On Frogs and Horseshoes

It's 4th July, and Margy is thinking about the future of her country: Bulgaria. (BTW, courtesy of yours truly she now has a Homepage . My brother - in the mailbox - comments: "I have noted that you are going for the Free University structure of Joseph Beuys! It is a pity that we did not hold-on-to one of father's hats for you but perhaps you could lay your hands on a white overall and a piece of string." Don't worry (tranquilo), there is more to come). But what is worrying Margy today is the news that for an investment of 300,000 euros you will now be able to buy Bulgarian citizenship. And her point, I take it, is not that people shouldn't be able to buy houses in Bulgaria, but what sort of people with 300,000 euros to spend might need Bulgarian citizenship!! The horseshoe will get nailed to the ox. OTOH it is interesting the way virtually every country round the south of Europe sees its future in selling property to rich pensioners from abroad. This is happening down in Torre Vieja in Alicante, Spain, and guess who's working on the buildings: Bulgarian construction workers. I may well find my way down there in a burst of ethnographic enthusiasm. It is also about to happen in the Rhodope Mountains in the South of Bulgaria, where the plan is (no don't laugh) to attract Japanese pensioners (remember many Japanese now have to work to 75) to enjoy the cheaper land values and cheaper life-style that modern Bulgaria can offer. Don't they know anything about Japanese culture? It seems after the South Sea Bubble we can now safely get back to selling tulips, or should that be bonzai.

Some strange news I have from the newspaper - do not even dare to look for information at official pages of governement or Parliament. To start - I am trying to translate an old Bulgarian Proverbe - it's a pity - I do not know yours well enough. This proverb says: When The frog has seen, they nail the horseshoe to the ox, she was next to raise her feet. Difficult to understand - the same thing for me is yours proverb: Go to a Goat for wool - my Grandma was the last one in the family to produce rugs from Goat wool/hairs - love them.

Different cultures - difficult translation. So - let me try to translate my proverbe again: As they wrote in yesterday's newspaper SEGA we are trying to do some reanimation of the Bulgarian economy by offering Citizenship to rich foreigners. If you do want to become a Bulgarian citizen - you need about 300 000 EURO to invest here and you are kindly welcome.

Buy One - get one or more for Free


The Ministry of Justise had prepared this proposal - in violation of Bulgarian Constitution, which says: No foreign citizen can buy property /land or building/ in Bulgaria. At the new proposal to buy land or building counts as an Investment. So - seems our fellow countrymen plan to change our legislation in Canadian or USA way, but much more liberal /this is for Frog and Ox/. One official said: "The rich japonaise and rich Greecs will build their rich houses here to assure good time when retired "

As I know from my researches on US immigration policy - every Immigration Act has shown that the legislators count wrong. Just one example: after the World war II they took some steps to assure representation of western europeans there. The result : double and more Latin American and Chinese immigrants, low rate of West Europeans - because of improvement of situation in that part of Europe. So Guess Who and why will come in my beloved country after changing the law. Who will have citizenship? ...........and what is our Constitution for..... today is 4th of July

As Margy notes, today is 4th July, and traditionally (although I am not a traditional person) this is a sad day for the British. The day we lost North America. But perhaps now it may become a time for uncorking the bubbly once more. If all those gloom-and-doom predictions about Asian growth and US indebtedness turn out to be right, maybe we got a financial liability off our hands, just in the nick of time!