PART 3.1
In the first part of The Strategic Armenian, it was discussed that Armenians are among the subjects capable of restoring order to the world.
In the second part, it was argued that in order to do so, national identity must be elevated beyond the national level—to the level of being beneficial to Planet Earth.
From here begins the discussion of what kind of mindset, behavior, and way of life are necessary for this transnational-national mission to achieve its purpose.
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Being Offended Harms the Cause
The national mission, and the transnational mission arising from it, passes through stages in which the importance of the individual is reduced:
Individual → narrow family → extended family → community → province → nation → region → continent → Planet Earth
This means that in striving toward the goals of each stage, the individual reduces the importance of the self.
The more the self is reduced, the more invulnerable one becomes. One becomes invulnerable because what happens personally becomes less important; what matters is the collective goal.
Taking offense is an expression of personal importance, and this harms the cause.
The feeling of offense makes cooperation impossible, and the impossibility of cooperation reduces the effectiveness of the shared mission.
Every mission seeks to operate as effectively as possible in order to achieve its goals. If the mission is not selfish and exists beyond the individual, then the person must ask:
- Is my decision effective?
- Does my feeling serve the mission?
In religious language, taking offense is a sin: if a person becomes offended, it means that at that moment they are guided not by the national or transnational mission, but by personal emotion.
When the feeling of offense arises, it is useful to pause communication with the person who caused it for some time—without conflict—and then return to united work. Likewise, the one who caused offense should not escalate the situation or fixate on the other person’s reaction, remembering that both must eventually return to cooperation.
This applies to cases where both the offended and the offender belong to the same national or transnational mission. Otherwise, when one of the sides is outside that mission, such harm does not arise.
In the next part of the article, the issue of opinion and its effect on cooperation will be discussed.
Hovhannes ISHKHANYAN
