During the 1950s, Joseph McCarthy was a notable figure in the political life of the USA. He was famous for his radical rightist views. A phenomenon was named after him, which became a synonym for “witch-hunting” and paranoia – “McCarthyism”. The senator would use a trick that in argumentation theory is called ad ignorantiam, a calculation based on the other person’s ignorance. It was something along the lines of “I know this person is a communist, as I have researched their dossier and did not find any evidence against them being a communist.” And because the majority does not exert to think, such judgment is totally adequate for them.
Because through the efforts of our authorities, the atmosphere in Armenia consistently fills up with paranoia, such claims are heard here as well. In these circumstances, the accusation is the “Kremlin agent”. For instance, nowadays people are considered agents if they dare to discuss the decision of declaring Konstantin Zatulin, a member of the Russian State Duma, an “undesirable person”.
Zatulin certainly is an unlikeable figure – a representative of an empire who granted himself the liberty to use inappropriate expressions addressed to our authorities. But is the decision not letting him enter Armenia sufficiently grounded and calculated?
I have already had the occasion to write about the current Armenian authorities not getting the gist of contemporary Russia. Yes, Zatulin is not an influential figure. But no one is actually influential in Russia aside from Putin. People remaining in the elite of that country are the “servants” of the president. Those “servants” are divided into groups, which differ from each other in frequency they have the opportunity to appear in front of the tsar. Zatulin is a member of one of those groups. It is in our interest to maintain relations with all these groups both on public and state levels. The same mechanism applies to other fields, for example, in the aspect of arms supply. Transferring money for the weapons is not enough. You need to get along with the groups that directly deal with these supplies.
To put it shortly, the decision to prevent Zatulin from entering Armenia is arguable. But it is more arguable to call those who discuss the matter Kremlin agents. It is just a method of not listening to reasonable arguments and silencing the opposition. And another trick of argumentation works here – ad populum, when any action is aimed at creating cries of delight in the public masses.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
