When people ask me on the street, “Will everything be alright in the end?” I always respond from a selfish standpoint: “Everything was always alright for me.” My materialistic demands were always very low, and both during the communist years and independent years, my condition was never apocalyptical- sometimes, my condition was better than in other times, but that’s not important. Of course, there were people both during the Soviet Union and after its collapse who lived better than I do, including mafiosos, but I try not to overload my brain with their lavishness. If they’re rich, let them enjoy it, and if they stole in order to become wealthy, then let law enforcement deal with them. The other non-materialistic problems, in my case, have nothing to do with the country, the state, or with the outside world.
People have always naturally had expectations of the authorities, and their expectations have especially gotten higher after the revolution. And now, nine months after the revolution, I hear people saying, “Well, that Pashinyan did nothing.” Perhaps Pashinyan was supposed to open up a small hole from the sky so manna could fall from it. In this case, I have no expectations from any authorities or from any state. My expectation of the state remains the same: the security of Armenian citizens. And as much as the state is responsible for us, the more we are responsible for the state.
Security, of course, has various understandings. Everything falls under it: starting with the army, the economy, and catching thieves, ending with education and culture. And when I say “ending with,” I don’t mean that those are the least important. Everything is in first place here, because I believe that the more educated and spiritually wealthy a citizen is, the more open-minded they are, and the more effort they put into the security of their state. Of course, they need to have the opportunity to live with dignity in their homeland, without having to break their necks to do so. It’s another issue entirely that some people have a habit of breaking their necks and appearing pitiful. No one can help them out here.
The role of the state in security matters is huge, especially in military and diplomatic matters (the latter of which is a continuation of the former). Here, and not only here, I advise the current authorities to not get so involved in virtual fights with the former authorities and to instead work in a rational, pragmatic way. I also think that it is important to get rid of the elements of revolutionary anarchism and dilettantism. Those elements were necessary at some point, but now those games need to end. People need to have the freedom to voice their opinions and to have their own positions. But regarding the army, diplomacy, and generally the entire work of the state, the opposite needs to be true; there needs to be strictness and order.
Aram Abrahamyan
