One of the most important keys to the development of every society is the ability to choose acceptable compromise options from the triad of pluralism as a result of active discussions about the vision of the establishment of one’s own state and the rules of coexistence. However, a constructive debate about the future of the state, during which the fundamental ideas and values that will be the main landmarks and cornerstones of state building can be crystallized, is perhaps not mentioned in Armenia, so it is too early to talk about the rest.
It seemed that favorable conditions would be created in post-revolutionary Armenia for starting a civilized debate and forming a new vision of state-building as a result of clashes over different ideas, which would lead to the rooting of a qualitatively new policy. But, alas, instead of ideas, everything was focused on people. a trivial script was written, in which the antagonists – the revolutionary heroes, and the protagonists – the anti-revolutionary anti-heroes were clearly identified. A clear dividing line was drawn between “blacks” and “whites” so that the society would not be entangled in semi-shadows. As a result of this bifurcation, all the events and discussions in Armenia from a certain point were not about the future, but only about the past, because the politics was never removed from the patterns formed by the previous logic, and there was not enough thought to form and propose a new one.
Well, instead of ideas, “lack of ideas” came forward. Considering that every ideology is anchored on certain principles and value system, which implies a clear consistency in making every decision, then its absence opens up very wide horizons of action and creates good opportunities for the ruling power to evade.
Before, there were no “rights” or “lefts” in Armenia, because there was only one idea for both the regime and the opposition, and that idea was the “power” itself. Perhaps this is the reason for the simple fact that even today really ideological political units with their unequivocal “isms” are not imagined. if there is no clear idea, then everything is permissible, so no political unit wants to be constrained by additional “ideological” shackles, because in Armenia, according to the old tradition, power is always preferred to the idea.
As is often the case, time will tell whether there will be political units in Armenia that will be able to counterbalance the current ruling power and push it out of its comfort zone, laying the foundation for a real constructive political debate.
Marina Muradyan
https://acnis.am/hy/ambion/26-2019
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