If I write that a cosmodrome is being built in Armenia, everyone will realize that it is a lie, no one will open the article with such title, will not spread it, and will not put a “thumb up”. Because no one believes in “positive lies”. Moreover, they do not even believe in “positive truths”. Articles about the fact that a number of IT companies in Armenia have international recognition will not collect many views and “likes”. But try to write those right wheel cars will be banned in Armenia, and you will see what “delight” it will cause. Of course, there will also be comments: “Quite soon we won’t even be allowed to breathe”, “prime minister has started a factory of turning right wheels into left”, “yeah, that’s true: the day before my brother-in-law’s son was fined for a right wheel car”. Or in the best case, “if people are talking about it, then there is something”. Or, that the street cameras record drivers talking on the phone, and there are fines for that. “Oh, my godfather’s neighbor has already been fined for that”. Or that a snake flipped from an apricot tree onto a 17 years old girl’s forehead, stung her, and she passed away. Or that during the April war tanks were filled with water instead of diesel fuel. Or that Talaat was a Jewish. Our society is not media-literate. It also mostly suffers from infantilism, ignorance, and nihilism, and under such circumstances, it is possible to feed them with any “negative lie”.
Yesterday, the taxi driver poured on me a tornado of such “information”, and I just kept still after 4-5th argument. “All factories in Russia belong to the state”: this is a lie, industrial enterprises with pure state capital in Russia are less than half. “Nowhere life is so bad as in Armenia”, this is a lie too: in a few dozen countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the living standard is significantly lower than in Armenia. “Bagratyan sold all the machine-tools of factories, pocketed the money and became a millionaire”, that’s a lie: privatization of industrial enterprises started after Bagratyan. “If Communists were not there, Dashnaks would gift the whole Armenia to Turks”, it’s not just a lie, but the contrast to historical facts. “I pass only 5 centimeters of the solid line over, and they fine me”, this is a lie which is also speculated by some of the oppositionists. In fact, two years ago the law changed, and there is a fine only in case of crossing the solid line with two wheels.
I do not blame the brainwashed people. After all, they are victims. The real reason is that knowing the truth, we want to make this type of people like us, greatly contributing to the already mentioned infantilism, ignorance, and nihilism.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
