We often think and argue about what is missing in us, Armenians. Social and political circles say: legitimate government, the rule of law, economic development, overall well-being and justice. Ordinary people say, “Let this government think a little about this poor people.” All of them are correct at their own. But, it seems to me that something else underlies all of this, we lack in… great ambitions.
“How?, you may be surprised, more ambitious nation than we?” Yes, each of us thinks that we are capable and deserved to be a leader, a head of something, a rick, and if we do not become it, then we curse our bad luck and injustice in the world. Yes, we do not lack personal ambitions. But I am talking about the ambitions of the nation as a collectivity.
A very simple example. In 1991, it seemed to the majority of Armenians that we can have an independent state. Only dedicated communists endowed with stereotyped ideas were against this, the nation’s greatest ambition. But in a few years, people were “convinced” that it is a silly ambition, invented by “plundering PANM members”, a hollow dream of “keeping the country with jermuk” and so on. Therefore, either we should be adapted or flee from the country. Today, approximately as many people have ambitions of having an independent state as the “stereotyped communists” in 1991. Today, the number of “marginals” in the Parliament believing in Armenia’s independence is not more that 7-8 people out of 131 parliamentarians. The same percentage ratio, I suppose, works for the current population of our country.
How did it happen that our 3-4 year-long ambitions, encountering the ugly reality, vanished. It seems to me that the short-term ambitions entered into conflict with our genetic memory, where the mindset is sitting that we must “somehow take a shelter” in the arms of Russians, Turks, Arabs, Persians, Byzantine, American or European. We do not believe in our strength. It seems to us that we had Viktor Hambardzumyan or Aram Khachaturian exclusively thanks to the Soviet Union. And William Saroyan, perhaps, thanks to America?
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We do not believe that we can produce a competitive product, and this is why we want to sell our “odds and ends” to the EaEU underdeveloped countries. A wonderful economic calculation. A pure pragmatism, a realpolitik.
In reality, I’m sure that we can have not ignorant oligarchs, but Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. The Armenian-origin mother bringing up the latter was not anything better of any other mother living in Armenia.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
