Our press often talks about our MPs’ ignorance, they don’t have elementary, 4th-grade knowledge, and only money made them a “politician.” Thanks to the same money, they got higher education diplomas, discrediting by that both that document and the university that sold that diploma. It seems everything is clear. However, trying to justify his ignorant colleagues, Hamlet Harutyunyan, a Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP, claims that they wish to get a diploma on the wrong side of 40 not in parallel with their wallets’ filling and their necks’ thickening, but merely as a result of longing for education. However, the reality is quite the opposite – not only do those “figures” not long for education, they also disregard education and knowledge; they think that it is not appropriate for a man. The real man should have a huge Jeep, many security guards who will beat up those who look askance at them from time to time. Some oppositionists think that there are progressive people among those ignorant persons who will establish democracy and legitimacy in Armenia. Certainly, it is a matter of “high politics,” which we, ordinary citizens, may not understand. I for one am interested in the “culturological type” of humans, and in that sense, unfortunately, I should assert that the demand for educated man gradually decreases in Armenia and that of a “tough guy” increases.
I don’t know what is needed to fix the situation – frankly speaking, I think of the talk about TV series or generally TV broadcasting as superficial. In order to have TV channels propagate education, knowledge and intellect, one needs a conception of that propagation, not a government instruction, but a system of values or, as Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) members like to say, a vision accepted by society. I don’t think of generalized humiliation of this or that university as serious either. It is not fair to raze Yerevan State University to the ground because of a bad textbook. Many bad textbooks were published in Soviet times too, but Levon Nersisyan, Edmon Avetyan and Rafael Papayan gave lectures there in the same period. There are brilliant lecturers whose work is not appreciated not only materially, but also morally now too.
However, it seems to me that the most important thing is intellectuals’ resistance, not giving in to those general trends toward ignorance. It is horrible when a PhD drives a taxi or sells a rosary in Vernissage. However, it is more horrible when he continues to work at an educational institution, but has gained a “thick-neck’s” mentality.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
