“Do we have to pay taxes to Caesar?”, asked the Pharisees Jesus Christ. It was a journalistic cross-question, they wanted to “catch him out”: if he told “pay”, he would hurt national feelings, they would say, “Oh, he wants us to pay taxes to the colonial Roman regime”. If he told “don’t pay”, they would say, “Oh, he calls for a revolt against the Empire”. But it wasn’t that easy to “catch” that “speaker” out. The Lord said, “let me see whose image is marked on the Roman coin”. “Caesar’s”, replied the Pharisees. “Then, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”. This, first of all, in my opinion, means: “the obligations before the state must not be confused with spiritual life”. But also, “what is pictured on money is the symbol of the state”.
If you remember, there was nothing drawn on the Soviet one ruble. On 3 and 5 rubles Kremlin was depicted, which was a symbol, but wasn’t an emperor. Lenin was pictured on 10, 25, 50, 100 rubles, who was our “emperor” at that time, not acceptable for everyone. British Queen Elizabeth II (in her younger ages) is pictured on the “averse” of all British banknotes, which, as far as I understand, does not get on anyone’s nerves. On the “reverse” of various British banknotes, there are pictures of famous Charles Darwin and Adam Smith, less famous Bolton and White, the inventors of the steam engine, and Elizabeth Fry, a 19th-century philanthropist, unknown to us. Who pays taxes to Lenin, to the Queen, to the state created by Benjamin Franklin, if it is about 100 dollars? At least, the emperors passed, Lenin, too. The British and Americans have no reason, and I’m sure will not have, to refuse Queen Elizabeth, Franklin, or Darwin and Adam Smith, and it seems to me, this is one of the indicators of the power of these states.
We are in constant anxiety – this symbol is bad, let’s change it with a good one. It is still good that we do not want to depict a picture of any politician or historian, a king or a Catholicos on our money, we understand that there will be a big “bazaar”. And now a little “bazaar” has begun for literally nothing. What are the sins of Charents, Tumanyan, Isahakyan and Saryan, that people try to replace them with other artists? Of course, the latter worth to be respected too, although it is clear that you cannot compare Paruyr Sevak with Charents. But what is the sense of this “rotation”? It’s absolutely incomprehensible. It is important for people to be able to buy as many goods as possible in that currency, not what is depicted on the banknotes.
It is not excluded, however, that within 10 years Armenia will circulate coins, on which Vladimir Putin’s profile will be depicted.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
