Prof. D.Sc. Marin Paunov: The Bulgarian’s Fundamental Destructive Core Value is Envious Individualism
His new book examines our crisis of values and the particularities of our national character
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Prof. D.Sc. Marin Paunov is a Bulgarian scientist, lecturer, researcher, and international business administration consultant with lengthy contributions in the areas of organizational behavior, corporate culture, and strategic management. His scientific interests are focused on the organizational behavior, corporate culture, work motivation, and business strategy. He specialized in some of the most prestigious international academic institutions, among them the London School of Economics and Political Science, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Harvard Business School, and AOTS in Tokyo, Japan. He is a member of HBSAA - Harvard, AOTSAA - Tokyo, and the Union of Bulgarian Scientists. He has authored more than 70 scientific publications, establishing him as one of the most recognizable names in the field of management and economic sciences in Bulgaria. Among his most significant works, the books Organizational Culture, Organizational Behavior, Business Strategies, Work Motivation, and The Values ??of Bulgarians- a modern portrait of a European background stand out and are widely used in the academic practice and business training.
A few days ago your book Icon or Caricature: Demons and Shadows in Modern Bulgarian Values was released by the publishing house Ciela. What are the values of the modern Bulgarian?
It’s hard to summarize, but what the book covers are some crisis moments in these values. They are obvious to everyone. We live with them every day; we suffer from them every day, but for some reason we don’t react to them. Like every nation, we contain good and not-so-good, constructive and destructive values. The issue is that nowadays the destructive ones have clearly started gaining prominence.
If you had to rank them by importance and prevalence, which one would you put at the first place?
In my opinion, at the first place would be our specific kind of individualism. The Anglo-Saxon nations and cultures - the British and the American - are individualistic, but our type of individualism stands out with something that is apparent to all foreigners and researchers of the Bulgarian national psychology - it's our envy.
Our individualism is an envious individualism, resulting in a large amount of bitterness. My books mention the efforts of many people who have worked in this research field - Geo Milev, Nayden Sheytanov and Ivan Hadzhyisky. All of them have noticed this “hate” - if I can use the modern term. Another essential aspect is our distrust. That means distrust in the institutions, which is a consequence of another global distrust, which is called general social trust. That is, in terms of general trust, which builds the threads between people in a society, when compared to the same in other countries, it turns out that we are in last place not only in Europe but also in the world. Our only competitors are Peru and Nigeria. This is not an innocuous fact or just an interesting bit of trivia, it carries serious consequences with it. In historical context, we have observed and continue to observe a specifically Bulgarian reflex, which I will informally call “everyone for themselves”. Everyone is drawn toward their own interests and concerns, as well as those within their immediate environment.
How would you define this book?
The style of this book differs from that of my previous works, which are more scientific in tone. I would describe this book as one intended for a wider audience. I have rejected the limitations inherent to scientific publications. I was happy to do it so that it could reach a wider audience and, if possible, most of us Bulgarians could think about what our values ??are, what this crisis of values ??that we are experiencing is, and what we should do from now on. It’s incredibly important, and I want to emphasize again that despite this different style, let’s call it informal, everything in this book is based on data, a great amount of data, collected from a period of no less than 15 years. I have two other books, written in a more academic style, which also discuss this topic.
What are the differences in the national psychology today compared to Ivan Hadzhyisky’s books?
Ivan Hadzhyisky is often cited, though my impression is that not all who reference him have read his actual work. Here I have taken the liberty of including excerpts from the works of several notable Bulgarian authors, starting with Pencho Slaveykov, Dr. Krastev, Stoyan Mihaylovsky, Geo Milev and finally reaching Ivan Hadzhiysky with his optimistic theory about our people.
“Our social and cultural life exists to a significant extent under the sign of mediocrity and semi-intelligence, whose toxins are one of the nastiest phenomena in our country. Mediocrity ... is forced to make a career at any cost, by any means, in which incompetence and predation, stupidity and impudence, meanness and baseness flow into a harmony of true shamelessness.... Are there few cases when the organized united fronts of mediocrity have killed with the most unforgivable means every head that has put them in the shade and exposed them with nothing else than the simple fact of their existence, with the fact that they have established a higher scale?” What would you say about this quote from Hadzhyisky? Don’t we face this phenomena every day? And that’s the optimistic view of our people.
What changes did social media bring to behavior in this social model?
The first thing that comes to mind is the ability for many people to remain anonymous and on this basis to spread a lot of the hate, and again specifically, related to the distrust of Bulgarians - distrust of any type of authority in Bulgaria. I remember when some time ago I allowed myself to comment on work motivation. I have been working on this topic for 35 years. This is one of the disciplines I introduced to the UNWE, and have taught it…. Well, there was a deluge of responses saying that I understand nothing.
Is there something you see as a positive development?
An existing strength of ours is the so-called “street smarts” which, despite declining in recent years, remains highly prominent. This is an official term in psychology – “street smarts”. Unlike cognitive, “street smarts” are a coping skill – the ability to persevere, to get out of difficult situations, adaptability, let's call it.
I can't help but ask you about this patriotic wave that we see gushing from everywhere – from weddings, costumes, through people in the icy waters. An idea of ??community, of traditions and of roots, which absolutely contradicts what you say – Bulgarian envy and individualism.
This is a search for some remarkable, brilliant roots. In principle, there is nothing wrong with a person loving the country in which they were born. Moreover, it is wonderful in terms of nature and all its gifts. There is nothing wrong with a person treating their history with respect and interest. However, this patriotism is extremely irritating. I have a whole chapter called The Unbearable Lightness of Patriotism. It deserves attention, because if we think about it, we will see that there is nothing easier than being a patriot. Nothing depends on you. Someone gave birth to you somewhere, without asking you, you look around and see what bright peaks have been achieved. You say to yourself "but I am the same too". You put Levsky on your calf, Botev on your shoulder and you are a very militant patriot. It is easy to be proud of something that does not depend on you. It is difficult to be proud of what you have done, achieved and sacrificed. Patriotism is extremely easy and that is why it is such a pleasant, thin string that many politicians use with terrible force. And each of us can slip easily. Because you mentioned a complex - the fewer reasons for pride and peace a nation sees around itself, the more it is inclined to look back and look for some of its own merits in the past. History is such a science that it can always pull out a rabbit, give you something to make you happy.
Prof. D.Sc. Marin Paunov’s book can be found in the UNWE Bookstore
