Gallup Survey: Half of the Bulgarians Think that the State Is to Blame for Their Problems

About half of the Bulgarians believe that the state is to blame for their problems. This way of thinking is more common among the older people, while the younger ones blame themselves for their personal problems more. The data is from a Gallup International survey, part of a sociological agency's monthly research program. The church is one of the respected authorities, but there are also visible problems in its public image, according to the study.

It turns out that three decades after the start of the democratic changes in Bulgaria, 46% or nearly half of the public in Bulgaria tends to agree that the state is to blame for most of the problems in their lives.

42% is the share of those who disagree with such a statement, and 12% cannot say. So the Bulgarian society is practically split in half on the question whether the state is to blame for most of the problems in their lives. Age (and related social status) is important for public attitudes toward the role of the state in our personal well-being. The youngest respondents between the ages of 18 and 25 (or those born after the watershed of 1989) seem more likely to blame themselves, rather than the state. Probably, with age, the reasons for blaming the state, as well as the objective truthfulness of this accusation, increase. Naturally, the supporters of the ruling are less critical.

68% of the surveyed people agree that the most important thing in life is to be fair and not always lawful, 19% say that this statement does not apply to them, and the remaining 13% cannot judge it. This view is supported by various demographic groups. It is clear that the Bulgarian society bases its moral criteria on some sense of common sense rather than on legal details.

The opinion of the others is a...

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