It is easier to be defended from the real and imaginary enemies than creating something
A few months ago, my friends introduced me to a diaspora intellectual, a wonderful and kind person, who in addition to his primary work is also involved in public activities and writes articles. But before I being introduced, I was warned that this person is living with “besieged” mentality of the 19th century. It is clear why this mentality dominates in our nation. So it was arranged historically.
In many countries, we have and are survived as a community, as a minority surrounded by foreign nations. In the independent and non- independent state of Armenia, we, the Armenians, constitute the vast majority, but if we look at the region, again we becomes a “besieged fortress”. If you live in such a castle, then your main occupation is to be protected from the enemies rather than developing and producing goods. Your outlook is limited to defense issues, in the broad sense of this word, which ultimately reflects on the defense and state security, in the narrow sense. Our besieged mentality also has an external source. It is our strategic ally Russia. The latter despite vast and rich natural resources, is an excessively rich country, but, according to the tradition, the main provision of political thought is that Russia is surrounded by enemies whose main concern is to destroy the country, while inside the country, there is a “fifth column”, national traitors who are executing the command of the external enemy. In the 20th century, we had witnessed how the Soviet Union was protecting itself from “American imperialism”, “Japanese militarism”, “Bonn revanchist”, “Tito’s revisionism,” Zionism and Maoism. All of these various and diverse enemies, according to the official version, were supported by “a group of scums” inside the country who following the command of their western masters were preventing the building of the communism.
Putin’s Russia, in this respect, has not gone far ahead, it’s enough to listen to the main preacher, Dmitry Kiselyov. Again, everyone wants to tear the country from all sides, but the leader of the country is heroically defended by the attacks. I have come across to relevant posters in the Internet – Russia is surrounded from several sides by hyenas with their mouths open and big teeth, and Putin with a sward in his hands is hitting the beasts left and right. Which is easier to rule: the besieged castle or a part of the civilization world, which had to enter into a competition with the world? On what mostly money should be spent when you are a besieged fortress? Weapons. Which are the expenses that are the most intransparent and less corrupted? This is by the way. Having two sources of “besieged” mindset, we, the modern Armenians, naturally, are also living with these ideas, and are striving to “accrue” enemies in the domestic life as much as possible to be able to afterwards “heroically” fight against them. In this case, living in the “besieged fortress” in some place is easier.
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ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
