Whenever a new topic comes up in the political life of Armenia, the people start to wait for what kind of debate will take place. It is a usual thing to see public and political figures contradict each other regarding this or that.
Just like in any post-Soviet country, Armenian society also lives and evaluates reality by placing stereotypes which have been formed during the years of independence.
Everyone knows what it means to be a “former federalist” and a “federalist of the Armenian Nationalist Movement”, what “orientation” means, what “national mentality and anti-nationalism” means, “hero and savior”, etc. Very few people care about what is allowed and what is not. This last part is incomprehensible since it still has not turned into a cliché. We continue to live like this and our life is just how we value it.
However, Armenian society wants more from life. Society simply does not realize that each person’s personal approach to life plays a major role. In reality, it is that approach which is decisive and important. In any society, people tend to talk about topics which are of great importance to them. As a rule, people’s tendencies become a speculative topic for different groups that strive to come to power by “political cloning” which corresponds to this or that societal cliché. While doing this, it is very important to be able to get the people talking about a topic which they all know about and instill in everyone’s mind that that is the topic which plays a major role in our lives. If the society “eats the bait”, then it falls under the influence of the proposed topic. After a while, citizens bring that group to power whether they know about it or not. Then they start to realize. People understand that the topic put up for discussion did not really have any major significance and it only served the interests of the group that had come to power…And it continues like this endlessly until society asks itself a question: why make all the noise and what role does it play for him?
We all know that no society can live without debating about topics which are very important to us. The only topic that actually moves forward is the one that interests people the most. The thing is that there are very few societies who can decide which problems are essential and important for them. Those societies are the ones that understand that the standard of life is the Law, that society can defend itself from endless speculations and destructions.
The rest of the societies waste their time and energy finding themselves in absurd debates. By taking a glimpse at modern Armenian political life, we can say that during the past years, the debates about different topics keep Armenian society under the influence of different political groups. Let’s take for example the alternative which has been around for many years now: “packet or stage settlement” (another cliché), which was laid on the shoulders of Armenians in 1998 by the former and present day authorities. During the past couple of years, the two teams were making the people believe that choosing between this or that decision will be fatal for the people and that the future of the people depends on that election.
When the state figures were executed on October 27, 1999, the society was faced with a new topic. They were saying that Armenia’s future was dependent on whether or not they would find the criminals. People were waiting for years to see the country get out of that situation.
Then there were some rumors that the “anti-nationalist forces” were driving the “war heroes” away and that it was necessary to defend them. And it goes on like this…Of course, we did not get any reply to the topics, instead our country found itself in front of an alternative “yes” or “no” to the amended constitution?” Now, a team of public figures is trying to convince the society that our destiny lies in the hands of that solution. The rest of the issues were forgotten. In all cases, society was very serious when it came time for public discussions. How could the people stand aside while the “literate” part of society was insisting on one thing through thousands of articles and television-radio speeches: “there is no other important issue than this”. Everyone awaits the solution to be found by the literate mass. The “literate” mass was bringing a new “fatal” issue forward, going deep into it and bringing everyone along too. It is just amazing to know that that can happen in Armenia. Now, when the constitution is in the center of attention, there are few people who ask why that topic has become so important. The only thing that people talk about is the fact that our destiny will be determined by the simple “yes” or “no”. What happened to the former “fatal” issues? How come they did not play any significant role in determining the future of Armenia? Were the speakers and writers really wasting all that time and energy? These questions remain unanswered because nobody wishes to answer them. The new alternative has made everyone lose faith-everyone, besides society as a whole. The people have already understood what is really going on. Society understands the depth of this political “cloning”. The people feel that the topics talked about so much throughout the years really mean nothing in their lives. They only mean something for the authors and the political “clones” of Armenian politics. No mass media can convince us that we will change our destinies by saying “yes” or “no”.
It appears that Armenian society understands the problems that it faces. We often hear the question when will this all finish? or will there actually be regulation of laws in Armenia? The most important clichés are being driven away.
The mass media continue to convince the public with inertia that what is going on is fatal for the country, but there are already few people who believe in that. The country has started to recognize its “heroes” by their faces.