Let's give way to young people in politics - fine, but do they deserve it?

I don't know about you, but for me personally, election season is always a particularly unpleasant time of year. When it comes time for elections, politicians who otherwise haven't really accomplished anything in the last few years start telling you how much they're going to accomplish in the next few. And that's why you should vote for them. Ah, okay. The hypocrisy is getting a little too much. But the interesting thing is that the Bulgarian voter is an eternal optimist. Yes, when it comes to the "old dogs" in politics, he's a complete cynic - they're all scumbags. But when new and young faces appear, he's suddenly filled with a surge of optimism - "maybe these smart young people will fix us!".

You have a "new" and "young" political project? Respect.

Bulgarian politicians have long since acquired a flair for this phenomenon and are actively taking advantage of it. The optimism of the Bulgarian voter regarding young and "new" faces in politics is such a strong regularity in every election that it is now even directly targeted through election slogans and names of election campaigns. Campaigns led by representatives of my generation - young people born in the last years of the communist regime or in the early 90s. Observing the influx of "young blood" in politics and the ambition to achieve power (be it in the native or European parliament) of my peers, one question never ceases to gnaw at me - why do you think you deserve it?

In Bulgaria, we have seen enough of parties and political candidates of the "we are the New Time" type. Ambitious young people who invite the entire Bulgarian people to entrust their fate in their hands simply because they are...young? And "different"? Alas, being young does not mean at all that you are different from the dominant political status quo. In fact, the experience of our recent history is the opposite. For God's sake, even Boyko Borisov was a "new alternative" to the status quo 10 years ago for a very large part of Bulgarian voters. And of course, being young in itself (obviously) does not mean that you deserve political power. No one gets bonus points just for not having lived during communism.

Wasn't power something that had to be earned?

Being a politician, and more specifically, a member of parliament, whether in the Bulgarian or European Parliament, (should be) a responsible task. This is an honor and responsibility that should be given only to such individuals who have earned it...or at least that's how it is in theory. Alas, practice in most cases does not correspond to theory. And this is a problem. In order to deserve the responsible power of a member of parliament (in our country or in the EU) you must demonstrate that you are a person who is capable of firmly and persistently fighting for the interests of the people who elected you. To achieve this, first of all, you must clearly show what political principles you profess and what goals you want to achieve.

These principles and goals must be clear and consistent (i.e. not contradictory). And you must defend them with persistence, and not flinch from them frivolously and whenever it seems convenient, following some form of short-term political opportunism. This should be the sanitary minimum for the voter to even consider you as a potentially suitable candidate, for his representative before the whole of Europe. Why? Well, at least because that way he knows for whom and what he is voting.

To trust you with power, I must first know who you are.

One of the great problems of modern politics is that politicians are faceless and formless (and very often spineless, but this is implied) individuals. There are no clearly expressed principles and political ideologies. "Political pragmatism" is revered, which is simply a screen under which calculating opportunists hide, who are in politics not because they believe in a given political idea, but because they believe in... the idea of personal material benefit. And political ideas, when they are talked about, are simply a tool for the realization of this other idea. The recent loudest political scandals are indicative in this regard.

I don't care which elite Western university you graduated from, I don't care which famous bank, firm or international institution you worked in. I'm interested in who you are as a person. As an idea, as a vision for the political future of Bulgaria and, of course, Europe. If, faced with such questions, a candidate answers evasively, "politically correct", trying to adhere in every respect to the dogmas of the political status quo in Europe, then he is either a spineless candidate without his own principles and positions, or simply a copy of the old Eurobureaucrats and politicians... but a younger version. And we have enough of those.

Being young in itself is not an advantage if you do not have new ideas, different from those that have so far dominated the political debate in Europe. Many people almost think that "young" is synonymous with "new", but this is not the case at all. If you are a young person educated in the same institutions as the "old", you profess the same ideas and principles and share the same vision for the future of Europe and Bulgaria, then there is nothing new about you. In this sense, if we are going to elect the same people, let's at least elect the more experienced ones.

I also need to know that you are capable of fighting for a cause.

Beyond clearly stated political principles and goals, a candidate for political power must also have shown a willingness to persistently defend and pursue them. This is the way to show that the political principles and goals that are declared are not just "an election gimmick," as the catchphrase goes. The surest way to understand what a person really thinks and believes is by looking at what he does, not what he says. And if a political candidate did not fight for the achievement of any cause, any specific political goal when he was out of power, then he most likely will not do so when he gets it.

Here the excuse is very often "but without power what can you do?". You can do a lot. I personally know many people who for many years have been fighting with enthusiasm and perseverance to achieve purely political goals through activism and awakening in the public sphere, without having any political power. Examples abound. If you decided to become a politician straight from a prestigious university or a high-paying job - no, thank you.

If you have never fought for a cause outside of a position of power, I have no reason to think that you will do so when you are in such a position. But if you are a person who has the appropriate reputation as a person with clearly expressed principles and goals, for the achievement of which she has worked for years, then I know that you are serious. I know that when you talk to me about achieving a certain loud (or even modest) cause in the European Parliament, you really mean it. But if you have directly set out to play politician without ever having actually worked seriously for the achievement of any political cause, I know that you most likely cannot be trusted. In short, this is about demonstrating skin in the game, as the modern philosopher and famous investor Nassim Taleb would put it.

And last but not least, it is important to demonstrate some independence from the already established party formations. If you are going to market yourself as something "new" on the political market, it is somehow not possible to tie yourself to one or another of the already very well-known and established political formations from the very beginning. Not because this is necessarily bad in itself, but because if you do not use their electorate as a crutch, it does not speak well of your own achievements so far and reputation in the eyes of society.

Power is not a salami to be cut (and given) so frivolously

After all that has been written, it may seem that I am setting impossible requirements for who deserves to run for MEP. Some in the comments will probably even write that my reasoning is unrealistic and utopian, especially given the fact that "there are no people, understand" and we should be happy about the few new faces in politics, even if they are not of first quality. But in fact, this is precisely the position of people who have thrown up their hands and completely given up any hope that we can see any improvement in the quality of Bulgarian politics.

I have said it before and I will say it again – the voter should not give his vote for nothing, for nothing, to individuals who do not deserve it, simply because they are the "lesser evil". Voting for someone means giving them power over your life. This is an extremely serious responsibility that must be earned with hard work and hard efforts, but unfortunately, our politicians take it for granted. Even the young ones.

"I want to go to the European Parliament"
Go! You will never have hemorrhoids.

Did you like it? Take a minute to support the EKIP on Patreon!