How do you steal from the state? The Bulgarian elite knows ᐉ News from Fakti.bg – Opinions

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Mafiosi like Joe Colombo and Carlo Gambino dreamed of integrating their educated people into the state itself. And in Bulgaria it happened that the mafia clans served their country on a baking sheet. By Ivaylo Noisey Tsvetkov.

You probably remember the famous statement by Joe Colombo (head of the Colombo clan in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the five New York Mafia families) in court: “Mafia? What Mafia?!? There is no such thing.” The phrase could also pass as aphoristic, as long as its author wasn’t surrounded by a dark criminal fame – and that’s why it’s actually funny, brazen and deeply cynical at the same time. Recently I’ve been revisiting the history of ‘cosa nostra’, ‘our (Italian) thing’, and even re-reading some of the serious research on the ‘five fingers of the devil’s hand’ (as the families in question are called mentioned since the days of Lucky Luciano, the Gambinos, Lepke Buchalter, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel). And I remember this: most of these people believed very seriously that they had built themselves up by turning the system into a kind of elite, a kind of state within the state, in which there is also some kind of code of dishonor, although they see it as a code of honor. They’re not the first, but from the widespread pop culture coverage (especially in cinema) it seems like that’s where their deep cultural biases come from – that making their own rules and making huge profits makes them some sort of elite makes, albeit a shadowy one.

Will the Bulgarian ‘elite’ be put to the test?

Then I thought about why we call the current Bulgarian political class the ‘elite’ with such insistence. Since the Enlightenment, the elite should mainly be cultural/artistic – an unspoken group of people who, you notice, contribute in both the abstract and the very concrete sense of the word.

People who create/build society and not destroy it for their own benefit.

People who create mental or artistic patterns and strike the flint of a soul spark that ignites the masses and lifts them to a higher floor, not people who have – figuratively – moved the café or street life to the realm of politics.

Guess whether our current political class, almost without exception, passes this kind of cultural test.

A meeting of pure opportunists

No, I just can’t stand it – I dug into the endless wealth of cultural references and thought of two things: first, Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” and the “Heritage” series. What, in my opinion, caused them? Very simple – in both cases it concerns people who are supposed to belong to the elite (based on rank or wealth), but who are not up to the task of any elite. For greater clarity, I will also offer it to you in English – these are eternal stories of the elite bickering and bickering and doing everything wrong. That is, the backstory of an elite that is mainly concerned with bickering with each other, bickering endlessly, and always ultimately screwing things up, because the practical end result or temporary result is nothing. Not even something like one and a half.

Does it seem familiar, especially in recent years, if you follow the Bulgarian political situation?

I have an explanation why. The Bulgarian political ‘elite’ is not only not an elite, but consists of 90 percent of pure opportunists. To some extent it is almost everywhere, but at least in our small field (which no one is interested in anymore, except the morning blocks and paid formats on national television), we seem to be European champions. Add to this the insidious new status quo in the media (especially in the last decade), which has rejected the form of debate between leaders with a somewhat Mephistophelian flavor. And be completely honest with yourself, that is the key – they, the political elite, have de facto kicked you out of the electoral process with this persistent sentence.

“Say, friend, do you want something from me?”

This is not at all a ridiculous cry for non-voters, God forbid. I can already hear the absurdist counterargument of the ‘where are we going to get a new political elite from’ type. I just want to say this: the more we don’t believe that anything can change through organized protest, the more we materialize the deep state. Joe Colombo, Carlo Gambino and even the fictional character Vito Corleone dreamed of integrating their educated people into the state itself; and with us it happened that the three or four mafia clans (I think you know them) served the country on a baking tray. And now they are like the Earl of Suffolk in “Henry VI” – they seem to ask, “Say, my friend, do you want something from me,” especially when votes need to be bought or recorded. Or as Tom from “Heritage” shouts, “Greg, we’re not in the goddamn world of Charles Dickens, okay?” Don’t talk to me about principles. Are you manning up a bit”.

The conclusion is that the Bulgarian political elite has no reason to call itself an elite, as long as it remains ‘cosa nostra’, ours, but in fact theirs. Or ‘our thing’, as they call it in Scorsese’s films and ‘The Sopranos’.

This is the truth, and whether or how you vote is none of my business.

My job is to try to portray something very culturally important – for a thousand reasons, only one of which is the completely parallel world of the ‘Alpha’ generation. (and who can vote for the first time); we still retain or are offered absolute randoms pretending to be elite.

From the one with ‘The Master and Margarita’ to the complete and conscious refusal of reading or basic acculturation.

When the elite becomes ‘elite’

But if you allow something near Udialanov, there is also good news: the fact that it can also be stolen from culture (not that we don’t know anything about the plans through the “Cultural Fund”, etc.) may be some kind of white Jobkovo swallow. This is the moment when the elite becomes ‘elite’ and we seem to be the masters of it.

But seriously: what’s the way forward, you ask. I have no idea. All I know is that compared to Joe Colombo, our current political class can teach him many things, including how to steal from the state. Now you no longer have to integrate your own game, or vice versa, into this game between state and mafia, as in classic mafia times. In our country they are subtracting, subtracting from those appointed to government jobs and especially from businessmen.

And you still view politicians as the ‘elite’, while their crushing regulations hinder your business or outright fail.

Especially if you are a foreign investor, but not alone.

As they say in mafia films: va fanculo.

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This comment reflects the author’s personal opinion and may not coincide with the views of the Bulgarian editorial staff and DV as a whole.