EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
The entire progressive elite in our country is deeply moved and outraged by the news that the leadership of the Bulgarian National Radio has decided to take Petar Volgin's show "Deconstruction" off the air. Fierce attacks are pouring in against the authorities, against censorship, and the host of the show himself is organizing a protest on December 22 in front of the Bulgarian National Radio building. This event is a good occasion to remember what freedom of speech actually means and why Volgin actually has no reason to be indignant.
Freedom of speech should not be considered outside the framework of property. For left-wing thinkers, freedom of speech is a conveniently exploited mantra (similar to discrimination), which should allow them to do whatever they want, wherever they want. But this is not the case. A person is completely free to say whatever they want only within the framework of their own property and cannot have any claims for this over someone else's. In this particular case, it is quite clear that the Bulgarian National Radio is not owned by Petar Volgin. In fact, it is correct to say that there should be no state radio and television at all, and if there were to be one, then taxpayers' money certainly should not be used to finance any political agitation (both left and right). So the management of the radio, representing the interests of the owner, has the full right to decide what to broadcast and what not to broadcast.
Why this is not censorship:
“Censorship” is defined in the dictionary as “The review of works intended for publication, or of correspondence for the purpose of exercising control.” Returning to the above clarification about ownership, it is not difficult to see that every person exercises some form of censorship on a daily basis – we do not say everything we think, we do not publish everything we say, and media owners have a certain editorial policy according to which they censor the information they broadcast. Censorship only becomes a problem when the state tries to impose it outside the framework of its ownership. That is, Volgin and his audience would be rightly dissatisfied if the authorities wanted to ban the presenter from hosting his show in any media. But this is not the case – the state actually exercises its right to censor only over its own property, which is nothing wrong with it.
The accusations of “Nazism” by some left-wing media outlets are completely unfounded. Peter Volgin is free to host his show on a private radio or television station (for example, TV ALFA) or even to create his own media outlet if he believes that he is truly that valuable to his audience. He even does so – in the luxurious, private publication A-specto. The very fact that the left managed to organize itself so quickly in defense of the radio host, using the media, means that there is no problem with freedom of speech.
The statement of Atanas Merdzhanov from the Bulgarian Socialist Party in defense of "Deconstruction" is curious: " And if someone believes that it is forbidden to speak openly against neoliberalism, American politics or some other phenomenon, let him prepare a public list of topics that are closed to criticism! " In fact, there is no prohibition on speaking openly against these things - the above-mentioned TV ALFA (the party television of ATAKA) has been saying exactly this every day for a long time and no one has done anything to it. The dozens of online publications with a similar focus are not far behind. However, Mr. Merdzhanov clearly believes that freedom of speech means that taxpayers should fund a program that defends positions that are favorable to him.
The principles of the left
It is not bad to recall that in the summer of this year, Kalin Manolov's show "Construction" was taken off the air, which promoted exactly the opposite ideas. The presenter himself accepted this action of the BNR leadership with complete dignity, without unnecessary drama. At that time, however, for some unknown reason, neither anyone from the BSP nor anyone else from the field of left-wing thought jumped to the embrasure to defend freedom of speech or to stand up against "Nazi censorship". Which once again shows that for socialists, principles apply as far as personal interest extends.
But ultimately, let us wish Mr. Volgin, who is undoubtedly liked and respected by many people, to finally free himself from the shackles of state censorship and political correctness and to reap many creative successes in the field of the free media market, where there are no subsidies from the budget, and a large audience is the only guarantee of success.
Crushing comment 😀
What does Volgin have to do with ATAKA? The author of the article shows that he is absolutely unfamiliar with the differences in the political views of this party and the journalist, demonstrating rather a malicious and arrogant disregard for the left in general than making any reasoned criticism.
I was wondering (because I'm not familiar with it either) what the differences are?
The common denominator is the extreme leftist positions, the pro-Russian, anti-Western rhetoric, the bashing of "illiberalism", the clumsy handling of facts, etc. I can't think of any differences.
The main question is how the way of thinking is formed, that is, the indoctrination of the mind is a very big topic, as well as where it can be done more easily.
The idea of Friedrich Hayek is used - there is no point in trying to change the opinion of the entire population, the Austrian economist claims, it is enough to change the beliefs of the elites. Hayek means journalists, university professors, public intellectuals, writers. After that, it is they who will become the people who, through their appearances, will convince society that there are no better ideas than those praising the market and privatization.
Without going into details, I will only say that there should be a clear distinction between industrial and financial capitalism as deregulations, that everything should be left to the "invisible hand of the market" and that is why I have collected FACTS on how people were robbed, that is, on the wall of Prof. Dr. Boyan Durankev I have explained the main points - https://www.facebook.com/boyan.durankev/posts/1678735562404671
,and by the way, the professor liked what was written because it is the truth
BULGARIA DOES NOT NEED VOLGIN, BUT TEMSIN!
The left has not succeeded anywhere, except in words. Volgin's vocabulary is similar to that of Alfa TV, the difference being that Alfa is a private media outlet, while BNR is public.