Anecdote: A man gives 1000 drams to a beggar on the street every day on his way to work. After a while, he starts giving him 500 drams. One day, he passes by the beggar quickly in order to not give money. The beggar asks him: “What happened? You used to give me a lot of money.” The man says: “Now I’m married, I have a child, I have a lot of expenses, sorry.” “Wait a minute, are you taking care of your family with my money?” asks the beggar.
Of course, it’s not nice to draw comparisons, but Armenia and the beggar are a lot like the man and the beggar in the anecdote. The “Hayastan” All Armenian Fund’s recent annual Telethon was proof of that. There may be many people who will say that journalists criticize everything. So what? Since the number of people who praise the Telethon is high, there has to be some balance. In order to get that balance, let’s take a moment and stop getting excited over the “record of 13.7 million dollars in donations”. Let’s look at it from the aspect of Armenia’s reputation, which the authorities and social figures talk about daily. The telethon was broadcasted worldwide and foreigners could watch it too. Now, just imagine what your average foreigner who happens to watch the telethon will think. He doesn’t know where Hadrut is. He doesn’t know how much the budgets of Karabagh and Armenia are. He doesn’t know that the money transferred for the road construction is also spent on other things. He simply sees that Armenians consider the love for the homeland through the means of money-390 dollars, 1000 dollars or 1 million dollars. Based on that, the person who gives more loves his homeland the most. This was the impression that one got from the Telethon.
“Hurry, call and pledge.”
Then the foreigner sees the president of the country, who has actually made an effort to make it to the studio abroad in order to convince people. He sees how the president is getting on the good side of the person who has made a large contribution, convincing him to run for president during the Karabagh presidential elections (even as a joke) and then impatiently says “well, tell me, how much are you going to donate?” But it gets more interesting. The businessman says “no, I don’t want to get elected as president of Karabagh. But I will do everything I can to make sure you get elected the third time”. But the foreigner sees this too. However, he doesn’t know that the Armenian living abroad doesn’t have the right to be elected president of Karabagh. He also doesn’t know that the president of Karabagh doesn’t have the right to run for a third term. Instead, the co-presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group know that. It’s quite possible that, let’s say, Matthew Bryza is following up on the conversation, waiting to hear the response of Nagorno Karabagh President Arkadi Ghukasyan. He could have at least pretended and said “What are you saying? I don’t have the right” and he would prove that Karabagh is a stabilized, democratic state. But no, Arkadi Ghukasyan stayed quiet. His people want that and he can’t disappoint them.
Let’s get back to the average foreigner. In the end, the foreign TV viewer sees that as a result of the 12-hour marathon, Armenians worldwide collected more than 9 million dollars, which an average soccer team of the English and Spanish leagues pays to get an average soccer player and it’s quite possible that the foreigner will laugh about that and tell his friends. Maybe one of his friends will ask “Armenia, is that the country that CNN says “Your route, Noah’s route” and they will have different interpretations of the course that Noah took. The course that we Armenians are walking on hasn’t changed over the years and there is only one logic to that-the Armenian Diaspora only serves for the purpose of getting money. Let’s ask for money to build a road, let’s ask for money to construct a school, let’s ask for money to get the villages back on their feet. We need the 6 million Armenians of the Armenian Diaspora to pay us only in “cash”. They try to change the wording from time to time, for example, they say that they’re gathering Armenians around the world for a “business conference”, but in the end it turns out that they want money and that is shown on Armenian television with pride. We Armenians talk about the reputation of Armenia, but we as a nation ask for money and broadcast that worldwide.
As to what kind of impression this leaves, that’s another question. Armenians only have one standard-do you love the homeland, if so, give us money. This also refers to local businessmen of Armenia. Taxes don’t express the love, rather they are payments made for the “love” of the homeland and it’s necessary to make contributions in order to express that feeling. The Armenian compatriots living abroad are trying to make Armenians of Armenia to “have more pride and honor”. For example, Alber Boyadjyan informed Gagik Tsarukyan on live television that he is waiting for his call. One of the local Armenian businessmen Mikhail Baghdasarov promised to donate 100,000 dollars, while Ruben Hayrapetyan and Samvel Alexanyan each promised to donate 50,000 dollars. However love as we know it is not from one side. The homeland also has to love its children, right? It also has to work towards protecting its interests. It must help its businessmen, especially producers. But here is where there is no longer any emotion. This is where the Homeland, i.e. the government, refrains from doing anything, gives advice-rearm and become competitive. If you can’t, then to hell with you, then you’re not worth the love. It seems as though nobody cares about the fact that there is no need to ask for money from others in order to help the local producer or exporter. There seems to be no love for the Armenian Diaspora. There is nothing else to say besides Garni-Geghard-Sevan Lake. And perhaps one day people will avoid coming to Armenia and change their route, just like the man in the anecdote who had started a family. In addition, I must say that my purpose was not to say bad things about the “Hayastan” All Armenian Fund. The fund was really doing a benevolent job and has done many things until now. The problem is that the process of donating creates controversy. You can organize a donation and keep the pride at the same time. However we are forced to adapt to this. After all, the good or bad work that the fund does should have been done by the government.
P.S. Let’s mention the fact that some Armenian state officials set an example of patriotism. For example, the Central Bank of Armenia donated nearly 29,000 dollars (in of course, in national drams) for the “Hayastan” All Armenian Fund’s projects. Let’s also mention that the staff at the bank collected the money. This was a rather impressive amount. Other state structures have shown their love for the homeland by donating small and large amounts of money.