We
had to mention who was the author of these appraisals and observations about parliamentarism."As
deeper I was entering in the internal affairs of the Parliament, as impartially
I was looking at the people and at their way of acting as disgusting the general
view of parliamentary life was. …I began to make myself familiar with the
democratic principle of majority rule as the foundation of this whole institution,
but devoted no less attention to the intellectual and moral values of these gentlemen,
supposedly the elect of the nations, who were expected to serve this purpose….The
more dwarfish one of these present-day leather merchants is in spirit and ability,
the more clearly his own insight makes him aware of the lamentable figure he actually
cuts-that much more will he sing the praises of a system which does not demand
of him the power and genius of a giant, but is satisfied with the craftiness of
a village mayor, preferring in fact this kind of wisdom. And this kind doesn’t
have to torment himself with responsibility for his actions. He is entirely removed
from such worry, for he well knows that, regardless what the result of his ‘statesmanlike’
bungling may be, his end has long been written in the stars: one day he will have
to cede his place to another equally great mind, for it is one of the characteristics
of this decadent system that the number of great statesmen increases in proportion
as the stature of the individual decreases With increasing dependence on parliamentary
majorities it will inevitably continue to shrink, since on the one hand great
minds will refuse to be the stooges of idiotic incompetents and bigmouths, and
on the other, conversely, the representatives of the majority, hence of stupidity,
hate nothing more passionately than a superior mind…. Nobody will believe
that hundreds of real statesmen are growing in ballot boxes, will they? Everybody
knows that ballots are served to the voters whom you can doubt in everything besides
excess of mind. Take a look at one of these political bandits. How anxiously
he begs the approval of the majority for every measure, to assure himself of the
necessary accomplices, so he can unload the responsibility at any time. And this
is one of the main reasons why this type of political activity is always repulsive
and hateful to any man who is decent at heart and hence courageous, while it attracts
all low characters-and anyone who is unwilling to take personal responsibility
for his acts, but seeks a shield, is a cowardly scoundrel. When the leaders of
a nation consist of such vile creatures, the results will soon be deplorable.
Such a nation will be unable to muster the courage for any determined act; it
will prefer to accept any dishonor, even the most shameful, rather than rise to
a decision; for there is no one who is prepared of his own accord to pledge his
person and his head for the execution of a dauntless resolve…. For there
is one thing, which we must never forget: in this, too, the majority can never
replace the man. It is not only a representative of stupidity, but of cowardice
as well. And no more than a hundred empty heads make one wise man will an heroic
decision arise from a hundred cowards. The less the responsibility of the individual
leader, the more numerous will be those who, despite their most insignificant
stature, feel called upon to put their immortal forces in the service of the nation.
Indeed, they will be unable to await their turn; they stand in a long line, and
with pain and regret count the number of those waiting ahead of them, calculating
almost the precise hour at which, in all probability, their turn will come. Consequently,
they long for any change in the office hovering before their eyes, and are thankful
for any scandal which thins out the ranks ahead of them. And if some man is unwilling
to move from the post he holds, this in their eyes is practically a breach of
a holy pact of solidarity. They grow vindictive, and they do not rest until the
impudent fellow is at last overthrown, thus turning his warm place back to the
public. And, rest assured, he won’t recover the position so easily. For as soon
as one of these creatures is forced to give up a position, he will try at once
to wedge his way into the ‘waiting-line’ unless the hue and cry raised by the
others prevents him. The consequence of all this is a terrifying turn-over in
the most important offices and positions of such a state, a result which is always
harmful, but sometimes positively catastrophic. For it is not only the simpleton
and incompetent who will fall victim to thus custom, but to an even greater extent
the real leader, if Fate somehow manages to put one in this place. As soon as
this fact has been recognized, a solid front will form against him, especially
if such a mind has not arisen from their own ranks, but none the less dares to
enter into this exalted society. For on principle these gentry like to be among
themselves and they hate as a common enemy any brain which stands even slightly
above the zeros. And in this respect their instinct is as much sharper as it is
deficient in everything else. The result will be a steadily expanding intellectual
impoverishment of the leading circles. The result for the nation and the state,
everyone can judge for himself, excepting in so far as he himself is one of these
kind of ‘leaders.’…The stature of the ‘ statesmen ‘ steadily diminished
until finally no one remained but that type of parliamentary gangster whose statesmanship
could only be measured and recognized by their ability in pasting together the
coalitions of the moment; in other words, concluding those pettiest of political
bargains which alone demonstrate the fitness of these representatives of the people
for practical work….Whatever problem appears it’s all the same it will
decide the majority of uniformed and unskilled people. The personnel of the meeting
is the same, isn’t it, while issues of discussions are being changed everyday.
We can’t suppose every day that the same people have enough information for example
both in the sphere of /// and high foreign policy. Otherwise it would remain to
think that we have to do with only universal talented persons but we know that
talented persons are born once in a century. These are simply passages from
a book where a more detailed chapter is devoted to all these. So we could cite.
But we are sure that the most part of readers are satisfied with this to be ready
to sign under these appraisals. We are sure that they will prove with basic argumentation
that all these are just about the Parliament of Armenia, our deputies and members
of the parties.But let’s declassify. All these were said in the last century
and we have cited from Adolph Hitler’s "Mein Kampf" book. And it
is the matter of disputing whether parliaments don’t born fuhrers or the opposite.Anna
IsraelianWe grant the translation to the opening of the third holding of
the sixth session of the parliament.