I don’t quite understand what makes a system of values different from an ideology, and to what extent those two determine one’s political orientation, because I am neither a politician, nor a political scientist. In that sense, Levon Ter-Petrossian is an authority for me without reservations, and therefore, I completely trust the descriptions that he made at the latest Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) congress. As a journalist, I deal not with lofty philosophical categories, but with the empirical reality, which I try to tell about. Now this is my conversation with a taxi driver – I think it is a rather representative part of our people – and I will ask my readers who have more knowledge than I do to explain which rubric it falls under.
The taxi driver: “Ah, ah, ah, what have they done to this beautiful country?! In the past, one would be paid 120 rubles, would get in his car and go to Sochi for vacation. And now Serzh told that Sashik to install those speed guns to take every last penny from the people, and put it in Sashik’s pocket.” I: “Sashik has nothing to do with the speed guns.” The taxi driver: “Well, you would know better than I do, but all the same, Serzh’s dogs do that.” I: “So you want to drive violating traffic rules and not to be fined?” The taxi driver: “No, I want to say that these Armenians should maintain a bit of humanity.” I skip the next lyrical part about “traditional values.”
The taxi driver: “Let me ask you something else; is it right that Putin wants to restore the Soviet Union?” I: “Well, not the Soviet Union, but something like that.” The taxi driver: “Ah, what a good thing you have said! When will he do that?” I: “If it happens, it will not happen soon.” The taxi driver: “Ah, let him do it quicker. Putin, my dear, come and rescue us from these jackals, please. Have you seen what a country he has turned Russia into? If we had a Putin, we would prosper, you know. Let him do it quickly, let him come and look after us. And you know what the good thing about it is? These robbers of ours cannot say, ‘We don’t want.’ Putin will tell the Turks immediately, ‘Destroy these Armenians,’ and there will be no Armenia anymore.”
Now I ask political scientists, historians and other people, who are competent in that, to explain to me whether this interlocutor of mine – who, from my perspective, represents the majority of the Armenian population – has any system of values, a political orientation, whether he adheres to a certain ideology. If yes, is there another part of the Armenian population – the minority – that doesn’t think so? If the answer is yes again, can we say that a part of the Armenian society – the majority – has one orientation and the other part has another? Thus, can we claim that different groups of political forces or politicians work for, adhere to different orientations (systems of values, ideologies)?
Read also
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
