The cooperative is the tool that can restore justice in Bulgarian society. It is based on the principle that an enterprise should be owned and controlled by the people it serves, sharing all surpluses based on the contribution of each member (whether as a producer, worker, or consumer).

Nowadays, when anyone daring to stand against those in power gets crushed, the cooperative remains the sole instrument enabling us to self-organize and stand up to the mafia that has seized capital, state institutions, and media in Bulgaria. Through it, many people can unite, gaining the strength needed to return power to the hands of the people.

The world's first cooperative was established in Switzerland in 1472 to maintain the roads in Viamala—exactly 20 years before Christopher Columbus discovered America. In pre-industrial Europe, the earliest cooperatives were formed, redistributing wealth so that it began flowing from feudal lords to the workers as well. British social reformer Robert Owen founded his cooperative back in 1810, marking the dawn of modern cooperatives and the rise of Western society. Today, cooperatives worldwide count over 1 billion members, employ more than 1.5 billion people, and provide sustenance for over 3 billion. These figures are striking, highlighting the power of a tool that delivers fairness and prosperity to the ordinary person. The United States leads in cooperative members with 256 million, followed by India with 95 million and Japan with 77 million, while Italy leads Europe with 12.6 million. The largest cooperative globally is Spain's Mondragon, boasting over 80,000 members and workers, 289 enterprises across 41 countries, and annual earnings of 14 billion across 150 countries.

What exactly is a cooperative? It is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to cooperate for shared social, economic, or cultural goals. This is precisely what we need right now. Never in the past 35 years has the pressure against honest working people been so immense, with no one to defend them. The cooperative offers us exactly that—an opportunity to unite like a swarm and overcome the tyrants crushing the ordinary Bulgarian.

Cooperative principles carry seven defining and unifying characteristics: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training, and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. Cooperatives rely on core values such as self-determination, self-help, self-responsibility, self-governance, and solidarity. These values do not merely sound social; they are non-capitalistic at their core. In most cooperatives, the fundamental rules apply: one member, one vote; distribution of benefits according to participation in activities rather than capital contributions; and often, no dividend payouts.

A cooperative implies fellowship. Its very name reflects this: in German, it is Genossenschaft ("comradeship"); in Bulgarian, zadruga ("community/guild"). To succeed, a cooperative must strike a delicate balance between its values and human shortcomings.

Cooperative ideas in Bulgaria originated during Ottoman rule, spreading under the traditional form of the zadruga. A key trait of Ottoman rule was its lack of care for the population (much like our current rulers); in response, the Bulgarian people formed the zadruga. It enabled accelerated social development and protected people from Ottoman atrocities. Later, cooperatives evolved further, drawing upon the experiences of Europe and Russia.

Today, Bulgaria once again needs a popular unification to build a local economy and safeguard the Bulgarian people and national resources. Those governing our Homeland are incompetent, greedy, and uneducated, lacking a drop of love for our thousand-year-old culture and people. They have usurped the levers of power and suppress every impulse toward freedom. If we fail to unite and take control of our own economy, we will undoubtedly be sold off and destroyed by this pseudo-elite. Urgent and immediate action in this direction is essential. This is why the 'Zashtitnite' cooperative was established—to serve as the economic and financial backbone in the fight to return Bulgaria to its working people.