The book The Burning Paths to the Future, published in memoriam, is a collection of selected works from two earlier books, Paths (1999, 2000, 2001) and Capitalism – Antagonist of Humankind (2004). It comprises Varon's most significant and emblematic theoretical writings. His intellectual and philosophical insights recall the tradition of Bulgarian and foreign Marxist thought. What is more, the book contains ideas that have advanced Marxist philosophical thought at the turn of the 21st century.
The book contains the core of the intellectual legacy bequeathed by Benjamin Varon: a Renaissance mind, an economist, scholar and philosopher whose perceptive articles and studies abound in brilliant heuristic insights and present an exciting read for researchers.
The publication was a collaboration between Zakhari Stoyanov Publishing House and Raymonda Varon-Mateeva, daughter of the remarkable thinker. The profound message of the book will continue to inspire future historians and philosophers.
What was written about him
I fought for my ideas as best as I could, first under fascism and then under totalitarianism. Varon is still fighting dramatically and intensely for his ideas. His questions are equally disagreeable to left and right politicians alike.Sega Newspaper, 1999
Varon's ideas are radical but the clarity and simplicity with which they are expressed make them very impressive, even heuristic.Yuri Borisov, Duma Newspaper
Eight years prior to the Prague Spring, a group of several courageous men loyal to the socialist idea rang the alarm bell of truth. Like Babeuf who was the first to point his finger at the errors of the French Revolution, they made a cross-section of the totalitarian society and glimpsed into the future. Even though they paid a heavy price for their courage, they helped the intelligent and the pure-hearted to wake up. Theirs was not just a feat, it was a prophecy, a desperate attempt to stop the engine of state socialism. Unfortunately, that engine crushed them but failed to destroy their words. They are still alive today testifying forcefully that truth is more resilient than the terror of dogma.Stefan Prodev
About Benjamin Varon
Benjamin Varon (1924–2020) was born in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Still under age, he joined the antifascist resistance, was arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. When the Second World War was over, he studied law and went on to work on a doctorate in Economics. In 1952 he firmly refused to bring his thesis into line with Stalin's theses in the brochure The Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR.
In consequence, his thesis defence was deterred and he was awarded a doctor's degree only after the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party. In March 1961, in the wake of the well-known letter to the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, he was dismissed from his position of Chair of Political Economy at the Higher Institute of Economics in Svishtov and along with his family was interned permanently to a remote village in Northeastern Bulgaria. After the 22nd congress of the Soviet Communist Party Varon was allowed to return to Sofia, yet was barred from teaching and research. He was reinstated only as late as December 1989, and the 43rd congress of the Bulgarian Socialist Party elected him member of the party's Supreme Council.