When first starting this blog, I thought that it would focus more on the different aspects of the life during communist and democratic times. However, in time the idea of the blog shifted to something much broader and much more important- i.e. which youth is better? The following question was rooted in all the videos, interviews and sound files that the blog consisted of. Although those provided much information about the moral values of each generation and its lifestyle, the answer to the question is still rather complex.
The truth of the matter is, many people, especially from the older generation blame the so-called “chalga” culture for the downfall of today’s youth. This culture promotes each unmoral value that one could think of- money as the main virtue, cars as a margin to judge people, clothes showing the social status etc. Additionally, chalga is promoted by the Bulgarian mobsters who, as I explained in one of my blog posts, are considered to be the high class and elite of today’s society.
Chalga culture shouldn’t be confused with the chalga music where its roots lay. Chalga really is the most listened type of music in Bulgaria. However, the people that take it seriously and base their moral values on it aren’t the majority of today’s youth. As pointed out in the interviews of Popov and Andonov, only uneducated, coming from poor families and lacking real perception people can take seriously this kind of culture.
Why is that so much of a problem? Because many young men and women who were born poor, try to get into the “high class society” of the mobsters, by using precisely the chalga culture as their inspiration and guiding light. As a result, people perceive this part of the youth of Sofia coupled with the young people coming from the provinces as the majority of today’s young community. Throw in the numerous Bulgarian criminals and suddenly, everyone seems unmoral and mercantile.
What the critics of today’s society don’t recognize, however, is how evolved is today’s youth compared to the one of the communism. Young people today have the technologies of the future at their disposal and more importantly, they know how to use them. More than 60% of the Bulgaria’s youth speaks another language and even two. Additionally, with the opening of the borders after the fall of communism, Bulgaria has “opened” itself towards millions of new opportunities- both for business and education. The latter are being explored and used on a daily basis by today’s youth.
In contrast, the youth of communism didn’t posses the technologies of today. They were closed to the rest of the world, apart from the other communist countries. As a result, the views of the youth of that time were limited. They only knew the “small world” of Bulgaria, which they inhabited. Coupled with the fact that moral values and restrictions were imposed on them by the communist regime, it is no wonder they perceive themselves as less degraded. The truth is, though, that if they possessed the means of communication, information and were living in a globalized world, as today’s youth, they wouldn’t be that different from the latter.
Many critics would also assert that today’s education is worse than the one at communist times- both in high schools and universities. While that may be true, up to a point, the fact is that the Youth of today shouldn’t be blamed for it.
In conclusion, although the majority of my blog posts were negative and attacked the youth of today it was due to the fact that I wanted to show how older people and the media were shaping the general public opinion. If I have to answer with one sentence to the main question of the blog, however, it would be- The youth of today’s Sofia is much better than the youth of communism.
The video below encapsulates precisely these ideas, the rest is explained by the narrative. Enjoy:
Youth of Sofia 