If you want to test which direction a particular country or society is going in, it is important to pay attention to their level of servility. This is a direct and unequivocal indicator of stagnation and authoritarianism. During the first half of my life, I kept hearing the praise of “Leonid Ilyich personally,” and in the second half, I witnessed the same praise towards the four leaders of independent Armenia.
Over the past 30 years, the authorities have not resisted the temptation to listen to flattery. Years ago, Haykakan Zhamanak had a very accurate headline at a press conference of the former presidential candidate: “Chkhkl-dmbl-chkhkl-dmbl.” This title is quite applicable today, not only for the speeches of the My Step members, but also for the speeches of many other politicians and public figures. In the past, too, cynicism had negative connotations. That is, it was not about the advantages of the ‘king,’ but about the shortcomings of his opponents. For example, in order to please Robert Kocharyan or Serzh Sargsyan, it was necessary to say something bad about Ter-Petrossian, the Pan-Armenian National Movement, the “cold and dark years,” or something similar. In any case, their subordinates “had the right” (at least, this is what they thought) to praise the reality and “wise leaders” at the time.
The current authorities do not have any reason to be proud whatsoever. If a press conference is held today on “100 Facts About the New Armenia,” that will be seen as black humor by the sober portion of society. At the same time, the number of flatterers is not decreasing, but it is increasing. And it is normal that the only way to obey the current authorities is to speak about the flaws of the former authorities. (The majority of their flaws are real, but I do not think that they can be used as excuses for the current tragic situation.”
The main repertoire of the “New Drum Ensemble” is as follows: ‘Those in power today are bad, but those who aspire to seize power are worse.” That may be true, but it is not particularly comforting because it deepens social apathy and the same stagnation. Public opinion is immersed in comparing “worse” and “worst,” and it is no longer trying to find a way out of this situation. However, this search for solutions should not be in ‘better people,’ but in better ideas. “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them,” Albert Einstein said. But to rise to a new level of thinking in both science and politics requires some courage. And the opposition full of subordinates and bad-mouthers does not provide us with that new level.
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Aram Abrahamyan
