Bulgaria is one of "most discontented" countries

Bulgaria doesn't make the western news very often, so when I see an article (let alone a "special report") in the New York Times/International Herald Tribune (via Reuters), I take notice. With the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (what they call "The Changes" here in Bulgaria), there are lots of "Are you better off now?" pieces. This one takes the angle that lots of people (and in growing numbers) are nostalgic for socialism. I've excerpted some interesting bits below, but the whole article is worth a read (although I also think the whole article could have used some better editing!).

"We lived better in the past," said Anelia Beeva, 31.

"We went on holidays to the coast and the mountains, there were plenty of clothes, shoes, food. And now the biggest chunk of our incomes is spent on food. People with university degrees are unemployed and many go abroad."

snip

A September regional poll by U.S. Pew research centre showed support for democracy and capitalism has seen the biggest fall in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Hungary.

The poll showed 30 percent of Ukrainians approved of the change to democracy in 2009, down from 72 percent in 1991. In Bulgaria and Lithuania the slide was to just over half the population from nearer three-quarters in 1991.

snip

Over 60 percent say they lived better in the past, even though shopping queues were routine, social connections were the only way to obtain more valuable goods, jeans and Coca Cola were off-limits and it took up to 10 years' waiting to buy a car.

snip

Nearly three years after joining the EU, Bulgaria's average monthly salary of about 300 euros and pension of about 80 euros remain the lowest in the club. Incomes in the more affluent Poland and the Czech Republic, which joined the bloc in 2004, are also still a fraction of those in western Europe.

A 2008 global survey by Gallup ranked Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania among the 10 most discontented countries in the world.

snip

"People are losing faith that one can achieve success in an honest, decent way. Success is totally criminalized," said Boriana Dimitrova of Bulgarian polling agency Alpha Research.

My crazy taxi driver talked about this back in September. Bulgaria is still "a little bit shit," he said. For retirees ("pensioners") things are definitely tough. Our school employs lots of retired people as security guards, gardeners, and custodians. Many of them are highly educated. One of the custodians used to be a geography teacher. Most of the security guards were engineers in their previous lives. But they need to supplement their pensions by working part-time or even full-time just to get by. Average wages (as the NY Times article says) are only 300 euros a month, and pensions are a fraction of that (80 euros a month). Bulgaria is one of the least expensive countries in the European Union, with most things costing only about 50% of the EU average. Still, when wages are so low, life is tough for many.

At the same time, capitalism (and corruption) has allowed a minority to make lots of money, so there is more and more available (and very conspicuously) to those with means. Late model Audis and Mercedes ply the same traffic jams as 20 or 30-year-old Russian Ladas. Yesterday as I walked down a main street in Sofia, searching for a tasty дюнер (pronounced "dooner", referring to something similar to what I would call a "gyro" back home), all I could find was McDonald's, KFC, and then another McDonald's! (Ugh.) This increasing availability of luxury western products (I don't mean to call KFC a luxury product, but it is seen as somewhat "exotic" here) has crystallized widespread dissatisfaction with the system here, I believe.

In terms of the "most discontented," I had a talk with the students in my advisory group about shaking hands when you meet someone, making eye contact, and smiling. Smiling in public is simply done a lot less here. I explained that in the US, even if someone is having a terrible day, they are much more likely to put on an expression of friendliness and happiness, even if it is a false expression. Here dour expressions or no expressions at all are much more common with the man on the street or the woman on the bus. I won't go into which one I think is necessarily "better," but I thought it was worth my students (most of whom plan to go to University abroad) considering what they may find in other parts of the world.