Is responsibility a personal or a collective phenomenon? It is both: individual and collective. But in both cases, it is a purely voluntary commitment; you cannot force it on anyone. For example, no earthly or heavenly power can cause the current authorities of Armenia to feel responsibility for the situation of the people of Artsakh, neither with clever language nor with threats.
They have convinced themselves and thousands of Armenians that the “formers” and the Russians are guilty; therefore, they have nothing to do in this matter. (The words “guilty” and “sin” are utterly irrelevant in social and political discourse, and I think we would avoid such terms). The sense of responsibility, in short, cannot be “injected.” hatred, enmity, inferiority complex – as much as you want, please, and not in grams, but in tons. But the responsibility is either there or not.
Collective responsibility, therefore, is something that cannot be “pushed” into a specific person. If, for example, I say that all Russians are responsible for the fact that their country has unleashed a bloody war against Ukraine, there will be Russian citizens who will say: “What is our business? Why do you blame us? A person may or may not associate himself with the given community.
Referring to ourselves, we can record that there are millions of Armenians in Armenia and the world who do not feel responsible for the situation of our state and Artsakh. They should be left alone. And what should be done by the thousands of Armenians who still feel this responsibility? Nothing, in particular, just living a conscious life.
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Recently, I interviewed businessman Hayk Shekyan (the article will be posted on the “Aravot” website this week), and he gave an excellent example. If you don’t hold the hand of a person who drops a cigarette in the street, the public spends a resource (even if it’s half a dollar) to lift that cigarette off the ground. And that resource could be spent on buying one bullet.
In other words, exercising responsibility isn’t just about shooting. (Although it wouldn’t be wrong to learn to shoot as well). If the teacher teaches the children badly, if the doctor cures them badly, if the builder builds badly, they aggravate the situation of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh. Or even if all of this is done not badly, but without the greatest tension of forces. I believe that the solution to our problems lies in the maximum strain of the powers of responsible people, who are a minority, in the professional and civil spheres.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
