I terribly miss the retro approach to relationships. We’ve come to the point where we call the real things retro. Flesh at every step. Sex in every glance. Everything is served without being asked for, and everyone is stuffed to the point of nausea. But instead of throwing up and going on a diet, we dive into perversions, drugs, and brutal polygamy that degenerates into chronic promiscuity. There are no longer same-sex or opposite-sex relationships — in most cases, it’s all boiled down to a scramble for flesh and the feeding of an insatiable sexual hunger, which is merely a symptom of a deformed, moldy, and sick soul screaming for love and human attention. The few who dare to try healing their souls usually end up divorced. When was the last time you saw a man giving flowers, opening a car door for a woman, adjusting her chair, or standing up when she leaves the table at a restaurant? Where did the interest in a person’s character go — the charm of that mysterious, shy chemistry between two people who smile awkwardly and try to find their way to each other gently and discreetly on the fifth or tenth date? Yes, it still exists, but it’s such a rare exception amidst the mass debauchery that it may as well not exist at all! We see grotesquely emancipated and “strong” women neurotically proclaiming their masculinity. And weak-spirited men in worn-out sweatpants echoing them like weasels. The first cry there are no real men, and the second suffer from chronic Oedipus complexes mixed with deep narcissism. Imagination has dropped to zero, and vulgar humor runs rampant — birthing children whose destinies are shattered before they’re even born. And yes, this is not the whole picture. There is another side. But damn it — that side is not the prevailing one. On the contrary — it’s vanishing! I don’t want to live in a world like this. It’s ugly and vulgar. It reeks of mediocrity, stupidity, and emotional primitiveness. The very foundation of happiness is missing — it’s dead. Gone. Respect for the individual is lost. Without respect, talking about acceptance, tolerance, and understanding is meaningless. Core behavioral models have been uprooted. Crucial links in the chain are missing, so much so that the chain has no chance of ever being whole. Still, I’ll find others like me — just as I always have. Somehow, we’ll manage in our little microcosm. But the overall landscape is ugly and obscene — and the scariest part is that hardly anyone seems to notice. On the contrary — they seem to enjoy it. There’s a twisted pleasure in being part of this emotionally and spiritually degenerate society. No matter how much we refuse to admit it. This is the masochism of Homo sapiens in the 21st century — and it will be the very thing that destroys us one day. Give flowers. Be interested in faces, eyes, and souls. No one will hear me, but at least I’ve let it out. — Yordan Bikov
