Open Letter to Bulgarian Public

Subject: pension curiosities, propositions for their eliminating, advices to the pensioners, opinion on our social policy and the fight against poverty, again ideas and propositions, opinions about the collapse of capitalism, how to make our image before the world better, and others.

By: Ivancho Jotata, anonymous author, ancestral intellectual, ex-scientific worker, with two and a half tertiary educations, and unemployed from 25 years, now pensioner.

0. Introduction and plan of the letter

Ladies and gentlemen, politicians, ordinary citizens, compatriots,

I take for my obligation to inform you about some incredible curiosities in our pension system, and from there also about other moments of our social policy, which, with the coming of our democracy, is practically missing, and by the fault of which moments (as well also of other things, of course), we are now on the last place concerning the poverty in European Union (with the only hope to move at least on the last but one place if our politicians succeed to convince somehow the Union to include also Albania in it). The letter is very long, definitely, yet this is because Jotata does not intend to terrorize our people every time and again, but has decided to tell something maximally essential. Well, and something comical, naturally, because it is, still, better to laugh rather than to weep, or to look for a fight or to make strikes or revolutions, am I right?. In view of the large volume of the letter I provide it with contents, with a brief indication of where you will find which matters, for faster orientation, although it must be clear that it is better to read everything in succession, for else there will remain white spots in the material, because I have not the habit to say banal things, and also make in places unexpected relations (which exist, after all, everything is dialectically linked).

For the various media, if they decide to pay some attention to it, is better either to publish it on parts /points, or then only this point, and after this some links to an Internet-page, where the whole letter can be found; you have to believe me that shorter than me one will harder retell it, so that I save you time and editorial work, I could have, so to say, pretend also for some fee, but my damned anonymity deprives me of this possibility. For the political powers, if they will also pay (how the English-speaking people have the habit to say) some attention, it is better that initially at least someone of their leading cadres reads it as a whole, and only then decides whether to inform also their supporters or not; but let it be clear that the main political powers, the antipodes BSP (the former communists) and UDF (or SDS, the first coalition of democrats, which is almost non-existing from about the year 2000), as also all kinds of their possible sprouts (chiefly of the latter) carry collectively the guilt for this, that for one whole generation, 25 years, they have done practically nothing in order to prevent our slumping so very deep (in the mud) of misery. That this is exactly so speak eloquently the elections, in which from more than a decade of years every second Bulgarian does not vote (because there is nobody for whom to vote), and to vote for the new parties there are no reasons for the moment, they have no precedences, and have not yet made errors only because have done nothing. Our “Talking House”, or the Parliament (it is called National Assembly), is one so fuzzy notion, and they have so many urgent problems (and political quarrels, of course), that surely will have no time to get acquainted with the material (and because of this we will continue to stumble, if you ask Jotata). And the employees of NSSI (National Social Security Institute) are so engaged to fulfill the necessary requirements that they simply have neither time, nor desire to show whatever initiative of their own. So that the problems are complicated, and it isn’t clear who must pay attention to them, but someone must load this burden on his back, and even if those people will be the fascists then this, probably, will be better than if nobody will pay attention to them. Though, if I have missed some important from your point of view addressee, then you just send it to him, as well also hang it somewhere, because I write this for the people, not for myself. In view of the use of Internet I am sending not only .doc file, but also .htm, which can somewhere be more suitable for reading; in any case with an ordinary copying of the text will be lost all bold and italic chars, which are many and needed by the reading.

And now the plan of the letter.

1. “Epicrisis” of the case in NSSI.

2. Clarifications and interpretations of these events.

3. Some propositions for easy changing and mitigation of the curiosity.

4. Useful advices to the brethren-pensioners, as well to the future ones.

5. The question with the fight with poverty, and why we alone are those, who have to solve it.

6. Some hinted ideas and propositions for bettering of our social policy.

7. Global sight over the unavoidable crash of contemporary capitalism.

8. Possible Bulgarian contribution for at least postponing of the moments of crisis.

9. Appendix with the correspondence with NSSI, anonymized.

10. Conclusive remarks.

[And addition of the emails which I have sent]

11. First email (the first year).

12. Second email.

13. Third email.

1. “Epicrisis” of the case in NSSI

In the end of March 2016 I filed an application in NSSI for granting of a pension in accordance with the table for 15 years length of service and reached nearly 66 years, where after 2 weeks I attached to it one UP-2 (certificate for retirement, type 2, I guess), for my work in one subdivision of BAS (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) for the period from 1982 to 1985, where my Individual Coefficient (IC) turned to be 1.28 (but else, on some other places, from where I have also taken such UP-2, in case of necessity, it was about 1.2), what turns in principle to be one good IC (this is the quotient of one’s personal monthly salary to the average one for the moment). My whole length of service was 14 years and nearly a month, plus 2 years and 3 months self-insurance between 1997 and 1999, what gives 16 y. and about 4 m.; well, this, naturally, is not much, but nobody is guilty that I have studied so much, and this in several countries, so that to fall in position not to be able to find work for myself with the coming of our democracy. After this moment for less than a month (the letter lingered at their fast couriers a bit longer than was needed for them to answer me) I have received approved minimal pension for this table from 133 lv. (then, now it is already 137; and to add for the readers from abroad that the lev is our national currency — meaning, by the way, a lion, no matter that there have never been lions on our lands — which is equal almost exactly to 1/2 Euro, so that it goes about some 67-69 Euro for one whole month, imagine this, please), and they have even sent me in one go the pensions for 2 months and a bit, what was very good, if we don’t count the minimal amount, but such were their practice, with what I agreed. Yet later, in the course of nearly five months, I have received not a single message about my final pension, but they have transferred me each month the necessary sum of 130 and a bit more levs.

Only after I decided to show some insistence and ask directly the central office of NSSI, why for whole 5 months I have not yet approved final pension, it was answered to me, fast and expeditiously, that my pension was approved, but I have not received the official letter because I have not went to them, while I have not went to NSSI because I did not know that I have to go to them, yet they have called me twice by the phone but nobody has answered. Well, naturally that no one will answer my phone because your Ivancho keeps it practically all the time switched off (why should he spent electricity without any necessity), due to the fact that, anyway, nobody calls him (and it isn’t exactly mobile, it only imitates this but has landline number); nobody calls him /me because I live super-economically and don’t maintain whatever contacts (except the minimal relations with several Internet sites abroad, where I publish various things, quite a lot), for the reason that for everything are necessary money, and I neither can afford me to go somewhere in the city with the ordinary city transport, nor to drink even a simple coffee from a vending machine. But, however it was, after I went to NSSI (by foot, some 10-12 stops with several transports, but in spite of this I can’t take it that in this way I economize more than a daily card of 4 lv) I received my document, from which it turned out that, in short, despite my relatively high IC, as a result of some economical tricks (although lawful, I don’t deny this), I am falling with about 10 levs below even the minimal amount, but OK, the people are generous, and give me again the minimum!

Now, I will explain these moments also in the next section, but everything is related to this, that the pension is calculated not exactly on the basis of three chosen by the person years, but according to these year plus the years from 97 till 99 from the last century, when I have not really worked, but because I have ensured myself alone, it is taken that I have worked, and despite the fact that I, quite naturally, do not want these years to be included, then the people include them, because such are their normative requirements established once by somebody. It is more than obvious, that this is not right, because this does not make the IC more real, they don’t take into account other places of work (and they are not much in position to do this, because for the 70-ies they have no information), but makes it lower! How much lower, ah? Well, very! My IC for this time becomes 0.49 (it is even not one half) and this lowers the entire coefficient from 1.28 to 0.943, what, and for this laughable length of service, gives amount, which, as I said, is under the minimum, which is provided for such cases like mine, it is a kind of social umbrella (or threshold, as you prefer). But pay attention also to the fact, that for the minimal amount of the pension they send me letter via courier, yet for the exact amount they don’t send any (even to inform me that I am to go personally there), and one more letter later they also send me by the post, and via the Internet they answered me on several emails, but exactly for this letter about the final amount of my pension, which looks exceedingly unexpected, it lowers my IC with more than 1/4, nobody tells me anything, the people wait for some time to pass and me to become acquainted with the minimum, they have their psychologists there (I presume).

So, and then I make one absolutely normal move, in my view, deciding to want recalculation of the pension, where the paid by me insurances for 97 and 98 years (1 y. and 3 m.) will be eliminated at all, this letter is added to the included here correspondence, and remains only the last one year, 1999, in order to have the desired minimum of 15 years (and nearly a month more), what, obviously, will lessen my length of service, but according with my calculations it turns out that the IC will grow at least up to 1.08 (probably also to 1.1), yet because my service will fall a little, then this gives one significant (well, with about 10 percents) increase of the amount of the pension, but still with precision of only a pair of levs about (most probably under) the minimal threshold. I, for my part, cant see what so very ingenious is in my request, neither what so strange can be in it, because I do not question their legal requirements (true according to the letter, yet not to the spirit, of the law), bur simply want some paid by me sums to be left without attention, I relinquish of something what I have, but, my God, everybody has the right to deny or renounce something of his own, this is not taking of something alien, and if in this way one obvious paradox in our pension system stands out brighter, them I am not to be blamed for this, because it, the paradox, anyway exists, everybody can check this by the tables for calculation of pensions.

In some sense I want to make a present to the state, but the people there do not allow me to do this. It remains only to clear whether this unwillingness to judge on the part of the staff of this, maybe not the highest, but, still, responsible state’s authority is, so to say, inborn, or acquired, required by their work (in accordance with the old army axiom: “shut up and obey”)! Well, I will continue these thoughts also in the next section, but with this I decided to stop my “pestering” of the workers of NSSI, because they have answered me twice om this request, where can be said that both times they simply “turned a deaf ear” to me, as the expression goes. And this, at least on this stage, gives no enhancement of my pension, this is just a matter of principles, how is it possible that one research assistant of BAS (with 2 tertiary educations etc,) can have an IC significantly under the one, this is the shameful matter, in my view, and this is what I want to eliminate with my further actions, even if I must pay something (to what I was not able to come there, when they, again according to one saying, “neither receive, no transmit”).

 Etc.