Half an hour later, after the brawl in Yerevan City Council, the taxi driver showed me the incident video on his phone making relevant comments against Republicans. In this case, I do not mean the fact that our citizens have formed certain stereotypes within 25 or more years, and that they are willing to accept only information that confirms and reinforces these stereotypes. In this case, it is about easy access to and rapid dissemination of information, which, I think, is the beginning of tectonic changes in our lives.
These rapid developments must be taken into consideration by all of us. A man who has learned about the events that interest him minutes after the event will not go home, turn on the TV in the evening and watch whether whom the president has received, or what meeting the Prime Minister has held. He apparently will go home and search for the same video on his phone or computer and look for videotapes of the same brawl taken from other positions, as well as he might also look for views that confirm his perceptions formed over the years.
The “bold guys” and “semi-bold guys” who create mode in the parliament, in the City Council and most importantly during the elections, also should take this into consideration. Do you remember that during the recent parliamentary elections, a member of the electoral commission Arayik Gevorgyan threatened one of the female journalists of “Aravot” to punch on her face? The police, of course, concealed the case and this person was not subjected to any liability. But Arayik should know that there is a video, it will be preserved forever and will reach his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
In the same way, “bold” and “semi-bold” members of the City Council, six of whom attacked a woman, regardless of the behavior of that woman, they must realize that each of their moves is recorded in a video and is available to hundreds of thousands of people. Obviously, given the “peculiarities” of our law enforcement system, the members of the City Council will also be able to avoid liability. But the new, digital age does not give them a chance to conceal the defects of their upbringing and intellect, to put it mildly. And the next generations will get to know about this too, no matter how much they try to “regulate” journalists’ work.
The ideal option, of course, is that these people are imprisoned. But even if they are not, anyway, they and others like them should understand that the peculiarities of their upbringing and education are being taped on videos for any moment.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
