Yesterday I came across a video on social media in which Hayk Marutyan spoke during the 2018 revolution. There was a hysterical scream followed by the joyful screams of those present. The stylistic parallel with Nazi rallies is on the surface. (Of course, the differences are huge: first, our populists lack ideology, and second, the repressions unleashed by them after coming to power will not be compared to Germany in the 1930s). The purpose of the reminder is clear: do not idealize Marutyan. Personally, I do not idealize him. I just record the perfectly legitimate contradictions between the revolutionary comrades-in-arms.
But the performance of the beloved actor and the corresponding scream reminded me of another pattern. In psychology and political science, it is called the “spiral of silence” when people say not what they think, but what they think the majority thinks, or at least what deserves the praise of that majority. If you enter a room where everyone, let’s say, praises the usefulness of drugs, you, being a supporter of a healthy lifestyle, will likely be careful. You will either soften your point of view or you will be silent.
From the point of view of this theory of public opinion, silence may give the impression that the loud, outspoken view belongs to the majority, but in many cases that majority is false. You may not be surprised to learn that the author of this theory was a German friend, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, who worked with Josef Goebbels as a young woman. Goebbels’ propaganda is a classic example of how a false majority becomes a real majority as a result of the “perimeter of silence.” In 1931-32, a large number of Germans considered Nazi ideas monstrous, but remained silent for fear of appearing in the minority and being stoned.
Today, the hysterical cries of the revolutionaries of 2018 seem strange to many, and on the other hand, many continued to rejoice in them, although I think the ranks of those who rejoiced have dwindled. And some of them enjoy the insults of our compatriots living abroad. Maybe they will be our next “majority”?
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Aram Abrahamyan
