Comment by Evgeniy Dainov:
Easy times give birth to politicians who not only cannot cope with crises - they also lose the ability to recognize their only ally in the fight against crises: the citizenship, from which power originates and for whose benefit politics exists in general.
For two months now I have been struck by the similarity between the Bulgarian MRF (Dogan) and the American Democratic Party. Attacked by the roller Peevski, the MRF has fallen into paralysis like a rabbit on the road at night, frozen in front of an oncoming car with its eyes fixed on its headlights. A little later, the American Democrats, who found themselves in the path of the blitzkrieg unleashed by Donald Trump against democracy, took the same stance.
Both parties to this day cannot budge, despite constant calls to them to pull themselves together and resist - not only in the name of the common good, but also for their own survival. They cannot even activate the most elementary (supposedly) instinct - of self-preservation. Why?
The more I observe the two parties (and there are people in both with whom I communicate), the more I come to the conclusion that the reasons for their paralysis are the same, no matter how different in nature and age Bulgarian and American democracy are.
Politics is not an office
Both the DPS and the Democratic Party in the USA had too easy a life for too long. Both had merged with the institutions (and finances) of the state. From politicians overcoming all kinds of obstacles and resistance in the name of the common good, they had turned into administrators moving papers from one pile to another. The mature generations among them were mainly concerned with their personal well-being, which came from moving papers. They had forgotten what it was like to fight, including at the expense of their personal good. And the "young change" in both parties was initially brought up in the style of "who hears - a folder". The more quietly and without unnecessary movements you move papers and distribute budgets, the better your career will be: in five years you will be a deputy, in another five - the deputy of the deputy, and after another five - the deputy of the main one. The boisterous, the rebellious, the dreamers, the disturbers of the office silence - that is, the real "by nature" politicians - were pushed aside.
However, politics is not an office. Politics is a constant struggle - against the limited resources, against stupidity, against the enemies of the established order. There may be temporary lulls, but it is absolutely inevitable that a real bully will emerge on this carpet sooner or later. Against him, the office rats have absolutely no chance and he - Peevski in our country, Trump in the USA - goes through them like a tank through a Trabant.
What are the Democrats afraid of in Bulgaria and in America
In such cases, we in Bulgaria until recently knew from our own experience something that Americans are only just learning: when politicians become paralyzed, the initiative returns to the hands of citizens. It is their turn to take to the carpet with their characteristic tools: signatures, protests, movements, vigils, etc. In a functioning democracy, such direct involvement of citizens in politics should give courage to their political representatives, who will shake off the lethargy and get down to the work for which they were elected, instead of hiding under their desks from the wandering babait.
In our country, this happens from time to time: from civil mobilizations, the UDF, the DPS, the DSB, Yes, Bulgaria, We Continue the Change and more were born. So far, however (except in the case of the UDF in the 1990s), such parties have failed to restore politics as an arena for work for the common good. The DPS has meanwhile huddled in the laps of the ruling party - so that there are no elections, so that it does not have to go among the people. In the US, the process has not started at all, if we do not count the tour under the slogan "No to the Oligarchy!" of the two Democrats Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Otherwise, we see civil mobilization and protests even in America every day, but no political result. Why?
The thing is that the moment citizens mobilize as a direct political force, their representatives begin to be afraid of them. Democrats in America are convinced, for example, that the majority of Americans are Trumpists or some kind of anarchists who would be better off sitting at home on their couches. Democrats in Bulgaria are afraid that Bulgarians are "by nature" Putinists and populists and therefore it is better to stay away from them.
The treachery of the "easy life"
Objective data, of course, show nothing of the sort. In our country, the percentage of Putinists is falling rapidly and continuously - currently it is a maximum of 15 percent, with two-thirds explicitly supporting the country's existence in the company of colleagues from NATO and the EU. In America, support for Trump is also falling steadily, and the blows to the pockets of Americans have not even really begun yet. Despite this, politicians prefer to follow their fears rather than think soberly. This is also part of the problem of the "easy life": the longer you live in a cocoon that is convenient for you, the more your behavior is determined not by your reason and will, but by self-suggestions and fears.
The situation in Europe as a whole is a little, but not much rosier. When the hour of testing came, the leading European politicians - unlike the MRF and the DP - proved adequate to the situation, turning into fighters before our eyes. The future of Europe was not left in the hands of the citizens. However, these same European politicians are in turn afraid of their citizens - they are afraid to explain to them as adults what is at stake and what is expected of them.
For example: despite all the talk about drastic financial mobilization to protect against Russian aggression, European politicians continue to fear that their citizens will not accept financial inconveniences in the name of their security. This is childish. Europeans know very well where the danger comes from and what it is. Any politician who tries to explain things to them the way Churchill explained them to the English in 1940 will suddenly discover that, even if he is not Churchill, people will understand him and will agree to temporary inconveniences in the name of common security.
The times no longer tolerate sycophants
The important thing is to talk to people as citizens, and not to suggest them, as if they were focus groups gathered to express their opinions on the taste of some new pastry.
It all comes down to the fear of explaining yourself to people who are not like you. I, the wanderer in the villages, do it all the time and I can guarantee: it doesn't hurt. But if you've lived in front of the cameras in the capital for too long, it's obviously much easier to try to prolong the "easy times" by sitting huddled in the cocoon of your own kind.
It's time for politicians, spoiled by easy times, to get to know the people they represent. And if they're afraid to appear among the people in dusty villages and muddy towns - among those from whom power emanates and for whose benefit both politics and the state exist - it's time to change professions.
Times are already hard and they don't tolerate pampered people.