The Armenian should be different from the Russian, European and American
“You are ill-cultured,” sometimes people say when they want to show the wrong and impolite behavior of the other person. This phrase is not accurate because actually everybody has “culture”. Seven billion people living on this planet are the carriers of some cultures. For example, when Shays intimidated an opposition MP with raping, it is the culture that is recognized in his surroundings, or perhaps in his own party. When a taxi driver smokes in the car, turns on a “rabiz” music and speaks to the client about the politics by emphasizing his glorious and “non-driving” past, this is the integral part of the Armenian taxi drivers’ culture.
During my teenage years, the culture of reading a book was common, today, it is common to read less rational and less edited texts on the Internet. This tectonic shift in the culture resulted in a decrease of people’s independent thinking and people’s controllability. It is evident for me that it is easier to control a person in on-line. Peter the First was cutting the beards of Boyars making them eat with fork and knife. Indeed, they were heroic efforts to introduce the European culture. In Russia, however, the attempts of reform and modernization end up with the backward movement and returning to the “roots”. Some cultural stereotypes are deeply seated in these people.
Armenia faces the need to create new cultural patterns. “How? – perhaps, you will be surprised – we with our centuries-old culture, are better of all.” But our centuries-old culture has not created political and economic patterns. And the latter should not ape the European, nor, especially the American, but should possibly abandon today’s Russian prevailing patterns. The matter, as you understand, is not about Tolstoy or Tchaikovsky. These values, on the contrary, should be cherished. But organizing a social life is also a culture, where we need to develop our, the Armenian patterns. As to that they should be, of course, I cannot say, it is up to the professionals. However, I would like to share some thoughts in this respect.
Read also
Western, as well as Russian public culture is based on quantitative standards, this man has more money, the other man has read more books, this idea has gathered more likes, GDP has been increased or decreased by so much percent. To run after all that, be measured by the quantitative standards inside the country or with other countries, probably, is not very efficient for Armenia. Maybe, more attention should be paid to people’s inimitable features, so to speak, “solitary” manifestations. While, it is impossible without certain ethical beliefs, without confrontation and conflict, and abandoning the competition psychology. Cooperation, love and respect inside the small-populated nation should be on a different level. Naturally, I am not afraid of appearing naïve.
Why should not our posture be differed from the “world posture” (if there is such a common posture in reality)? But if in the spheres of governance, political and economics, we, the journalists, cannot outrun the politicians, economists and anthropologists, then in our media field (also, I think, very important), the creation of a new culture, so to speak, is “in our hands”. And its foundation, in my opinion, is very simple. There are two main theses here: 1/ Any “nervous” and “angry” word describes the utterer of this word rather than the person expressing its “object” or the situation, and it is detrimental to the author himself. 2/ Information may be right or wrong: truthful or untruthful. The opinion, the views, and postures cannot be right or wrong, it’s just an opinion, one of the thousand, or if you want, one of the three million. It’s just an opinion, with which you may or may not agree, no need to express anger, be upset, nor to rejoice in particular.
The opinion cannot be authoritative and non-authoritative, any man’s views – homeless, academician, saint and murderer, may exist and made public. It is only important that no one view this opinion as a final truth. Including, the author of the opinion.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN,
Aravot daily
