Will the people rise up or will they emigrate? That question has been asked quite often recently. Certainly, it would be very desirable, if they do neither, because both of those things are destructive. Maintaining the emigration rate will gradually lead to the loss of our defensibility, which the enemy will use at a certain point in time. And the people who rise in social rebellion don’t submit to anyone, don’t listen to anyone, either the government or the opposition or even Extraparliament; they smash everything to pieces, rob shops and rich people’s homes. It means a chaos, and our enemy just has to be a fool not to use that chaos.
Naturally, the government is first of all responsible for preventing these two undesirable phenomena. The simple instinct of self-preservation should have urged it to take steps, to decrease its own influence a bit and to make the state a bit more powerful. Nothing terrible would have happened, if, say, the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) hadn’t had a majority in the Yerevan City Council. One shouldn’t have “pressed on” so much during the latest election, spending so much money on election bribes and setting neighborhood bullies against citizens. Or the reappointment of this, to put it mildly, not so successful Cabinet is also considered to be a challenge to society. I think one shouldn’t explain in detail the causal relationship between those two events and the continuing emigration or the possible rebellion. Politics is the art of the possible, and therefore, this is not about handing power over, but just about rational behavior, necessary, basic reforms. Otherwise, it will be bad for everyone, including the government.
However, I don’t diminish our responsibility either. By “we,” I mean in this case all those whose words are of any value to society, politicians, publicists, commentators, journalists etc. Our only tool is words, but who said that words are not important? When many of us have been repeating for 20 years that Armenia is the worst country in the world, that the people that live here are semi-savage, repressed, and poor (“well, it is right that poor people leave”), perhaps we seem too bold and honest to the mob, but we surely don’t send any positive message to society. Those who have left Armenia especially like to repeat these theses, in order to justify their absence.
One shouldn’t gain dividends by disseminating sentiments of anxiety, escape, skepticism; no perdition awaits the Armenian people. Yes, we may lose statehood, if all of us who live in the state called the Republic of Armenia go on like this. And in order to avoid that, let us assert
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for starters that Armenia is the best country in the world for us; living here is great happiness. To me for one it is so.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
