On Sunday, I was watching on the Mezzo TV channel the performance of our violinist Sergey Khachatryan with the Paris Symphony Orchestra under conductor Andris Nelsons. It was Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and later, and an encore, Sergey performed an extract from Bach’s Partita. The Armenian violinist is no different from any world-renowned musician. On the same day, I learned that our football team has lost the Albanian team on its own ground by the score of 0:3 (I have not watched the match for sparing my nerves). The contradictory emotions that we experience at every step are the mirror of our contradictory life.
I have never suffered from the national vanity, but I have been always confident that there are numerous gifted people among Armenians, starting from the economy and ending with science, art, and sports. The achievements of the Armenian enterprises in the information technology are a proof of it. Why is the situation relatively favorable here (certainly, it would be desirable to be a hundredfold more favorable). I think it is caused by the fact that our “elite” has no clue about this industry, it is not a trade where one can squeeze by 50 percent. The market of this branch of the economy is throughout the world, and it is a matter of seconds to establish links with it. This is why people working in this sector are more or less left on your own. Organizing gifted people requires knowledge, as well as the conscious limitation of your own ambitions (including, material). Indeed, much is conditioned by the “rules of the game” inside the country.
In particular, if a man (local or foreign, an Armenian or another nationality) is willing to do something in the industry of economy and to invest money, then a rug should be laid in front of him and the officials should ask, “What do you need to organize your business more profitably?” However, our officials are asking a totally different question, “What is my benefit here?”
The benefit of the “state man” should be the establishment of capable people in this industry. If the official should be bothered about the businessman’s success (“How it happened that you make money here?”) and demand obeying him in one way or another, then he is not a state man. This implies not only to the economy but also to any other industry.
… The population of Iceland is almost 10 times smaller than Armenia’s (I mean the official data). The annual average temperature is +4. But this country’s football team will take part in the 2016 European Championship finals. I think it is not because there are more gifted football players in this country than in Armenia.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
