All those people who try to engage in politics are worth respect. At the end of the day, it means that the given person is ready to be the focus of attention, which, on the one hand, is perhaps pleasant, but at the same time, it presupposes the displeasure of receiving blows, being criticized and “bashed.” The only thing that can be advised to the old and new politicians is to assess their own significance and influence more or less soberly. For example, when a figure says that he is the leader of The Essence of Time, a socialist movement, a person who doesn’t know our realities might think that it is not a party, but a powerful movement, which unites thousands of people, and tomorrow, if not today, the leaders of it will come to power, and soon we will be compelled to listen to Stalin quotes, instead of Nzhdeh quotes. In reality, as far as I can tell, there is no mass of people who understand the essence of life, and the phrase “We, the movement” is a strong exaggeration.
Generally, I would avoid using pronouns in political texts. I think it is too impudent when a figure says, “We, the Armenian people,” or even, “We, the citizens of Armenia.” However, even when they say, “Our party decided,” “We support,” “Yesterday, the meeting of our party’s executive committee (headquarters) took place, during which we discussed…,” it is also a lie most of the time, because those parties can usually be fitted into one Zaporozhets, and there actually is no executive committee. It is particularly funny when the given person “modestly” says, “Our decisions are made collectively, and the members of my party deemed appropriate, asked and demanded that I announce – or not announce – my candidacy for president.” When you ask him to enumerate the “party members,” that object of “national desire” cannot mention more than 3-4 names. In my opinion, the pronoun “we” can be used by a few parties, including the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) – the “power” of which is 90% based on economic and administrative leverage – the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM), where only ideologists have remained since 1998, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and a few others. The “ranks,” “executive committees” and “congresses” of the others are a fake.
Among the pronouns is the phenomenon when a figure speaks of himself in third person. It is the climax of immodesty. So I speak and act not as Paruyr Hayrikyan or Artashes Geghamyan, a man of flesh and blood, but as an emanation of some supreme and supernatural forces. It is the easiest thing for a man to believe the stories he has made up himself.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
