A group of local teens in Bulgaria was arrested and is currently being sued for the murder of Georgi Kuzev.

This shocking and disturbing event is now a main topic of discussion in the country, and with good reason.

There is a lot to learn from this story; ideally, we will get to our most important conclusions, after providing some necessary context.

It is now clear more than ever that parental guidance is almost as vital as physical well-being, for any young individual. Our society wants to blame subcultural influences, social media or even foreign groups, as this is much easier than accepting the fact that somewhere along the line, many parents have failed to connect with their own children. Would you not be deeply shocked to discover that a member of your household, especially your own child, was plotting to assault and potentially murder someone, and you weren’t even aware of his plans? Can we truly blame music or social media, when our child’s upbringing should be our main responsibility in life?

Details and Social Impact

One of the girls intentionally led a stimulating online conversation with 37-year old Georgi Kuzev. She arranged a meeting with Georgi; a potential intimate interest may have been implied, but only with the hidden intention of exposing Georgi as a pedophile. The meeting was a set up and the teenagers violently assaulted Georgi Kuzev. They beat him up for approximately one hour, until he passed away. Police reports state he was tortured and humiliated.

The trial is on-going and it is not yet clear whether this was a planned execution, or the group of teens simply went too far, before it was all over. The perpetrators have shown no signs of mental illness or any kind of emotional distress. There is a social factor here which plays a key role.

Bulgarian society is now strongly divided in their opinions on this matter. While most agree that pedophilia is a heinous crime and should be persecuted, a lot of people argue that no single individual has the legal or moral authority to decide who gets to live or die. There are those who state that the cruelty of the murder is influenced by the rock and metal music the teenagers are listening to. Needless to say, this is a rather shallow statement, since most of the reported murders in Bulgaria are sparked by deep underground connections or financial interests, and are not in any way affiliated with the rock community.

A much more believable story is that there appears to be an underground alt-right group which has taken it upon themselves to track down potential pedophiles. In fact, some years ago there was such a group which helped the police arrest 21 sex offenders. They arranged for grown men to meet with girls at the age of 14, 15, where the police was waiting to arrest them. Clearly, reporting crime to the police is the civilized thing to do. Execution, however, is a different matter, especially by the hands of 15 year old kids. It is rather plausible that the teenagers were not acting on their own; and yet, one must wonder how can people simply influence these children to end somebody’s life, effectively ruining their own lives and that of many others. Instead of placing yet another subjective judgement that stands outside the authority of the law, we will instead try to dive into the minds of our fellow Bulgarians, so we might be able to explain what could drive a child to such drastic decisions, instead of living his young life to the fullest.

Some political context

Bulgaria has many great values and sightings that makes people from all over the world want to live here – rich culture, beautiful nature, historical heritage that predates that of many modern countries. Our political situation, however, is a different matter. Corruption is widespread in virtually every level of the social hierarchy. Violence and vandalism are almost perceived as normal, and we are among the top European countries in car crash fatalities. According to Eurostat, 20.2 % of Bulgarians reported crime, violence or vandalism in their local area in 2019, which is the highest score in the EU at that time. Our infrastructure is among the worst in Europe, as the public contracts are predominantly handed out to insiders and companies that are related to people in power, mostly for personal financial gain. Our news outlets are flooded with reports of criminals that ease their way out of serving jail time, just for having financial leverage or paying off the right people. Thousands of offenders and criminals are walking the streets like in Grand Theft Auto – not only that, but they are often seen running political parties and holding key posts in public administration.

So how does all of this relate to this horrible murder case?

Simply put, the citizens no longer trust authorities or institutions.

After almost 4 decades of corruption and semi-lawlessness, it is now next to impossible to meet someone in Bulgaria who doesn’t hate the state and all of its institutions. People have reached a silent consensus that the organizations in power do not hold their best interest at heart, and that some sort of radical action must be taken on a community level, in order for a real positive change to occur. All that is required in the end is that public figures simply follow the law and do not abuse their power. Unfortunately, we never had a real sense of community, nor a clear path as to how to effectively influence political decisions. Our democracy is less than 4 decades old; our nation spent the better part of the 20th century fighting wars, and then suffering through severe economic crises as a consequence of these wars.

Bulgarian citizens are angry and fed up. Everyone wants a change, but no one knows how to enforce it. Younger individuals are not only easier to influence, but often more idealistic and susceptible to radical ideas. Whether they were influenced by any underground group or acting on their own, these kids are seeing the helplessness of the ordinary citizen and are slowly driven to believe that radical action must be taken.

Unless we start acting ourselves, more similar cases will occur.

Of course, I do not mean legal action. I mean parental action and education. Talk to your kids; if necessary, seek some guidance as to what psychological methods you could use to get them talking and sharing what goes on in their heads. Social media is mostly for fun and wasting time, but hate speech does run wild there in various comedic forms, and can easily influence a young mind.

Again, we must return to the old saying that in order to change the world, we should first change ourselves. There is nothing more important than the well-being of our children – not the news, not the sports channel, not material possessions.

And therein lies a vital problem– generations of basic human experience have shown us that the more a person is attached to material possessions, the less he is interested in non-materialistic values such as empathy, good manners, and a sense of social responsibility. It is unlikely that we will have a society free of corruption, vandalism and radical ideas, until we start prioritizing basic human values over material possessions.

This may be seen as quite a radical transformation of thought. It can also be seen a new Age of Enlightenment, where arts, sciences, peace, and the human spirit are prioritized over the appeal of money and power. After all, if we look at the world’s richest individuals and how much financial leverage they have, one can only conclude that no amount of money is ever enough. Hence, if the pursuit of money and power is endless, and if this pursuit can only be successful at the expense of other members of society, then why would we continue down this path? Or, as Einstein would put it, how can we keep doing the same exercise and expect a different result each time?