These are not ideology or economic system
We have been in quite a long discussion of what we meant by saying “European values”. We know what the advocates of Putin Russia and the Customs Union mean under it. However, I do not pursue the objective to get into debate with them; anyway, we will not convince each other. I will just say that the Russian political, philosophic notion of the 18-20th centuries was developing under the influence of these values, sometimes, more or less, contrasting them, and greatly enriching these value system. This topic is worthy of separate consideration.
And so, there are three sources of European values: Christianity, Greek democracy and Roman law. The Japanese, Arab, Jew, American or Brazilian, and many, many other nations have their own values system, which, in its turn, is fed by other sources. These values and sources are not anything good or bad of European values; they are just different. Armenians, Russians, Portuguese or Norwegian, no matter how different they are, no matter what characteristics they have, in the process of their history, they were nourished by the aforementioned sources, being subjected, of course, to many other influences, and impacting on the nation living with other values.
Historically, it happened so that in the 20th century, the world order that emerged after the World War II (which, many believe that now it is either reviewed, or have even been finally demolished) was formed first of all under the influence of European values. For example, it is not difficult to notice that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 is directly generating from the aforementioned sources. This document, which I will repeatedly refer to in this series of articles, is signed by the countries for which the clauses found in the declaration are too alien, not only because the authorities of these countries were (and are) maltreating their nations; there are countries for which these clauses are contrary to the culture and ideology of these nations. In a sense, it can be said that the Declaration, as well as numerous other documents, are product of “the post-war romanticism”. But, the provisions responding to these values, despite some claims, are entirely compatible with the thinking of Armenians. Another matter that the current Government of Armenian does not implement them.
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Some people confuse European values with liberalism. It is a delusion. In the 19th century, the socialist ideas (including Marx’s theory), are entirely going to fit into our indicated system. For example, “he who does not work, will not eat” slogan, which runs like a red thread in communist theories, is taken directly from the theses of Thomas Aquinas, who, in his turn, quotes the words of the apostle Paul. Thus, the same straight line goes from the Bible to allegedly atheistic “Communism builder code of conduct”, as it is from the same Scriptures to Calvinism, and as worded by Max Weber, “the spirit of capitalism.” It’s another matter that in both cases, through declaring the right ideas, the implementers were often fabricating them.
Thus, the European value system includes different ideologies, different political and economic categories. However, it is, nevertheless, an outlook, where social relations are built around its core. My article is about the very “core”.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
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