As the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in Bulgaria approaches, I don’t feel like celebrating. I imagine, most Bulgarians don’t feel like it either. Twenty years ago, whatever the politics, wherever they were, most probably, most Bulgarians felt a surge of positive fresh energy.
I was in Manhattan and, November 10, 1989 felt like the happiest day of my life. The Iron Curtain fell and Bulgaria, my motherland, was free from communism. Freedom won! Bulgaria was on American television! “See, there is such a country!” Before November 10th, my American friends didn’t have any information about Bulgaria in their brains, and they never quite believed where I came from. For the first time, I was sharing positive mass media information about where I came from, with my American friends – I felt whole. I felt free!
But, 20 years later, what are we celebrating? Did freedom win? Last month, the Empire State Building, a symbol of the ambition and ingenuity of the land of the free, celebrated 60 years of Communism in China. The same platform that celebrates the 4th of July, freedom day, celebrated communism. Does this mean that there is no difference between communism and freedom? For my Bulgarian friends who have communism know-how, the Empire State Building celebrating communism, does not connect. My American friends say the Cold War is over and time moves and life changes and that’s no longer relevant – they’re not interested. (They talk a lot on the other side!) How can freedom loving Americans not see difference between communism and freedom?
It doesn’t add up because people from every point of the planet clearly sense the difference between communism and freedom. No one is risking their life to enjoy the ‘good life’ in China, Cuba, Venezuela or North Korea! Are my American friends under a witch’s spell? Is Khrushchev banging his shoe at the UN, “We will bury you!” a visionary?
After 500 years of Ottoman rule, when Bulgaria became free, leading Bulgarians did not remain loyal to Ottoman rule. After 45 years of Soviet rule, when Bulgaria became free, leading Bulgarians remain loyal to Russia and communism. Why are leading Bulgarians loyal to a former, foreign oppressor? It doesn’t correlate.
In 1945, Truman, Churchill and Stalin penciled a “spheres of influence” line on a map of Europe. They agreed that freedom will reign on one side of the line and communism will reign on the other side of the line. On the Soviet side of the line, began the most massive, technologically most sophisticated, to date, experiment on shaping human brains. The penciled line was named the Iron Curtain because, for the experiment to work, more and more fences, bricks and cement became necessary to keep people in and to keep information out.
It is curious that, after the “fall of the Iron Curtain” and the “end of communism,” information about the Great Communism Experiment in Central and Eastern Europe is being totally ignored. Those who lived inside don’t talk about communism, and those who lived outside don’t have information about communism in their brains to be interested.
I lived my first 7 years inside the experiment and then outside the experiment. Having had the privilege to experience both sides of the Iron Curtain, I am convinced that information about the most sophisticated and most comprehensive experiment on the human brain is most relevant to the survival of all living together on our planet.
My communism know-how is limited. Going out into the world to kindergarten class, for the first time alone, communism for me was being strongly advised by my parents, not to be influenced by what others say, not to talk to others about my home life and, of course, to be the best I can be! I was confused. When I imposed control of information and communication, I felt an Iron Curtain inside my brain. No information in and no information out – how could I be the best I can be? However limited, my communism experience is consistent with the unique feature of the Great Experiment – the focus on control of information and communication to shape the human brain.
When I returned in 1992, information and communication were still being kept out. Western “know-how” was desirable but the clever use of the English words “know-how,” in most brains, didn’t connect to “information.” Information remained undesirable. I repeatedly heard, “Don’t give me brains, give me money!” Stratiev’s insightful “Don’t ask me anything, I will lie to you,” was operating in full force. And, of course, the numerous signs inside government buildings, a constant reminder: “This is not information!”
In the USA, it’s the opposite: “I’ll tell you what I want and you tell me what you want, so that we can work together,” “What good is it, if you don’t communicate it,” “The truth will set you free,” and, of course, you may ask anyone information and, you will not be yelled at; the worst possible reaction will be an honest, “I don’t know.”
A well known Chinese proverb says, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Inform a man how to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime.” The proverb demonstrates that information (know-how) is more valuable than money. On the experiment side of the line, the redistribution of wealth was followed by cutting back on expenses. Money runs out. Information is ‘forever.’
Information is more valuable than money.
To protect my brain from the ‘no information in and no information out’ program, my parents left all the people they loved and all that was familiar. They plunged into the unknown, armed with educated Bulgarian brains and only $300 from the United World Church. They worked and succeeded in earning new wealth, while our relatives inside the Iron Curtain became poorer and poorer.
The fact that the experiment proved that information is more valuable than money has been ignored. No one has been interested in why “know-how” was missing on the experiment side of the line. Yet, money continues to be the prime value of people inside the line. It is interesting that since the 1980’s, money has also become the prime value of people on the freedom side of the line.
What is there to celebrate? It looks like the Iron Curtain didn’t fall because freedom won. The Iron Curtain fell, for the same reason it was created, to keep people in. The deep-rooted human resistance to physical containment had reached a combustion level that risked igniting the passion for freedom. In the communication age, brains are easily programmed. Information is easy to manipulate and simulate. The Berlin Wall and keeping people in was no longer necessary. The mental Iron Curtains were firmly in place. The Berlin Wall and the fences had now become physical reminders that risked breaking the spell. The mental Iron Curtains are not only firmly in place but they appear to have expanded. The Americans are acting the way they are because they don’t have information in their brains to act differently.
Today the Internet connects to 1,668,870,408 people on earth, of the 6,767,805,208 living on the planet. That’s close to 25%! WOW! That is a sphere of influence! Our age of communication has unprecedented, powerful potential to lead to revolutionary enlightenment or massive brain manipulation and simulation. In the age of communication, information regarding the Great Communist Experiment on shaping the brain is relevant and critical.
Perhaps the 20th anniversary doesn’t feel right because the know-how was one-way. It doesn’t do well for self-esteem to be given something and not give something back. We are free to “give-back OUR know-how!” What good is our communism know-how, if we don’t communicate it? If Americans can’t differentiate between freedom and communism, it sure looks like they need it.
Who are we to help America? Bulgaria’s history created multinational, multi-faceted, complex and agile brains, similar to the multinational mix that made the USA a superpower. Both have had the privilege of information from different perspectives, from many different cultures.
Best Positioned:
Conservative Nixon was best positioned to open the door to China. It correlates that to be credible to the widest spectrum, conservative Bulgaria, the most loyal and obedient to Soviet communism, is best positioned to open the door to communism know-how and the brain.
Seven thousand years ago, our Bulgarian ancestors began the journey westward, settled and held onto a desirable piece of land on our planet, the oldest metallurgy, the oldest gold artifacts, an outpost of Western Civilization that is first to be invaded and last to be liberated, struggled and successfully survived as a people, for us to be here, in 2009, playing the role of superpower, among high-tech, computer “bad guys!” Several months ago, Bulgaria was portrayed as the toilet bowl section of a EU commissioned artwork. It looks like Mother Nature is communicating the need for change.
The fact that we have what it takes to be among the best of the ‘bad guys,’ proves that, if we simply redirect our passion, we have what it takes to be among the best of the ‘good guys.’ Success as a unified nation is the best revenge to the repeated, divisive, long-term tyranny that our ancestors successfully survived. Bulgarians are free to shed the mutual suspicion imbedded in our brains for nearly 600 years of foreign tyranny. We are free to trust each other, communicate, and pool our information to become the best that we can be.
Bulgarians have a perfect-storm opportunity to complete the fall of the Iron Curtain. What good is it, if you don’t communicate it? Communicating personal knowledge, “communism know-how,” bit by bit, is the way to take down the mental Iron Curtains. Pooling information is consistent with the communication from our ancestors on the entrance of Parliament: “Union Makes Power.”
Communism know-how and freedom know-how together is the most promising strategy toward forward and up, for all living together on our planet.
Wishing we will all feel free and we will all feel like celebrating the 25th anniversary together,
Ioanna Iankov
© 2009 I. Iankov
Submitted by admin on Fri, 10/23/2009 - 00:00