One of the senior officials says that he would not mind traveling by a “business class” to please us – the journalists, and would pay the difference of the “economy class” and “business class” from his own pocket. To be honest, I like the sincerity and the lack of populism of the new government members. In this specific case, the official is right in the sense that if something does not come from the “heart” of a man, then you should not do it just for pleasing others.
But I’m trying to understand something else: why do you need to travel by “business class” in principle and in spite of everything if you deserve to travel by the “economy class” as an official? What is it: a form of self-affirmation, a strive not to be behind others, a desire to demonstrate your own wealth? Well, certainly, all people including the rich have their strangeness: if I wish I would make my toilet bowl gilded, if I wish I would eat a crocodile meat every day, if I have the opportunity. However, this is in the case when I am a private person. The restrictions start when I have the status of a public official.
Suppose, I am a public official and my service car is “Toyota”. I can use this service or if I live close, I can go to work on foot, it’s a matter of taste. But would it be better in terms of the ethics if I “pay the difference” to have the chance to travel by “Maybach” or “Ferrari”? Or if the government gives me one secretary, then, after all, I can make my own coffee but it seems to me that I cannot hire three more secretaries at my own expense so that each of them would make coffee for me at different hours. Generally, it is tough to understand the rich. Why do they need a 4-storey house?
Do they sleep in two beds, eat in two kitchens, or take a shower in two bathrooms at the same time? There are definitely rooms in their palaces where neither they nor their family members have entered. But I repeat, this incomprehensible luxury raises questions when it comes to public officials. First, because Armenia is a poor country, and everyone including the high-ranking officials receive a modest salary. Secondly, seeing the lavish life, people are striving for official positions seeking this lavishness rather than serving the state. Since we are in this situation, we need if not temperate then at least restrained and not avid officials. And in a broader sense, a new kind of elite.
But in the case of traveling by specific “business class”, it is not excluded that there is a state need: who knows, maybe this section in the plane gets to the destination earlier?
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
