“Oh, bright Europe, where is your word left then,/You left our poor country of Armenia in ruins, destroyed.” This is a popular folklore, which was spread out after the genocide. “The Egyptian pyramids will turn into powder,/Like the sun, my country will burn bright.”
These are the lines of the great poet written in the same period. Two approaches. One is everyday, ordinary, what we hear every day on the streets and cafes, the second is the result of the work of mind and soul. One is the desperate reproach of the powerless man against the “blows of the fate”, which is directed to outside forces, the other is a proud and confident challenge, which is also directed to the world.
No individual’s, no nation’s life consists of only pleasures, successes and victories. It seems to me that difficulties and losses to some extent are necessary and useful, as they do not allow us to relax, to live in deceptive world of dreams; they help to meet the reality with open eyes. And later, everything depends on our assessment. “We (me) were cheated, we were not defended, we were left alone against insidious enemy,” this is one approach. “We (I) get to the work and solve the problem. And if fail, then we would be sure that we did everything possible and impossible,” this is another standpoint. Let’s choose which is more beneficial to us.
And the first thing that should be done is to eliminate the word “poor” from our vocabulary. Let’s never call ourselves, our relatives and especially our nation “poor”. Uttering this word, I picture a dystrophic who jumps up at every noise. That is not the symbol of our nation, but the young man standing at the border.
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In the end, I would like to quote another great poet, Joseph Brodsky’ advice, which has become very popular on Facebook and is applicable to both the individual and the nation. “Possibly avoid attributing the status of casualties to you. No matter how bad your situation may be, try not to blame external forces for it: the history, the government, the leadership, the family, the parents, the lunar cycle, the childhood, for the fact that you were not seated on the chamber pot in time, the list is long and boring. On the moment when you blame someone, you destroy your determination of changing something and add the vacuum of irresponsibility, which evil spirits and demagogues are so fond of filling them in, as the paralyzed will does not bring joy to the angels.” Everything is very topical. Especially the part of evil spirits and demagogues.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
