In one of his recent posts, Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan noted—among other concerns—that Nikol Pashinyan is the founder of public sexual profanity in Armenia’s political discourse. “Neither during the years of Soviet Armenia nor in the period of independence has sexual profanity ever existed as a phenomenon in public speech. It is a disgraceful innovation by Pashinyan and his team that brings no honor to our traditionally minded nation,” Ter-Petrosyan wrote.
At first glance, amid the many challenges facing our country, the issue of profanity might seem secondary. Yet it is worth discussing, because it also serves as a peculiar tool for lowering our society’s intellectual potential to the rock-bottom.
For leaders of Pashinyan’s type, it is essential to pit different parts of society against one another along various dividing lines. One such line is the division between “the people” and the “non-people.” The latter category naturally includes the “former authorities,” the so-called “Russian agents,” and others—but also those whom the current propaganda labels as the “intelligentsia.” In the Soviet years, roughly the same meaning was conveyed by the word otshchepenets—an outcast or renegade.
In other words, at a time when an Armenian satellite is supposedly speeding through the vastness of space, when perfect peace and unshakeable democracy have been established in our country and corruption has been completely eradicated, there are still a few anti-people elements who dare to question all this—people who wear glasses and do not speak the “language of the people.”
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Fortunately, however, there is a leader who has emerged from the very bosom of the people. He clearly shows where evil lies and where good lies, publicly eats corn, speaks in the heartfelt profanity of the masses, and in general… is going to screw everyone over.
Those who believe that such propaganda is harmless populism and poses no danger to the state are gravely mistaken. Switching off people’s brains is more dangerous than a thousand UAVs.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
