyers, while for the "small fry" it is entirely unjust form of exchange of goods.
If we look at the
, for whom the market is, generally speaking, something good, then this is basically an illusion, because under a good planning can be had on the market the same products and for the same prices (as it also happens in reality on the West, because at least two thirds of the goods in a given branch of industry are work of the big producers, who can not do without advance planning and without some agreements between them, and the smaller producers are just orienting by the bigger). It can even be said that, whatever thing one has bought, if he will later check well the prices, he will find that he was doubtlessly cheated, because could have bought the same thing cheaper, if has searched longer, or could have found something better for the same money, so that in all cases he can regret his purchase.
As to the
, then they have long ago marked that the market is inclined extremely unfriendly to them (a thing that by us will be only now realized), because when they decide to produce something what is not offered in abundance on the market, and while they collect the necessary money and organize the production and bring the thing to the market, then there is already teeming with that product, for the reason that, quire naturally, the big business has outstripped them (due to the abilities for better planning by highly qualified persons) and offers it cheaper (for the large-scale production has its unavoidable advantages). Not that there are not exceptions of this rule, but they are of the order of a pair of percents by well-saturated market economy, to which we aim. To avoid this the producers unite in some cooperatives, in order to become larger and have some influence over the market, or else work for bigger intermediaries, that establish in advance fixed prices for buying of their production, so that is turns out that the market for them
. This is extremely clear, and the myth about the advantages of market economy is propagated by the big business, because the later always becomes winner in this unequal fight. In the particular case of currency market we, after long debates, have accepted that, at least for the moment, it is not a good thing and have introduced Currency Board, which is a kind of centralized regulating of the prices with preservation only of some
of a market.
7. The capable always succeeds
This myth, similarly, is supported by the stronger in society, and under the capitalism — by the wealthy, because here the power is in the capitals (what is clear for the English speaking by the different meanings of this very word). It is refuted elementary by the method of assumption to the contrary, namely: if we take for true that the able always succeeds (to multiply his money, for this is the classical understanding of success under the capitalism) then the wealthy one will soon find out about this capable person and will hire him to work
and multiply his money, but as far as they are much more by the wealthier than by the just able one, then if will happen that the succeeded will be exactly the wealthier, not the able one, what contradicts to our assumption. There will be no contradiction if we go out from the statement that succeeds the wealthy one (or the feudal ruler — under the feudalism, or the nomenclature — in a totalitarian state, etc.), what corresponds entirely with the truth. Besides, this myth again has nothing to do with the democracy as form of political ruling.
8. Paying for the things is expression of the freedom of citizens
This myth is in a great degree masked and is not expressed exactly in this way, but is implied this
, stating that under the democracy one can pay for to receive, for example, a better education (where this was impossible earlier by us), or better health care (which earlier by us received only high party cadres), or some other advantages, what is indication for the freedom of personality. This, of course, is expression
of freedom but of
, where
in the world of capitals the only dependence is this of the money
, but this delusion is popularized on the West, because it is useful for the wealthy layers of population, and, for example, in England, the private schools are called "public", while they are not at all for the wide public but for that (limited) number of parent, who can afford to pay such money for their children, and the so called Open University (now also in Bulgaria) is not at all open for everybody who has the needed knowledge to enter into it, but
against payment!
The bad thing by us, however, is that, because of our, frankly speaking, high misery, these things do not stay as a matter of taste or of choice (say, to buy oneself ice-cream on the street, or to drink a beer) but become vital problems. In our naivety we think that for payment one may get something better, while in the same time even in one very wealthy country like United States hardly more than ten percents of the students (or their parents) pay
for their education, no matter that it is entirely to be paid! The things are regulated with the use of various sponsors during the education — be it of private funds, be it of big companies, be it the War Ministry, or state scholarships — where after the end of educational degree the specialists must work for some years for that company with which they have signed the contract, i.e. the well known from our totalitarian past system of distributing to places. These, who alone pay for themselves, i.e.
their education, are predominantly in the area of management, what is quite logical, for if some parent has a good business then he can take care to give a good diploma to his children, even if they are lazy enough to learn. The freedom in the Western countries in this respect means
— as health care so also educational — and this is the really important moment, not compulsory payment without well devised system for its compensation (as it is nowadays in Bulgaria). And again, this has nothing to do with the political democratic system, but with the social measures in the society.
9. Democracy and socialism are incompatible
This myth is generated on local grounds (or in some other ex-communist country), because, as we have stated this many times, the democratic organization of political power has nothing to do with the social settings in the society, and there, where it has something to do, this is in sense of strengthening of the social programs of each self-respecting party in the countries with Western democracy. Even if we make a brief survey of some classical democracies we can establish that in the half of the countries at least one of the first three most popular parties contains explicitly in its name the word "socialism" (or work, labour, social, etc.), and in the other half this is presupposed via defending of massive social programs, not for other reasons, but because in highly developed countries this becomes
and is the best way to attract more voters! So that the truth about
Western democracies
is such, that they
not only do not exclude socialism, but presume it
in some degree (though they don't use this name because the former Socialist Bloc has frightened them using this word), and there are no reasons to stay apart of the world tendencies only because our socialism was not wholly democratic.
10. The democracy is good for the state
It must be obvious that the democratic form of ruling is good first of all for its possibility for individual development and personal expression of its citizens, not from the point of view of the security in the state! One can find many examples of this, beginning in Ancient Greece, and also during the twentieth century, when some danger for the given country has arisen, always was established some strong centralized and militarized governing, which, even if it has preserved certain
of democracy, was not exactly this, or at least was not more democratic than the well known to us democratic centralism, which exactly for this purpose was invented in its time, because the wealthy Western countries have not yet changed the policy of "stick" with that of the "carrot", as the English say.
The democracy
by its nature
is
, on the contrary to the dictatorship, what is pretty clear to the politicians, and that is why always is secured some legal form for entering of martial law in case of necessity. In Bulgaria the transition to democracy has begun only then, when all possible dangers for the countries of the former Socialist Bloc were lifted, i.e. then, when the totalitarian governing has became inadequate to the international conditions.
11. The people alone have overthrown the dictatorship
This myth has arisen also on local ground and its refutation is reduced to the so called
, or contradiction in the definition, because if the dictatorship is really strong centralized force, which does not allow any intervention from below, then it could not have been so easily and bloodless overturned from below! What means that, either the totalitarian ruling in the last years has not been real dictatorship (what practically corresponds to the truth), or it has been overturned from below for the reason that it
"has wanted" to be changed (what is even more true, for the not unknown "Gorby" has conducted for whole five years the "artillery preparation", so to say, for this purpose, through his
, which, as you see, are written exactly so in English like in Russian). The truth is such, that the totalitarianism was overthrown because at the reduced international danger, which always has been mobilizing factor for the existence of totalitarian state and commonwealth, and under the increased property conditions in the countries of former Socialist Bloc, was created opportunity for internal tensions and struggles among the nomenclature, which has begun to search new possibilities for individual expression and enrichment (a question which has been discussed already in ancient times by Platon), as well also for recognition in the Western world.
This, that the things have not happened fully by the communist script, must not lead us to confusion, that the former nomenclature has lost remarkably much in the result of this transition;
those, who have lost most of all
, naturally,
are the
as a whole, because for them was left to blow at the fire and "burn their eyebrows", while the spark was lighted by the very nomenclature. But if somebody especially insists to imagine, that the meetings and tents have been the real reason for overthrowing of the totalitarianism, then nobody hinders him (or her) in this, although the right way to look at the things is that the nomenclature has objected only pro forma, for to give more pleasure to the masses of population (in the manner of some young girl, which does not yield to the persuasions of a certain man, whom she, anyway, likes), and also because of the understanding of the necessity for some counteraction, in order not to happen so (how
happened) that, as is said, "instead of to paint the brows to gouge out the eyes".
12. The transition to democracy is a good thing
This myth, up to some extent, is only a quibble, but the truth is that
the transitional period is
, as a rule,
, where in this sense our situation today is still worse than it was under our ruler "Bai Tosho", and it is not at all clear will we be able to stabilize in the near future at the new level. When the transition occurs unreasonably (and the situation by us was exactly such), it runs chaotic and on a bigger social price. The situation would have been entirely different if before introducing of the market prices we have found some way for providing of the population with basic foodstuffs; or before we have begun to give the land back to its owners we have decided how to keep the old level of production of agriculture; or before introducing of private practitioners in the healthcare we have resolved the question with preserving of health in similar way to that how it is solved in West-European countries; or before legalization of paid education we have fixed the question with the payment of expenses for it; or before the restitution we have distributed some part of national property to
citizen; or before the crash of our lev we have taken some serious measures for its fixing; and so on — in short: if before to demolish our old home we have tried to build the new one (or at least some part of it), or, as the English say, have not put "the cart before the horse". But how could have we done this when the democratic intoxication has muddled our brains? This condition still continues and the listed till here myths are still spread among the population, turning the "inebriation of certain nation" (as our writer Ivan Vasov has put it) in chronic alcoholism or, if you will to sound more scientific, in
.
And, generally said, it is long ago time to understand that
the democracy is not panacea
for the society, and as form of ruling it is
at all
ideal
,
but
it
is
and can be incessantly bettered by the population, what namely makes it adaptive and stable for a long period of time. Only the setting of democracy via laws means still nothing, and what character it will have depends on our politicians, or, in the end, on our people.
The democracy is not solution of our problems but only an
! If we continue to be consoled with myths about it we will get to nowhere, when de facto it turns out that our living standard is still significantly lower than in the last totalitarian years. And this having in mind that we have absolutely no excuses for our current-day condition because: neither some foreign enemy has attacked us, nor God has sent on us some plague or disaster, as they say, nor also we have fallen in some civil war, like this has happened with some of the others ex-communist countries, nor some politician (or party) has so firmly clutched at his desk that even with a cannon ball he was not to be moved aside, but rather on the contrary! And also not that we have not enough examples of other countries where this transition proceeds easier and more painless. There exist, unquestionably, certain objective economic reasons, as also some national specifics of our "Balkan" democracy, but the less myths we use, and the more common sense ant patriotism we show, the better the things must go. Or at least this is how they look to the author.
August 1998
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